WHEN news filtered back that the potentially damaging dispute between 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) had been settled, Prime Minister Najib Razak’s mood lifted.
He and his advisers believe that the worst is over for an issue that has been a millstone for the PM, his family and friends.
Instead of being dragged through an embarrassing arbitration in London with Abu Dhabi and having all the dirt about the Malaysian company and the back story of international investigations and prominent names being replayed once again, the settlement gives Najib positive headlines and a story to take to the ground.
The main plank of the settlement calls for Malaysia to repay Abu Dhabi US$1.2 billion before year-end. The amount represents a loan and accumulated interest charges on a bailout financial package 1MDB received from Abu Dhabi’s IPIC in July 2015.
The bulk of the payment on the outstanding loan will come from the sale of “fund units” from Brazen Sky, a financial unit owned by 1MDB. The settlement also calls for both parties to enter into negotiations to resolve another dispute involving about US$3.5 billion in the form of cash advances and payments from 1MDB to IPIC.
The bulk of the payment on the outstanding loan will come from the sale of “fund units” from Brazen Sky, a financial unit owned by 1MDB. The settlement also calls for both parties to enter into negotiations to resolve another dispute involving about US$3.5 billion in the form of cash advances and payments from 1MDB to IPIC.
Najib’s advisers believe that this settlement could undercut money-laundering investigations by the US Department of Justice and Singapore over alleged misappropriation of funds from 1MDB.
And with elections expected to be called later this year, Najib’s team is confident that the settlement gives the PM a positive story to sell to Umno members, who, frankly, have been on the back foot since news of the 1MDB scandal broke more than two years ago.
Bertam assemblyman Shariful Azhar Othman said he can now tell his voters that the issues surrounding1MDB has been settled.
He said that the settlement also proved that the horror stories about 1MDB by the opposition were untrue.
Political analysts polled by The Malaysian Insight believed that issues surrounding 1MDB had already been factored in by a polarised electorate.
Opposition supporters are inclined to believe all the allegations about misappropriation of funds while Barisan Nasional supporters are happy to accept the government’s narrative that the RM2.6 billion was a donation to Najib by the Saudi Arabian government
Professor Mohammad Redzuan Othman, deputy chairman of Institute Darul Ehsan said the 1MDB issue had been played out in public for so long that Malaysians have adopted hardened positions on the matter. It is too late to move the political needle on this issue.
As for fence-sitters, they were generally not interested in politics or issues like 1MDB, he said, noting that the news of the dispute settlement with IPIC will be non-news for them.
In rural areas, voters put more weight on the party, instead of issues, said Mohamad Hisomuddin Bakar of Ilham Centre.
Try telling that to Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, the deputy president of PAS.
Last night, he issued a statement, rubbishing the use of the term “settlement”. He said it appeared that IPIC got everything it demanded and that taxpayers were saddled with a whopping bill of US$4.7 billion.
He noted that since 1MDB trumpeted the dispute resolution as part of its overall plan to rationalise the troubled company, perhaps it was time to make public the audit report on 1MDB.
Incidentally, this was his second statement in three days on 1MDB.
For the opposition and the chattering class, 1MDB remains a four-letter word with a foul stench. Nothing is going to change that.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
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