Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - A sudden flurry of activity has sparked curiosity over whether the Malaysian King had given Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a kick to get moving as public outrage and concern grew over a bribery scandal implicating the Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor and several of his lawmakers.
"It is more likely Anwar started to realize how bad he looks by stonewalling but the way the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is now throwing blame on the whistleblower and how his communications minister and the police are reacting by forcing the removal of one of the clips raises even more questions," a veteran political watcher told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
The debacle revolves around a businessman, who despite admitting paying bribes, had decided to blow the whistle on Hajiji and eight other Sabah legislative assemblymen after they allegedly reneged on promises to get him a project.
The businessman, whose identity has still not been disclosed to the public, had presented a 17-second audio recording to the MACC via his lawyer and several days later leaked eight video clips to a news portal.
To the shock and dismay of the public, the MACC had initially dismissed the audio clip as being too short and flimsy to be taken seriously and refused to guarantee protection to the whistleblower - leaving the latter with little options but to appeal publicly to Anwar and the King on the grounds that his life was in danger.
Anwar too had initially supported the MACC's decision, arguing that protection could only be offered to the "clean". Not surprisingly, an angry public heaped scorn and ridicule on what they saw as a 'laughable' response from the PM - with cynics even accusing Anwar of trying to protect 'his man' Hajiji.
"Anwar can't accept other chief minister candidates like Umno's Bung Moktar, Warisan's Shafie Apdal or the Star's Jeffrey Kitingan. Who else can he support but Hajiji?" explained the pundit.
"So all this noise is just 'sandiwara' (or melodrama). I don't think there is any need to for any deal to be made. Hajiji will be immune. But after the Sabah state election next year, Hajiji's fate will depend on how many seats he and his GRS coalition wins," the pundit added.
SPINNING ALL THE WAY INTO THE MA63 & GANG OF FOUR?
True or not, the astonishing claim is reminiscent of a previous 'group' of four top civil servants - all of whom held the prestigious Tan Sri title namely Zeti Aziz the former central bank governor, Khalid Abdu Bakar, the former inspector general of police, Gani Patail, the former attorney general and Abd Kassin, the then MACC chief - who had purportedly tried to expose former premier Najib Razak's 1MDB debacle.
Apparently, the end purpose of this syndicate is not to clean up corruption or seek political revenge but to 'kill' current Sabahan demands for its rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to be honored by making sure that Hajiji's successor comes from a non-Sabah political party. The spin could only be referring to the Sabah chapter of Umno, currently headed by Bung Moktar.
"Bung is a Sabahan but whether he will stand up to Umno headquarters in Malaya when it comes to the MA63, I don't know," a Sabah insider told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"But I cannot see Shafie or Jeffrey Kitingan ceding ground to Malaya on MA63 whether the PM of the day is Anwar or from Umno."
The MA63 or Malaysia Agreement is a legal document that spells out the terms for the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. It was signed in London on 9 July 1963 between Great Britain, the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak.
HAJIJI NOW RELIANT ON ANWAR FOR POLITICAL SURVIVAL?
Hajiji in the Sabah state legislative assembly hall
Whichever way the chips eventually will fall, it looks like an uphill battle for Hajiji who has already called in the cavalry to dispel "disinformation" as he fights for his political life.
"The Opposition and their allies are colluding to bring down the GRS-Pakatan Plus government by spreading slander. We must fight it all-out as it can poison the people's minds and instil hate against the government," Hajiji said today (November 17) at the annual meeting of the LDP, one of the parties in his GRS coalition.
But will Sabah voters believe his protestations of innocence and will the component parties in his coalition stand by him if the political wind turns against him?
For now he can rely on Anwar and the long arms of the federal government's enforcement agencies to contain as much as possible the worst of the fallout from the explosive video recordings.
Yet with Sabahans all agog on the unfolding of the latest drama gripping their state leaders, this can prove to be a double-edged sword for Hajiji and his men. With 'Sabahans first' sentiment blowing strongly, it might harm rather than help Hajiji to be seen either as Anwar's lapdog or to be indebted to Anwar for political survival. What Sabahans want is an independent homegrown white knight who will fearlessly fight for their rights, say pundits.
SUDDEN FLURRY OF ACTIVITY JUST FOR SHOW?
Warisan's Shafie Apdal, left, Umno's Bung Moktar, right
Already, Anwar's communication minister Fahmi Fadzil is battling criticism after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered the news portal exposing the scandal to remove a video and accompanying article, in which the Tempasuk assemblyman Arsad Bistari had allegedly spoken about a “RM70 million project being blocked” and blaming it on the “old team”, which reportedly includes state finance minister Masidi Manjun.
According to Arsad, his remarks were made in jest. According to the MCMC, which falls under Fahmi's charge, both video and article could potentially affect police investigations into the alleged death threats made against the whistleblower.
Meanwhile, after the initial reluctance of the MACC chief commission to take the scandal seriously, his agency has suddenly swung into action - recording statements from five Sabah assemblymen in connection with the issuance of state mining licences as alleged in the videos.
MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki has also lambasted the whistleblower's lawyer, accusing the latter of showing his officers only a 17-second audio recording which was not clear on October 30 - while sharing video recordings to the news portal days later.
“This is an unjustifiable tactic. Why distrust the enforcement authorities?” Azam was reported as saying by the media.
But perhaps the video clips were leaked to the news portal only because Azam and his men did not take audio clip seriously or were seen by the whistleblower to be totally indifferent to it.
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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