Najib sends letter demanding retraction to former MCA president over 1MDB comments

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has demanded a retraction and apology from former Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) presidentTun Dr Ling Liong Sik. PHOTO: REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has demanded a retraction and apology from former Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik over a claim Dr Ling made about Datuk Seri Najib and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue.

The Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak law firm that represents Najib has sent a letter to Dr Ling, accusing him of defamation over the remarks that were published in news articles on Saturday.

The letter demanded that Dr Ling retract and apologise within seven days over the remarks, The Star reported on Tuesday (Oct 6).

The remarks were made in an article entitled "MCA's Liong Sik joins call for Najib's ouster for allegedly putting people's money in his own pocket" which were published in the Malay Mail online portal and remains accessible to the public on the internet.

Dr Ling was quoted saying in the article that he agreed with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's demand for Najib to resign, claiming that Najib "has taken people's money and put it in his own personal accounts."

Najib has been embroiled in a political storm after Malaysian authorities probing 1MDB found that some US$670 million (S$956 million) had been transferred into bank accounts in his name. Najib has said the money consisted of political donations.

Former premier Mahathir Mohamad has also called on Najib to step down over the debt-laden fund's performance.

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