KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has finally responded to the three questions put forward by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng last week.
Najib said the answer was “no” to all three, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.
“For all three questions addressed to me by Lim on the recent GST (Goods and Services Tax) issue, my answer is ‘no, no and no’,” he said.
Lim, who is Bagan member of Parliament, had questioned Najib over the loss of RM19.25 billion in GST repayment claims.
Lim first asked the former prime minister if he had authorised for GST refunds not to be made within two weeks as stipulated by the law.
Secondly, he questioned if Najib had approved of the decision made by former Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Irwan Serigar Abdullah to not transfer the full RM82.9 billion as requested by the Customs Department but only RM63.5 billion to the GST refund trust fund.
Finally he asked if Najib had allowed for the GST refunds to be used as the government’s revenue and as the administration pleases.
On the matter, Najib had also commented that Lim was wise for choosing not to lodge a police report against Barisan Nasional (BN) for allegedly robbing the people of their GST refunds.
“I was informed that Lim was asked to give a statement to the police based on a report made by Rembau member of Parliament Khairy Jamaluddin.
“Lim did not lodge a police report on his claim that BN had ‘robbed’ RM18 billion of GST money during a parliamentary session that gave him immunity.
“This is a clever move by Lim, as lodging a false police report is unlawful,” Najib added.