纳吉布应就可疑资金接受调查

This weekend thousands of Malaysians massed on the streets of Kuala Lumpur calling for the resignation of Najib Razak, the prime minister. They want answers to questions related to nearly $700m found in his private bank account. Mr Najib has denied any wrongdoing, saying that the cash was from a Middle Eastern benefactor, though he will not say who. He has also denied that the money has anything to do with 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, a hugely indebted national development fund whose opaque transactions have raised suspicions among Malaysians. Mr Najib is chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board.

上周末，数千名马来西亚人在吉隆坡街头聚集，呼吁马来西亚总理纳吉布拉扎克(Najib Razak)辞职。他们要求有关他个人银行账户中近7亿美元资金的问题得到解答。纳吉布否认自己存在任何过错，他表示这笔资金来自一位中东捐赠者，但他不愿透露捐赠者的身份。他还否认这笔资金与“1MDB”(1Malaysia Development Berhad)有关，1MDB是一家负债累累的国家发展基金，其不透明的交易引起了马来西亚人的怀疑。纳吉布担任该基金顾问委员会的主席。

If Malaysia were a more robust democracy, Mr Najib would have been obliged to explain himself, or step down. Instead, he has moved decisively against the bodies that were meant to be investigating him. The auditor-general has been pushed aside.

如果马来西亚是一个民主制度更健全的国家，纳吉布将被迫亲自做出解释，否则就下台。但他却对应该负责调查他的机构采取了强硬的行动。总审计长已被革职。

Conveniently, four heads of a task force co-ordinating the investigation have been promoted. Their probe has been halted, at least for the moment. Mr Najib sacked his deputy for daring to suggest he might have a case to answer. Two newspapers leading the investigative charge have been suspended.

协调此次调查的工作小组的4名负责人顺势获得升迁。调查已停止，至少目前如此。纳吉布罢免了副总理的职务，因后者大胆提出他可能需要做出详细解释。两家率先报道纳吉布面临调查的报纸被暂停营业。

Those illiberal tendencies were back this weekend. The website of Bersih, the group organising the demonstrations, was blocked. Kuala Lumpur authorities refused organisers permission to stage a protest. It also banned demonstrators from wearing yellow T-shirts, which have become an opposition symbol. The next thing, it will be prohibiting bananas.

上周末，压制自由的倾向回归。组织此次示威的Bersih网站被屏蔽。马来西亚政府拒绝批准组织者举行抗议，还禁止示威者穿着黄色T恤衫——“黄衫”已成为反对派的标志。下一步就得是封杀香蕉了。

Mr Najib now needs to explain himself. If the money in his bank account is really a donation, he owes it to Malaysians to say who gave it to him and what he has spent it on. Otherwise, it would be natural to suspect that the donor might want something in return.

纳吉布现在需要亲自做出解释。如果他银行账户中的这笔资金确实来自捐赠，那么他有责任告诉马来西亚人民捐赠者是谁，以及这笔资金被他用在了何处。否则，人们自然要怀疑捐赠者可能希望获得某种回报。