Focus on Najib risks ignoring systemic issues behind 1MDB scandal, says his brother Nazir

GEORGE TOWN – Narrowing the focus of the

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal to former prime minister Najib Razak

diverts attention from systemic issues, says his brother Tan Sri Nazir Razak.

Concerned over the issue, the prominent banker said there is a need to address the broader problems that led to the fiasco.

“The whole focus on 1MDB seems to be on one person only.

“One, I don’t think it is fair. Two, Malaysia needs to learn from all the systemic issues that the 1MDB crisis brought up,” he said during a segment of the Keluar Sekejap Lagi podcast series uploaded to TikTok on Oct 3.

Reflecting on the tension between him and Najib during the latter’s time as prime minister of Malaysia, Mr Nazir recalled how uncomfortable things became when the Terengganu Investment Authority, later known as 1MDB, issued a RM5billion (S$1.5 billion) bond in 2009.

“I was running a GLC bank and, of course, my brother was PM and finance minister.

“I had conversations with Najib and things got a bit uncomfortable between us, so it is a topic we kind of stopped talking about,” he said.

Mr Nazir also shared insight into his relationship with Najib now, revealing that he had visited his brother in prison several times.

“I always reminded him, ‘Look, whatever happened, you are my brother. I love you very much. I never wanted to bring you down. I was just very focused on this scandal happening at 1MDB and, whether you knew or not, you didn’t stop it’,” he said during the recording at Memorial Tun Abdul Razak, once his childhood home.

He recalled the advice he received from a friend when Najib took on the role of prime minister: “Don’t expect to be able to speak to your brother like you used to.”

Mr Nazir said this became evident to him when, during one visit to Najib’s office, he was greeted with “So, what have you got to complain about today?” before he could even speak. THE STAR/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK