KUALA LUMPUR: Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron has claimed that the United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) civil complaint on the case involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is part of a political ploy to topple a democratically-elected prime minister.
He also questioned the veracity of the allegations contained in the complaint, pointing out that the DOJ had never contacted 1MDB for its side of the story,
He said the US government’s motives were questionable, citing the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 on grounds that then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had possessed weapons of mass destruction.
“We want to tell the Americans that this is Southeast Asia... this is Malaysia. Our country is our responsibility. What credibility does the DOJ have (in meddling in our affairs)?” he said when opening the Ampang Umno division meeting here today.
Idris, who is also an Umno supreme council member, said the US’ unilateral decision to invade Iraq was unjustified as no weapons of mass destruction were ever found.
“You cheated the Iraqis, you killed the Iraqis, and now you want to kill the Malays in Malaysia.
“This is nothing more than a political ploy to topple Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak,”
The DOJ last month moved to seize more than US$1 billion (RM4.04 billion) in assets, including luxury real estate and a jet allegedly bought with money pilfered from 1MDB.
Najib had said the action taken by the DOJ did not involve him, the government or 1MDB directly. He had said issues concerning 1MDB had been politicised by “certain enemies”.