Scandal-hit Malaysian PM insists ‘I am a gentleman’

Reuters: KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak defiantly vowed on Thursday he ‘will not surrender’ to critics who have assailed him over a festering funding scandal, and said his government’s economic stewardship was not to blame for a sliding currency. 

Addressing the annual meeting of his long-ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Najib appealed for unity after a fractious week in which the party’s deputy leader has called for him to stand aside.

Najib’s government has been buffeted by allegations of graft and mismanagement at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) , and the revelation that more than $ 600 million (395 million pounds) was deposited in his own bank account in what he says was a political donation.

“What’s important is that I am on the side of right, and the truth will prevail,” said the Prime Minister, who was interviewed by Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at the weekend.

Switching briefly into English during a 90-minute Malay-language speech that drew frequent shouts of support and bursts of applause from his audience, the British-educated Najib declared: “I am a gentleman!”

The Wall Street Journal said in July that 2.6 billion ringgit ($ 610.8 million) had been discovered in Najib’s personal accounts by investigators probing accusations of financial irregularities at 1MDB.

Najib, who chairs 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied the money came from 1MDB, which is being investigated by Malaysian and foreign agencies.

The MACC has backed Najib’s explanation that the money came from an unidentified donor in the Middle East.

The scandals have shaken investors in Southeast Asia’s third-biggest economy and rocked public confidence in the coalition led by UMNO, which has held power since independence in 1957 but looks vulnerable at the next election in 2018.