All's well despite disagreements, says Najib's brother

Prime Minister Najib Razak (far left) and former Malaysian leader Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sharing a light moment with Mr Nazir Razak (centre) and Tun Abdullah's son Kamaluddin Abdullah (left) during the former prime minister's Hari Raya open house in P
Prime Minister Najib Razak (left) and former Malaysian leader Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sharing a light moment with Mr Nazir Razak (centre) and Tun Abdullah's son Kamaluddin Abdullah (right) during the former prime minister's Hari Raya open house in Putrajaya yesterday. PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

PUTRAJAYA • Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, who has been critical of the administration of his brother, Prime Minister Najib Razak, has said that all is well in the Razak household.

Mr Nazir also said he had voiced his concerns to his brother but would not give details.

"I had conversations with my brother. But I won't share them with you," he was quoted by Malaysian media as telling reporters at former prime minister Abdullah Badawi's Hari Raya open house in Putrajaya yesterday.

But he insisted that "all is okay" between him and Datuk Seri Najib despite his disagreements with the decisions of the latter's administration, the Malaysian Insider site reported.

Mr Nazir, who is chairman of banking group CIMB, has been critical of the debt-ridden state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Its board of advisers is headed by Mr Najib.

Mr Nazir has also been critical of the 1MDB directors' handling of allegations of irregularities at the firm, including the misappropriation of funds. He had at one point even said that they should resign for failing to actively dispel suspicions over its finances, reported the Malay Mail Online news website.

Yesterday, Mr Nazir also explained his condemnation last Friday of the Home Ministry's decision to suspend the permits of business papers The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily for their reporting of the 1MDB financial scandal on the basis that the reporting was "prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial" to public order, security and public and national interest.

He said he was not standing up for the publications but for "freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, that is all".

Mr Nazir is said to be planning to set up a civil society organisation to enable Malaysians to speak up on sociopolitical issues.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 27, 2015, with the headline All's well despite disagreements, says Najib's brother. Subscribe