PUTRAJAYA — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that there is no need to cast aspersions and over-analyse former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s apology regarding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Zahid, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, said the statement was made in light of witness testimonies in court.
“We should not jump to conclusions and make various assumptions about it.
“We know that the statement came out after witness testimonies in court, and Najib only made the statement after that,” he said when met after officiating the Madani Malaysian Gig Economy Convention here, today.
Last Thursday, Najib issued a public apology regarding the misconduct involving 1MDB through a statement read by his son, Datuk Mohamad Nizar.
In his statement, Najib maintained his innocence and placed the blame on fugitive businessman Jho Low and two Petrosaudi executives, Patrick Mahoney and Tarek Obaid.
According to the statement, Najib said he was deeply hurt to learn of the fraud that occurred in 1MDB while under his watch as finance minister and prime minister at the time.
Commenting further, Zahid said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is a good leader for accepting the apology.
“A good leader should accept apologies from anyone,” he said.
However, in contrast, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke described the apology as meaningless because the court had previously found the former prime minister guilty. — October 28, 2024