PETALING JAYA, July 19 — PKR leaders want the authorities to investigate former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for what they allege as his negligence in dealing with the heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate that resulted in the seizure of Petronas assets abroad.

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and former Port Dickson MP Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah led the party in filing police reports against Najib.

Rafizi said he hopes the truth will come out from investigations, claiming that Najib has been getting away with saying whatever he wanted and passing blame on succeeding prime ministers starting with Tun Mahathir Mohammad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and incumbent Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

"Najib was allowed to say anything on the Sulu heirs' issue and was fast to divert the issue,” the former Pandan MP told reporters outside the Setiawangsa police station here.

He said the police report there was filed by Nik Nazmi and Danyal, and expects 150 more on the issue to be filed by other PKR colleagues all over the country.

Rafizi blamed the current legal standoff on the Najib administration, claiming the then Barisan Nasional (BN) government had stopped paying the RM5,300 yearly fee to the Sulu descendants in 2013 and refusing to respond when they issued the first legal notice demanding resumption of payment in 2017.

"But something as important as this, when you decide to make a decision, by right as the prime minister then, he should have known that it would have invited some kind of legal challenge,” he added.

The BN government was replaced by the Pakatan Harapan coalition which won the 2018 general election, and the problem was inherited by the subsequent governments led first by Muhyiddin and now Ismail Sabri.

In an immediate reaction to the police reports against him, Najib said the complaints only confirmed what he has said previously on the matter.

"If they cannot deny or do not lodge a police report then it is an acknowledgment that what I have written is correct and authentic,” the Pekan MP said on his Facebook account.

The issue stems from an 1878 contract signed between the Sulu sultanate descendants’ ancestors and a British trading company, in which land in Sabah was leased in exchange for financial compensation.

Earlier this month, the Paris Court of Appeal granted leave to Putrajaya’s application to suspend a previous ruling declaring Malaysia’s liability to a billion-ringgit settlement claimed by the Sulu sultan’s heirs.