Another petition against Najib to remove portrait at UK’s Nottingham University

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is listed as a 'famous alumni' at Nottingham University, but a petition has been initiated to remove a portrait of him from the campus wall. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, March 9, 2016.A petition has been started to lobby Nottingham University, United Kingdom, to remove the portrait of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from a wall at his alma mater.

The petition, initiated by one Cassandra Hooi at www.change.org, is aimed at the university's Malaysian Society to lobby the institution to remove the 2m-high portrait from a wall at its King's Meadow campus.

Hooi said the petition was "an expression of a collective act of disagreement on the prime minister refusing to answer for the suspicious circumstances surrounding the transfer of the RM 2.6 billion into his account".

"This simple act is capable of sending a strong message to our PM that it is time for him to answer truthfully and clearly to the allegations.

"The University of Nottingham shares good relations with our PM seeing that he was an alumnus, hence once the removal of that portrait is made public, it will be a strong and significant symbol of our collective disagreement towards our PM's unsatisfactory responses," she said in the petition.

Najib studied at Nottingham University before returning to Malaysia at the age of 23 to contest in a parliamentary by-election after the death of his father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. He has been retained as Pekan MP since then, and became prime minister in 2009.

The university's website lists Najib as one of its "famous alumni". 

Hooi's petition included an overview of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal which has made international headlines and the "less desirable" responses by the government to the fiasco.

The petition also highlighted the replacement of the attorney-general amid speculation that there had been a charge sheet drafted against Najib; the Cabinet reshuffle when some members of the Cabinet had begun criticising him; and unsatisfactory answers by the government in response to the status of the money and its source.

"As of now, the PM has not been held accountable for these vast monetary transactions. The newly appointed A-G has decided not to charge anybody citing the fact that the money received was a mere political donation.

"The ethics of such a claim is certainly questionable but alas, with the A-G refusing to charge the PM, we are left with a situation whereby our PM may never have to answer questions in regards to this suspected money laundering.

"As regular lay-people, many of us may feel helpless against holding Najib to account for the money in his personal bank account," the petition read.

"Collectively, we hold more power to speak up against this than we realise. As some of you may be aware, in the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (UK), there is a huge portrait of our prime minister on one of the wall of its campuses (Kings Meadow) which stands at the height of 2 metres."

The petitioner said a motion to the Malaysian Society to lobby the university to remove the portrait would be submitted next Wednesday during the society's annual general meeting (AGM).

The deadline to submit the motion for debate during the AGM is today.

"We are aware that the motion may not be approved for debate, hence this petition needs more than 100 signatures to show to the society that this issue is worth considering at AGM.

"If the motion is approved, it will be debated during the AGM itself and whether it will be passed will be subject to what the majority votes for (which hopefully, will be to take down the portrait)," the petition said.

As of 3.30pm, the petition had garnered more than 800 signatures.

It also urged Nottingham University students to register as members of the Malaysian Society in order to cast their votes at the AGM next week. – March 10, 2016.