Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng
Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng

It has always been Chinese dominated DAP’s policy to bring up 1MDB and “kleptocracy” as much as possible. Even more so now that they are part of Pakatan Harapan government that has been mired with issues.

The finance minister who was interviewed by CNN in Hong Kong said that RM30.7 billion was a “reasonable” amount for Goldman Sachs to pay back. Lim who is a trained accountant keeps the asset backed 1MDB as “debt-saddled”, another favourite phrase that was used in the last election.

The problem was Lim himself has been caught up in financial scandals which was hurriedly closed up once he took office as the Finance Minister. He was charged by Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) for appropriating a bungalow below cost in exchange for a state land deal. While he was the Chief Minister of Penang, he reportedly paid over 400 million RM for a tunnel from the mainland to the island which never took off. 

Lim and DAP used the 1MDB issue in zeal as a key issue against Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional claiming that the former prime minister stole money from 1MDB. Since the election Najib has never been charged for this allegation.

The DAP led Pakatan Harapan coalition keeps raising 1MDB issues as Malaysians are getting impatient with the government’s performance since taking office. First there was a claim of 1 trillion RM debt which even rating agencies such as Moody did not take seriously. The economy has been slowing down and over 200 billion has been lost from the stock market and the central bank reserves.

DAP tries to keep the sentiment that won it the government going as long as possible. But patience it seems is wearing thin for the people.

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