1 MDB malady

Whatever happened to the 1MDB issue in the final analysis is just a malady .
1. For the opposition parties the 1MDB issue was drummed up into a big scandal to provide a seemingly massive excuse to topple Najib from his reins of power.
( Acessed on 4/9/16 at http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/04/138025/1mdb-truth-revealed-now-time-move-salleh )

2. From various reports in news portal and social media websites  it would appear that the issue will cool down over time and Najib's administration can continue on with 'developing the economy' without being dragged down by drummed up issues.

3. The 1MBD issue is a good case of corporate management.  I need to write about this in future post.  Thus for today's labelling - 'Management issues'.

4. The 1MDB isuue ( this point will need further expansion/additions)
#  From Bloomberg business:  Beginning in March, as public pressure grew, the country’s auditor general, the parliament’s public accounts committee, the central bank, and the police have all homed in on 1MDB. The force of the scandal helped topple the ringgit, the worst-performing currency in Asia as of July 16, down 8.1 percent against the dollar since the start of the year. Foreign reserves plunged 20 percent in June from a year earlier. (acessed on 9/4/16 at http://www.malaysia-today.net/the-scandal-that-ate-malaysia/ )

# From Wall Street Journal : On July 3, the Wall Street Journal, citing documents from government probes, reported that investigators believe almost $700 million in cash moved through state agencies, banks, and companies linked to 1MDB before eventually finding its way into Najib’s personal accounts. The money reportedly included two transactions—one worth $620 million; another, $61 million—made in March 2013, two months before a general election returned Najib to power as part of the Barisan Nasional, or National Front, coalition.

In a country with no public campaign financing and few strictures on political donations, the alleged cash flows caused alarm. Before the 2013 election, on March 12, 1MDB Chairman Lodin Wok Kamaruddin and Khadem Al Qubaisi, then chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments, signed an agreement to form a joint venture. The following month, 1MDB announced it had raised $3 billion for its share of the partnership. “1MDB opted for a private placement to ensure the timely completion of this economic initiative,” the company said in a statement on April 15 of that year.

The timing was controversial. “1MDB may have been created with one of the key objectives being to raise a slush fund to finance Barisan Nasional’s election campaigns,” says MP Tony Pua, of the opposition Democratic Action Party. A statement from the prime minister’s office dismissed the allegations in the Wall Street Journal, saying they amounted to “political sabotage” at the hands of “certain individuals to undermine confidence in our economy, tarnish the government, and remove a democratically elected prime minister.” In a statement, 1MDB said it “has never provided any funds to the prime minister.”

# From the Edge Financial Daily : The Edge Financial Daily had published today another expose on 1MDB, this time detailing Penang-born tycoon Low Taek Jho’s alleged role in the multibillion ringgit controversy.

The business paper currently under investigation for its previous articles on the scandal claimed that the US$1.83 billion (S$2.51 billion) that state-owned 1MDB had invested in Middle Eastern oil company PetroSaudi International (PSI) between 2009 and 2011 was a scheme to defraud Malaysia that involved Low.

The Edge Financial Daily, is published by The Edge Communications of The Edge Media Group that also publishes The Edge Malaysia weekly.

The paper has been issued a show-case letter by the Home Ministry on July 1 for publishing unverified news on debt-laden 1MDB. ( Accessed on 9/4/16 at http://www.malaysia-today.net/1mdb-hits-out-at-the-edge-for-recycled-unproven-claims/ )

5. Management maladies in 1MDB. (to be expanded )
# accountability issue - accounting of debts,

6. Interested parties in the 1MBD problems:
# Swiss government ..the AG of Swiss gov't opened case on 2 ex-1MDB officials purportedly misappropriating corporate funds (Acessed on 4/9/16 at http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/02/125353/salleh-keruak-takes-swiss-task-over-1mdb-misinformation )

Mahathir misdeeds - a collection

Misdeeds of Dr. M  ( list of notes)

Points reported by whom and when

# It was Dr Mahathir who changed the law and removed the powers of the Rulers and in that same process destroyed whatever checks and balances the Rulers could offer.(Reported by RPK,17 Feb'16, accessed at http://www.malaysia-today.net/the-rulers-are-upset-with-mahathir/ )

# Dr Mahathir gave the office of the Prime Minister absolute powers and no longer does the Prime Minister need to share power with the Monarchy. The Prime Minister can decide and the Rulers have to just follow. And even if the Rulers do not agree it really does not matter. Hence it was Dr Mahathir who wanted the Prime Minister to be accountable to no one but himself. That is the law.(Reported by RPK, 17 Feb'16, accessed at  http://www.malaysia-today.net/the-rulers-are-upset-with-mahathir/ )

#  In fact, there was many an occasion when a certain Ruler was not too happy about a Bill that was being passed and although the said Ruler refused to sign that Bill it still automatically became law even without the Ruler’s consent. That is the law.(Reported by RPK, 17 Feb'16,accessed at http://www.malaysia-today.net/the-rulers-are-upset-with-mahathir/ )

# Civil society leaders say they want an acknowledgement from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that he was responsible for the erosion of country’s institutions (Reported by Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) director Cynthia Gabriel said the move to remove Najib must include long-term structural reforms.)

# “Our proposal is for him to acknowledge his wrongs from his long tenure and make a public admission that he did traverse many human rights rules and destroyed the independence of our institutions, and that he, indeed, regrets his actions (Reported by C4 above)

# the PM holding the finance minister position has had past record, and it is being continued by Najib,” she said, in reference to Dr Mahathir starting the current practice of the prime minister also holding the finance portfolio which he did at different points during his tenure. (Reported by C4 above)

( Notes accessed at http://www.malaysia-today.net/dr-mahathir-must-admit-past-wrongs-civil-society-says-or-no-to-najib-ouster/ ) released on 3 March,2016