Najib better than Dr Mahathir, says Tunku Aziz at anti-graft conference

Malaysia has made great strides under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's leadership after suffering for years under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's "repressive" regime, Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim told an international anti-corruption conference in Putrajaya today. Coming to the defence of the prime minister who has been widely criticised throughout the three-day conference, Tunku Abdul Aziz said Najib's administration provided more freedom for the people. "The fact that the day of your arrival you saw people demonstrating in the streets. Now, that wouldn't have happened in Dr Mahathir's time. "There would have been water cannons, here would have been police in riot gear. So, for me, this has to be a tremendous success in terms of achievement," said Tunku Abdul Aziz, who heads the anti-corruption advisory board for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). He was referring to the Bersih 4 rally last weekend, which saw thousands of Malaysians gather near Dataran Merdeka, to demand Najib's resignation as well as institutional and political reforms. While the rally was peaceful, police on Wednesday questioned seven of its organisers about its planning and execution details, as well as the RM2.4 million in public donations they had received. Tunku Abdul Aziz said that in contrast, Dr Mahathir had used "every repressive apparatus of the state to keep the people down" when he was prime minister. Dr Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years, before retiring in 2003. While credited with modernising Malaysia, he has also been blamed for clamping down on freedom, the most notable of episodes being the mass arrests in 1987 of people which included opposition politicians, activists, intellectuals and others. Since Wednesday, participants at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) 2015 have openly urged Najib to answer questions surrounding the US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) deposited to his personal accounts. Among others at IACC, Transparency International's chief Jose Ugaz has said that Najib must satisfactorily answer allegations of wrongdoing involving the donation. Ugaz had also said that Putrajaya's attempts to interfere with investigations, such as by changing the attorney-general in the midst of a probe and questioning MACC officers, were not actions that a government wanting to fight corruption would take. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption coalition today also said Najib should step down and allow investigations to proceed unhindered. Malaysia is hosting the ongoing IACC. Najib, who was to deliver the conference's keynote address, skipped the event after being warned of "hostile reception" from the audience. – September 4, 2015.