KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 ― Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang has urged Umno to say sorry to the country for the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, before it can even consider taking on its role as a credible opposition party.

Umno has found itself in the Opposition for the first time since Independence in 1957, and much of the blame has been centred around the 1MDB scandal and the role of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in allegedly covering it up. 

“They have failed the country. They have failed the nation, “ he told Malay Mail in an interview yesterday.

Lim, for so long a symbol of opposition to Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno rule, has now found himself part of a ruling coalition in Pakatan Harapan (PH). 

Ever since PH won the polls and formed the government, it has set its sight on 1MDB. A special task force has been formed to recover the damages it has done to the country.

But Umno, he said, must purge themselves of their grave wrongdoings, because the party had allowed what he called the “1MDB charade” to go on for the last three years.

“In the whole world it was headline news. It was an international money laundering scandal.

“But in Malaysia it was a farce,” said the DAP parliamentary leader.

Lim said he did not want to see BN or Umno die off, as a healthy democracy required checks and balances.

But he did not see how Umno would be able to regain credibility to become and effective and constructive Opposition party.

He said Umno's recent claims that the RM114 million in cash seized by police investigating the 1MDB scandal showed Umno was unable to change or take responsibility for the wrongdoings of its leaders.

“That shows the DNA of kleptocracy is still there,” the Iskandar Puteri MP said.

https://www.malaymail.com/s/1635577/kit-siangs-advice-to-umno-apologise-for-1mdb-charade