David Cameron criticised for Malaysia visit amid corruption scandal

David Cameron was facing mounting criticism today for a high-profile trade visit to Malaysia as the country’s embattled prime minister Najib Razak sacked his deputy and dumped his attorney general amid a deepening corruption scandal.

^{David Cameron is currently in Jakarta, where he visited the Grand Sunda Kelapa Mosque}

The Prime Minister will arrive in Malaysia for talks on Thursday as the country reels from a multi-billion dollar scandal engulfing a controversial state investment bank founded and headed by Mr Najib.

As the fallout from the crisis exploded, Malaysian opposition leaders slammed Mr Cameron for pressing ahead with the visit at the end of a tour of four Asian countries designed to promote British trade and pursue anti-terror programmes.

^{David Cameron is on a tour of four Asian countries}

“Cameron should have cancelled the trip in order to avoid the association with Najib,” Tian Chua an MP and vice-president of the People's Justice Party, told The Telegraph. “The British prime minister’s visit will be seen as a gesture to endorse Najib.

^{Critics have also highlighted the Najib government’s crackdown on the media}

“On Thursday Cameron will be standing beside him praising him uncritically as a Muslim moderate and committing the UK to cooperate with Najib on trade liberalisation and a mutual security agenda.

Mr Tian said the Malaysian people would witness the "hypocrisy" of another Western leader who advocates liberal democratic values at home but promotes repressive leaders in the Third World.

“The Malaysian people expect the British PM to hold the moral high ground and to send an unequivocal message to Najib that he cannot enjoy the privilege of sitting among Western democratic leaders if he continues his heavy-handed repression at home.”

Another prominent opposition figure told The Telegraph off-the-record that the timing of the visit was “nuts” for Mr Cameron. “It boggles the mind that he would be coming here to discuss trade and security at this time,” said the politician.

Critics have also highlighted the Najib government’s crackdown on the media, including a British-based investigative website, and use of controversial sedition laws to pursue dissenting politicians, journalists and lawyers.

^{Anwar Ibrahim casts his vote beside his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail}

The country’s most prominent opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has been jailed after two long-running prosecutions for alleged sodomy.

His daughter Nurul Izzah, a leader of her father’s party, urged Mr Cameron to use the visit to raise the criticism with his host.

^{Nurul Izzah is leading the opposition party in her father's absence}

“We know that the rule of law is a basic principle of democratic life in the UK,” she told The Telegraph. “It would be very valuable if we could hear him use this visit to talk about the importance of such democratic traditions.”

In a further embarrassment for Mr Cameron, he was to deliver a speech in Singapore condemning corruption on the same day that Mr Najib announced a shock cabinet reshuffle to replace ministers who had ignored his orders not to speak about the Malaysian scandal.

The government also announced that Abdul Gani Patail, the attorney-general leading investigations into the scandal, had been replaced on "health grounds".

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Mr Patail was investigating whether $700 million from the 1MDB state investment fund had ended up in Mr Najib’s personal accounts.

The Malaysian leader has strongly denied those reports and denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Najib responded in a televised statement on Tuesday by saying cabinet ministers airing differences in the open could turn public opinion against the government.

"The decision to replace Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was very difficult, but leadership is about doing what you think is right," Mr Najib said.

"I can accept differences in opinion and criticisms as part of the decision-making process, but these differences in opinion should not be made in an open forum that can affect public perception of the government and the country."

Mr Jajib also serves as finance minister and heads the advisory board of 1MDB, which has debts of $11 billion and is the subject of mismanagement and corruption investigations.

The most high-profile victim of the purge was Muhyiddin Yassin, his deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was sacked a day after Mr Najib order ministers not to comment on the scandal.

Mr Muhyiddin had warned that the country’s ruling coalition could lose power over the 1MDB scandal. Mr Najib’s UMNO party, which represents the majority ethnic Malay community, has led Malaysia’s coalition governments since independence in 1957.

Mr Najib has faced a growing chorus of calls to resign, including repeated such demands from Mahathir Mohamed, his former mentor and a long-time predecessor as prime minister.

With the prime minister angrily denying any wrongdoing, his government has cracked down on media that have investigated the 1MDB allegations. A Malaysian newspaper has been suspended and access has been blocked to Sarawak Report, a British-based whistleblower website.

The website is run by Clare Rewcastle-Brown, a Briton who grew up in the Malaysian province of Sarawak and is married to the brother of Gordon Brown, the former prime minister.

The website has earned the wrath of the Malaysian authorities for a series of exposes about alleged corruption in the country. Protest petitions have been handed in at the British High Commission and the Home Minister, Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, even said that he was seeking a case to justify an extradition request.

“It’s a preposterous idea and shows how desperately they are lashing out,” Ms Rewcastle-Brown told the Telegraph.

She said that she had written to the Foreign Office to criticise the visit to Malaysia by Mr Cameron but received no response. “It is entirely inappropriate for the British prime minister to be delivering what will be seen as a vote of approval for Najib when he is under such pressure to resign,” she said.

“It’s not just the 1MDB scandal. Britain should not be turning a blind eye to the undermining of the rule of law and the persecution of Anwar Ibrahim.

Mr Cameron is due to hold a one-to-one meeting with Mr Najib after arriving from Vietnam and then attend a dinner with the Malaysian prime minister before flying back to Britain.

The focus of the talks will be trade deals and combating Islamic extremism. About 200 Malaysian radicals are believed to have joined Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.

The Malaysian government has introduced tough anti-terrorism legislation with the encouragement of Britain and the US. But watchdog groups such as the International Commission of Jurists have condemned the laws as draconian and open to abuse to pursue political foes.

^{Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, has sacked his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, left}

State-run Bernama news agency said the premier also sacked attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, who was involved in investigations into corruption allegations related to the Najib-linked company.

The prime minister and 1MDB have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Najib has claimed he is the victim of "political sabotage" in an orchestrated smear campaign designed to topple him. He did not take questions when he announced the re-shuffle but in a televised statement explaining the changes, he said that differences in opinion were "not supposed to be expressed in an open forum, which is against the concept of collective responsibility in the government".

He called the decision on the sackings "a very difficult one, but I had to do it so a strong team can move forward".

The sackings come just two days before David Cameron is set to visit the south-east Asian country, as part of his four-country tour of the region. The British Prime Minister is currently in neighbouring Singapore, where he is due to speak today against corruption.

^{PM Najib Razak announces the appointment of new Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, left, and Malaysia's Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa, right}