KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad moved ahead briskly with the formation of his new government on Saturday, appointing three key ministers and saying he would reopen the investigation into the multi-billion dollar scandal at the state investment fund.
He made the comment hours after immigration authorities banned former premier Najib Razak, whose alleged ties to the 1MDB scandal led voters to turf him from office this week, from leaving the country.
Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and defected to the opposition to challenge Mr Najib, repeatedly called his rival a “thief” on the campaign trail and pledged to revisit the 1MDB issue if elected.
“We have placed certain restrictions on a number of people who may be involved in wrongdoing or in making wrong decisions," Dr Mahathir told reporters on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.
He confirmed he had ordered the travel restrictions on Mr Najib, and cited “whatever little information that justifies ourselves taking action, including detention, arrests or even preventing them from going abroad".
Dr Mahathir said he was instructing the auditor-general to remove any restrictions on publicising the details of a report from a local investigation into 1MDB, and planned to replace the attorney-general who helped Mr Najib keep the investigation contained, though he did not name a candidate for the role.
“I’ve given instructions to the police to remove the restrictions placed on it by the Official Secrets Act,” he said. “They will then submit the report to me. I will then study it.”
Mr Najib has consistently denied any personal links to the looting of an estimated $3.5 billion from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the fund he established in 2009.
Authorities in six countries have been investigating a number of people linked to the scandal, chief among them the Malaysian financier Jho Low, a friend of Mr Najib's stepson. Mr Low helped bankroll the latter's successful venture into Hollywood film production with The Wolf of Wall Street. Mr Low's current whereabouts are not known.
Dr Mahathir on Saturday began forming his cabinet by announcing three key ministerial posts. He named Lim Guan Eng as finance minister to help carry out an economic plan that will include the scrapping of the unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST), keeping an election pledge.
The prime minister also said a special council including Hong Kong-based Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok would be set up to advise the government.
Mr Lim, a chief minister of Penang state before the election, is the first ethnic Chinese to hold the powerful finance post in 44 years.
Mr Lim was a bitter foe of Dr Mahathir during the latter's earlier 22-year stint as prime minister and was thrown in jail twice. Dr Mahathir jailed Lim during a political crackdown in October 1987 that he said was aimed at preventing racial riots, and again in 1998 under the Sedition Act.
Muhyiddin Yassin was named home affairs minister and Mohammad Sabu will serve as defence minister. Other ministers will be named shortly.
The first three ministers appointed are leaders of three of the four parties in the coalition that routed the Najib-led Barisan Nasional that had governed Malaysia for 60 years.
Dr Mahathir said he plans to have a small cabinet of up to 25 members, while saying he may need to add ministers from the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak later.
Mr Lim hinted that the new administration would take a second look at deals entered into by his predecessors with Chinese interests, another sensitive issue with many voters.
“We want to review all contracts that are not in favour or do not benefit Malaysia,” he said in a briefing in Kuala Lumpur. “We are all Malaysians here. Our focus is to help Malaysians.”
Dr Mahathir has pledged to scrap the GST within 100 days, while also reintroducing fuel subsidies and raising minimum wages.
Those plans will undermine efforts to curb the budget deficit, economists have cautioned. Under Mr Najib, the deficit shrank to 3% of GDP.
Dr Mahathir has sought to reassure investors he will run a business-friendly administration, focusing on growing the economy and reducing debt. Financial markets had been betting on Mr Najib remaining in power, and the ringgit and stocks are set for more volatility when markets reopen on Monday.