KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) has been told to clarify his "misleading" statement linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) this Wednesday (March 9).

       "I have written to Pekan (Najib is the Pekan MP) and asked him to explain himself," Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun said in Parliament on Monday (March 7).

       "I have also requested the Finance Minister to explain what he said in the House the other day," he added.

       Azhar was responding to a question by RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) on whether or not Najib would be referred to Parliament's Rights and Privileges Committee for allegedly misleading the House on the repayment of 1MDB debts.

       Rayer was referring to a notice submitted by Tony Pua (PH-Damansara) to the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (March 3) to cite Najib to the committee.

       Last Wednesday (March 2), Najib, when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address, claimed that the previous and current administrations had yet to repay 1MDB's debt amounting to some RM32bil.

       However, the following day, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz informed the House that Najib's claim that the government had yet to pay "a single sen" of 1MDB's principal debt was baseless.

       This was because the principal debt would only mature between 2022 and 2039, Tengku Zafrul said.

       The Finance Minister told the House the government had paid back RM6.5bil in interest on the 1MDB debts.

       Meanwhile, Rayer urged Azhar to resolve the matter as soon as possible as it had a bearing on the Johor state polls.

       "The rakyat in Johor are now confused and want to know the truth," he said.

       Voting in the Johor state election will be on March 12.

       Earlier, during his debate on the Royal Address, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh) claimed that Najib had misled the House with claims that not even one sen of the people's money was used to repay 1MDB's debt.