PUTRAJAYA (Jan 23): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Thursday sought to portray a contrast between his leadership style and the 'work-in-silo' culture in 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Testifying in his defence during the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial, Najib said he had started initiatives to encourage more cooperation and communication between government departments while he helmed the nation from 2009 till 2018.
The now-imprisoned 71-year-old highlighted the National Blue Ocean Shift programme which he described as being designed to break down the "walls" between government departments.
“It's never been the culture [to work] in-silo,” Najib said. “It’s a disadvantage because you will not be working in tandem with others,” he said.
Government decisions affect other units, organisations and agencies, he noted, stressing that he was always against working in-silo.
Prosecution witnesses who had worked with the 1MDB management said that the troubled strategic development firm regularly practiced work-in-silo and a need-to-know basis, a culture that facilitated misappropriations.
Najib, who is being re-examined by his lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said that he promoted "a culture of togetherness".
Bakke resignation akin to 'running away from problem'
On Thursday, Najib also lamented Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh's resignation as chairman of 1MDB, saying it was akin to "running away from the problem".
He said the board of directors could have terminated the management or reported issues to the Ministry of Finance. Najib, in his capacity as the then finance minister, was the sole shareholder of 1MDB.
Bakke left 1MDB over mismanagement of the joint venture with Saudi Arabia-based PetroSaudi International Ltd.
A slew of requirements by the board of directors for 1MDB to comply with before moving ahead with the joint venture were not only unheeded, but resulted in US$700 million transferred to Good Star Ltd on the grounds that the company was a Petrosaudi affiliate. Good Star, as it turns out, was controlled by fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).
Bakke said the time constraints to approve the joint venture, coupled with the management’s blatant disregard of the board’s advice and the split-remittance, prompted his resignation on Oct 19, 2009 only a few weeks after his reappointment on Aug 11.
He had instructed his secretary to personally send the resignation letter directly to the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya. Prior to that, he sent an SMS to Najib detailing the mismanagement, only to be met with silence.
Bakke, the prosecution's 15th witness, told the court that he did not push the matter further because he suspected that Najib was involved with the purported misappropriation. Previously on the stand, Najib testified that he did not receive Bakke's SMS and that his resignation letter was bereft of details.
Najib says not the first PM to use external consultants
Najib also re-addressed payments of alleged 1MDB funds, which he insists were donations from the Middle East, to "keep the public informed of his government's policies".
Najib said he chose to engage with local consultancy firms because they could deliver the same standard of work and a lower price.
Consultancy firms engaged include ORB Solutions Sdn Bhd that was given RM2 million and Semarak Konsortium Satu Sdn Bhd, which received RM 303,000. The firms, among others, were tasked with communicating government policies and narratives to the public via additional platforms.
Najib said that the firms replaced international consultancy Apco contracted earlier during his premiership. He explained that his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had also engaged with Apco, which he continued with in 2009.
However, the use of Apco courted controversy over the public relation firm's alleged ties to Israel, which led to Najib terminating their services.
Najib repeats has no doubt money was donation
Najib reiterated that at all material times, he did not have a "shadow of doubt" that he would indeed receive monies from the Middle East as promised by the late Saudi King Abdullah.
He said that if he knew the funds were from questionable sources and did nothing about it, it would be akin to committing hara-kiri.
"If I knew and didn't do anything about it, it would be creating trouble for myself,” Najib said. “That would in fact be in a sense committing suicide.”
His counsel, Shafee then suggested it would be like hara-kiri, to which Najib agreed.
In this trial, Najib faces four abuse of power and 21 money-laundering charges.
The trial before presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.