14 September 2016•Update: 17 September 2016
By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian electoral reform group Bersih says it plans a fifth edition of street protests next month to demand institutional reforms in the country and the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The statement comes on the back of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) being named in a U.S. Justice Department civil lawsuit, which alleges that more than $3.5 billion was misappropriated from the Razak-founded state fund 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB), whose advisory council he chaired.
On May 2, senior government minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan confirmed that MO1 is Razak, one week after nearly 1,000 protesters marched in the heart of the Malaysian capital calling for the then unconfirmed high-ranking government official’s arrest.
In a press conference in capital Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, the chair of Bersih -- "clean" in Malay -- Maria Chin Abdullah said it would urge Razak to take full responsibility for the 1MDB scandal.
She said the Nov. 19 rally was no longer an option, but a necessity, as Malaysians had to make a strong stand against what she saw as "grand corruption and a betrayal of trust".
"So getting rid of Najib is one of our demands, but at the end of the day, you can bring in many leaders but if they do not support the reform agenda they cannot be our leaders," she stressed.
Abdullah added that the rally would be preceded by a nationwide roadshow in six states, beginning Oct. 1, in which Bersih would help explain why it was important to continue fighting for change.
Bersih 4 ran from Aug. 29- Aug. 30 last year, and reported to have attracted more than 200,000 protesters calling for Razak's resignation.
The rally occurred on the back of news that a $681 million political donation was allegedly paid by Middle East royals into Razak's personal bank accounts.
In July 2015, the Wall Street Journal and whistle blower site Sarawak Report released reports quoting documents -- which they reported to be from an ongoing probe into 1MDB's affairs -- claiming $700 million (or 2.67 billion Ringgit) moved among 1MDB-linked government agencies, banks and entities before finally ending up in Razak’s personal accounts in five separate deposits.
Razak immediately said that he had not swindled funds for personal gain -- as alleged by political opponents -- be they from 1MDB, the finance ministry's SRC International -- a former 1MDB subsidiary -- or other entities.
A month later, the Attorney-General Chambers ruled that the funds were political donations to the Razak-led United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to help the party remain in power during the last general election.
Politicians within UMNO proudly declared that the funds came from "Middle East Royals" who wanted UMNO to retain control.
Razak, however, kept silent on the matter, saying political donations were confidential and he would only reveal the donors if opposition parties agreed to follow suit.
On Jan. 26, Malaysia’s Attorney General Apandi Ali, ruled out wrongdoing by Razak in connection with the “political donation".
