COMMENT | One-and-a-half years have elapsed since the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the 1MDB scandal was submitted to the cabinet.

Yet, this report has only been kept sealed under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) and none of the people involved have been charged in court.

I find this quite disturbing myself, especially since other countries have already charged their citizens for the role they played in this mother of scandals involving senior bank and government officers.

In an interview with BBC a year ago, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan told the whole world that the "Malaysian Official 1" mentioned in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filings is none other than Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

There is no secret about this, and yet we are still seeing a play of musical chairs between the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

‘Crisis of confidence’

This despite the call made by the Conference of Rulers in October 2015 in which all nine state rulers and the other four governors urged that the “findings of the investigation must be reported comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the government which shall not at all concern facts and the truth.”

As pointed out in the statement, this has resulted in a “crisis of confidence” in the people towards the government of the day. Perhaps, it is also time for the Conference of Rulers to issue another public statement on this matter urging the government to be more open about the scandal.

The whole world appears to know what is happening but not ordinary Malaysians. We are left guessing which is chicken and which is egg. At the very least, the PAC report should be released for public viewing. Otherwise, people will continue to speculate over every hint of corruption and abuse.

This is why no matter how much Najib tries to convince the people that his recent visit to the White House has yielded some goodies, if any, for Malaysia, people are just not convinced.

Ferris wheel

I find that we are being taken on a merry-go-round or, perhaps more appropriately, a Ferris wheel. Each time a public statement is made, it is either a “new high” that makes the public anticipate that the 1MDB truths will be revealed, or their expectations are simply not met...