'Taib's huge personal wealth should be source of embarrassment'

Harakahdaily

Oct 3: Prime Minister Najib Razak and the Barisan Nasional government should feel embarrassed over the excessive personal wealth of Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, which now has turned into an international issue, said PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub. Salahuddin was referring to a statement by former Australian premier Kevin Rudd, now the foreign minister, at the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimetaking, which took responsibility over Taib's stash of wealth there. The matter has been referred to the Australian Attorney General’s Department for action after a request by whistleblower website Sarawak Report, PKR's Sarawak chief Baru Bian and Bruno Manser Fund head Lukas Straumann, calling for an investigation into Taib's much publicised foreign assets. Taib’s wealth has also not gone unnoticed in Switzerland, Germany and also Canada. According to Salahuddin, such an embarrassment could be avoided had the government acted quickly when Taib's lifestyle was exposed. “Prime Minister (Najib) is personally responsible on the matter as the government knew this all along. Not only did he failed to exhibit the will to act appropriately, Najib even appointed Taib to represent BN in Sarawak," said Salahuddin.