Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - It looks like Mahathir Mohamad's prediction will come true - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim may let off the hook disgraced ex-premier Najib Razak after flip-flopping on an already-advanced corruption trial against Zahid Hamidi, the current deputy prime minister.
"The old man always used to say Anwar would release Najib and so he would pass the premiership to Anwar only after Najib was jailed," an insider from the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"The secret deal that Anwar, Najib and Zahid allegedly struck before the 2022 general election now looks to be undeniable. It is a great disappointment to voters, especially Pakatan supporters. To everyone now, it would be like Anwar's anti-corruption stance is a fake."
FAKE, INSINCERE? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, THIS IS POLITICS!
Perhaps what stings the most is how Anwar, who had denied that a new law for house arrest was to pave the way for Najib to spend the rest of his jail term at his luxurious home, had rushed to welcome an unexpected apology made by Najib on Thursday (October 24) over the 1MDB debacle.
The multi-billion dollar corruption scandal not only plunged Malaysia into global infamy as one of the most corrupt countries in the world but also pushed the national debt beyond the RM1 trillion mark for the first time ever. Stunned and shattered, the local economy is still feeling the effects of the financial disaster that saw billions of dollars siphoned out and their whereabouts still undiscovered.
Even 'barking dogs' within the Anwar administration are guarded about the PM's response, fearing a public backlash that may cost them their own political credibility.
"This shows Anwar is a great statesman despite enduring hardship and persecution,” said RSN Rayer, a Member of Parliament from ally party DAP, in a statement.
“I’m just afraid that if we accept Najib’s apology, the rakyat (citizenry) will not forgive us.”
WILL MALAY VOTERS FORGIVE ANWAR OR RUN FURTHER TO PAS?
VIDEO - For Najib & Rosmah - the delayed spoils of GE16? House arrest for duo after DNAA for Zahid? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FWEBr1Ih5c
Self-serving or not, perhaps only the coming general election due by 2027, can tell if the DAP and Rayer are right. For sure, public anger is on the boil and the only ones happy are Najib's supporters and Anwar's own stalwarts in his PKR party. Yet if Najib, who failed to get a full pardon from the King but only a halving of a 12-year jail sentence, can spend the balance of his term in the freedom of his plush home, they believe that Anwar and Umno will be able beat back the strong advances made by the PN opposition bloc, which includes the Pas and Bersatu parties.
"The Najib camp in Umno have been boasting about it for a while now. They claim that if 'Bossku' (Najib's nickname) is freed, then the sky is limit for Malays and Malaysia. For me, it's true Najib did a great job for economic growth when he was PM but he did an even greater job for corruption for himself, his family, his sidekicks and his cronies," said the insider.
"So don't make me laugh. How insincere and fake is Najib's apology and Anwar's response don't count in politics. The dynamics there are so toxic the determinants will be the same cocktail of racial and religious championing that has kept the country lagging for so long. Of course, it may push the Malays to seek further refuge with Pas, which to them represents at least some form of religious morality or righteousness. But who knows? Maybe Malays being the biggest voting bloc are already able to see that Pas, while okay as a Muslim religious group, is too backward and has almost zero know-how on how to lead the government. They might throw their lot with Umno again especially with Bersatu imploding with power struggles and infighting. And if they do, then Anwar who has almost no Malay support, benefits and will most likely get to stay PM again - that is if Najib or Umno doesn't backstab him."
'IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE'
While Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, whom Anwar's government had discharged from 47 corruption charges, is the current Umno president, Najib as former president still commands great power within the party, which had ruled Malaysia for some six decades.
Umno's hegemony was so strong few could believe it could ever be dislodged from power. But a pact led by the 99-year-old Mahathir, the legendary two-time prime minister, did it in 2018. The country was overjoyed to see Najib, whose corruption in the 1MDB scandal had gone too far, vanquished and his Umno party thrown into near political oblivion.
As such it is seen as nothing less than a betrayal of the most ruthless kind that Anwar, who while in the opposition had for decades repeatedly promised socio-economic as well as anti-corruption reforms, could now sink so low as to conspire with the two icons in Umno that represent the worst of the once-mighty party's excesses and abuses - just to grab the PM's post he had coveted since getting the sack from Mahathir in 1997.
During that time when Malaysia and many parts of Asia had been shell-shocked and blasted almost into defeat by the Asian Financial Crisis, Anwar was the protege, deputy premier as well as deputy Umno president to his then mentor Mahathir, who was in his first premiership and the reigning Umno president.
Anwar had then led a group of 'young Turks' in Umno, that included Najib and Zahid, who were accused of scheming and plotting the authoritarian Mahathir's overthrow. But their efforts failed when Mahathir, with the help of his loyal lieutenant Daim Zainuddin, retaliated by sacking Anwar from all positions and convicting him of his first sodomy offence. Instead of standing by Anwar, Najib and Zahid quickly reversed gears to pledge loyalty to Mahathir, who even then was seen as the grand old man of Malaysia's cut-throat and treachery-riddled political landscape.
"I guess it takes one to know one and Mahathir knew Anwar, Najib and Zahid through and through. He never trusted Anwar after that, always disliked Zahid but helped Najib to become PM because he felt a debt of gratitude to Najib's dad Tun Razak, who was the one who gave him his break into the top tiers of power," said the insider.
'I TOLD YOU SO' BUT MAHATHIR'S IN HOSPITAL NOW
VIDEO - Mahathir's legacy in view as he enters hospital - but will it be his final trip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmBN7fbTXA8
In politics, it is often said no one is ever an enemy or friend forever and this truism rang true even between Anwar, Najib and Zahid. In 2014, when his good friends Najib and Zahid were in power, Anwar found himself in jail again for his second sodomy offence.
So it was that when in 2018, Mahathir found himself lacking sufficient power to topple the exceedingly corrupt regime led by Najib, he struck an alliance with Anwar, then serving a second sodomy jail sentence, to lead the Pakatan Harapan coalition that had been helmed by Anwar to fight Umno and its erstwhile unbreakable BN coalition in the 14th general election.
In exchange, Mahathir promised to pass over the PM's baton to Anwar before the five-year electoral term was up. However when a midway timeline came up, as claimed by Anwar's belligerent supporters who had kept pushing and manipulating for a transfer of power, Mahathir refused on the grounds that there was never any timeframe stipulated or agreed on.
In the landmark election battle that symbolized the tsunami of pent-up hopes for new beginnings for the ailing country, the unbeatable Umno-BN was finally beaten. Against all odds, Malaysians put their bets on 'old trademark' Mahathir, who despite his dark sides of draconian rule, oppressive and racist methods, is also known for his spine, fighting spirit and disciplined governance.
Mahathir, who was admitted to the hospital a week ago, has yet to comment on the latest development but would he be wrong to say "I told you so!".
Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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