Written by Stan Lee, Politics NowMalaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Imagine this! A Malaysian parent may soon be telling his children this - be like our former prime minister Najib Razak! Steal billions of dollars, plunder the people's wealth and still be a "model of rehabilitation and a path towards national healing"!
Believe it or not, in Malaysia's often twisted and dark realpolitik, that's the propaganda now being spread by supporters of the jailed ex-prime minister as well as groups wishful to get into the good books of current prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. Indeed a perceived attempt to move Najib into house detention and to free him of still outstanding criminal charges is shifting into even higher gear despite failing to get the court to acquit him of corruption in the massive 1MDB debacle just a few days ago.
"That was just a small setback. As far as the political chessboard is concerned, those pieces are still in place. A lot of people see it as just a matter of timing," a political pundit told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"Perhaps the Anwar administration tested the wind and found it too high risk to ram through a DNAA (or a Discharge Not Amounting to an Acquittal) now. The public objection was too strong, people were genuinely horrified that Anwar and his Pakatan Harapan coalition could actually think of doing something so unprincipled. Perhaps the focus is now making sure the House Arrest law gets tabled and Najib can wait in the comfort and luxury of his home for the rest to unfold. There are still many levels including the Appeals Court and also the Federal Court to go through for the 1MDB trial."
THE NAJIB APOLOGY
That there could have been some form of understanding between the ex-premier and the current premier remains speculation but public suspicion and cynicism are high and refuse to be soothed away.
"Najib’s apology – his first since he was arrested and charged in July 2018 – came just days after Malaysian government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said it would introduce a law allowing house arrest for some offences. The hastily and prematurely announcement made while presenting the Budget 2025 has raised suspicion that power-hungry Anwar desperately wanted to free Najib to ensure Umno’s continuous support," wrote the Finance Twitter in a report.
"However, in order for a house arrest to be rewarded to Najib, his 25 charges over the 1MDB corruption and money laundering should be dismissed before the Deepavali. It would leave Anwar in a precarious position to proceed with the house arrest law, which clearly will be designed with some loopholes specifically to cater for the crook, while at the same time Najib has to defend himself in the court," the report added.
SECRET DEAL?
While attention will surely swivel to the proposed House Arrest bill, no real details have been made public and even the Cabinet seems unsure as to what extent amendments will be made to quietly enable the new law to favor Najib's 'escape' from the spartan Kajang Prison into the comfort of his palatial residence where he can spend the remainder of his reduced six-year jail term till 2028.
"Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah had refused to be made a fool by the political circus in the country as the executive branch was piling pressure on the judiciary to free disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak. On the eve of Hindu festival of lights Divali, also known as Deepavali, the High Court ordered Mr Najib to defend himself against 25 charges over the infamous multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal," wrote the Finance Twitter report.
"The judge crushed the hope of a crowd of supporters of the former Umno or United Malays National Organisation president when he declared his decision after determining that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case – a term used to describe a case with enough proof to proceed to trial or judgment. And it’s not hard to understand why the defence was “extremely disappointed”.
"It means the prosecutors had established a case for 4 charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering for misappropriating RM2.3 billion from 1MDB. With prima facie established against Najib, the burden of proof has been shifted from the prosecution to the defence. The burden of proof on the prosecution team is over after successfully established the fact beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty," added the report.
"The U.S.-DOJ investigation results say that over US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from the 1MDB fund, with some of the money used to buy the private jet, a super yacht, Picasso paintings, jewellery and real estate. Not only Najib appointed himself chairman of the board of advisers of 1MDB, he also paid himself RM120,000 per year as allowances – on top of plundering the US$4.5 billion (RM19.7 billion).
"But the biggest reason why (Najib's) overrated attorney Shafee and Najib himself were incredibly shocked with the High Court’s decision on Oct 30 was due to a secret deal that Najib was supposed to walk away a free man after a “rare public apology” last week for his role in mishandling the 1MDB scandal – interpreted as a softener for an acquittal by Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah," added the report.
AS UMNO'S POWER RETURNS, ANWAR'S TO FADE?
The once-mighty Umno is a key component party in Anwar's unity government. Without its support, the 77-year-old Anwar would not have been able to form the government after his Pakatan coalition failed to win a simple majority in the 2022 general elections.
Now controlled by factions loval to Najib and current Umno president Zahid Hamidi, the Malay-centric party has since stabilized after losing its political dominance in 2018 as Malay voters opted to punish it over Najib's 1MDB excesses and abuses.
It managed to win two recent by-elections convincingly and the victories have placed a powerful bargaining tool in Najib and Zahid's hands against Anwar. Just a day ago, senior Umno leaders confidently rebuffed overtures to form a Malay unity coalition with other Malay-based parties such as Pas and Bersatu , which currently leads the main PN opposition bloc.
Anwar, who despite being PM has failed to win Malay support for his PKR party, is seen as having little choice but to be 'subservient' to Umno despite his Pakatan coalition holding some 82 seats in the federal Parliament versus Umno's 30.
"You can't win a general election without Malay support because they are the biggest voting bloc. If in the past they voted for other Malay parties like Pas and Bersatu, these were protest votes against Umno's excesses. But Umno has stabilized and when Umno is stable, Anwar's unity government is also more stable. Having said that, Anwar will increasingly find his own power clipped because he has to keep bowing to the wishes of Najib and Zahid camps," said the pundit.
Written by Stan Lee, Politics NowMalaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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