I told Najib avoid activists, stay out of anti-corruption conference, says Paul Low

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was advised to pull out from officiating the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Putrajaya today in case the environment turned "hostile", Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low said today. Low, the minister in charge of governance and integrity, said he had advised Najib to consider current circumstances some of which implicate him and the possibility of negative reactions at the conference. “He was advised that if he comes, he might face fierce activists. I have to advise him. I said, I can go, but if you want to, you can. "But what I (see) here is that the crowd is quite civil,” Low said. Kuala Lumpur is hosting the ongoing IACC and Najib was listed as speaker of the keynote address. Speaking to conference delegates, Low said he gave Najib this advice because of the current atmosphere and out of safety and security reasons for the prime minister. The minister explained Najib's absence from the conference after he was asked by a delegate why the prime minister had pulled out from officiating the event. Low said if Najib were to come, he would be present in his capacity as the head of a country and protocol would have to be adhered to. It was reported previously that Najib had a prior commitment and would therefore not be attending the IACC. This had prompted DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang to say that Malaysia's hosting of the global conference would be a "disgrace" if the prime minister himself, did not attend. Lim had also urged Najib to use IACC as a platform to explain the allegations of corruption against him. Delegates at the conference today also grilled Low on issues related to government-owned state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), of which Najib is advisory board chairman, as well as the sacking of the former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin from the Cabinet over criticism of the debt-ridden firm. Low replied that Muhyiddin's sacking involved politics. “I'm not the prime minister. It's not just about the issue, but politics as well. There are also political implications," he said. Low was one of the two speakers at a session at the conference today, entitled “Country Experiences in Dealing with Governance and Corruption”. The other speaker was Korea's Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission deputy director Kwak Jin-Young. The session was moderated by Transparency International-Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar. The conference at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre ends on Friday. Touted as a premier global gathering of anti-corruption stakeholders, the IACC is held once every two years and this year drew 1,000 delegates from 130 countries. – September 2, 2015