Anwar's Thaksin appointment to help free Najib? While Musa 'best Muslim' governor to salvage control of Sabah?

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia 

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Two controversial appointments indirectly and directly influenced by embattled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have plunged Malaysia back to the days when it was criticized for being a topsy-turvy land where crazy, corrupt and dirty politics ruled - and hopes for an organized, clean and efficient government were constantly dashed and dealt the death blow .

One was the appointment of the corruption-tainted Musa Aman as governor of East Malaysian state of Sabah and the other was former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to advise Anwar on Asean affairs when Malaysia assumes chairmanship of the regional pact next year.

"It harks back to the last years of the Najib Razak administration where the full and only focus of the leadership and the government was how to stay in power, how to keep the 1MDB corruption debacle from being exposed, how to gag the people from criticizing and dumping him," a pundit told Politics Now Malaysia.

"The biggest irony is Anwar and the Pakatan Harapan coalition he leads were the biggest critics of the surreal politics then. Jailing and harassing critics were the favorites tactics, using the police, the (anti-graft agency) MACC and (internet regulator) MCMC as political tools to do the leadership's dirty work were routine. And now, Anwar is being criticized for using the very same playbook Najib used," the pundit added.

BEST OR MOST EMBARRASSING MUSLIM CHOICE TO BE CM?

In Sabah, where state elections must be held by the end of next year, whoever is governor is crucial to Anwar as whoever triumphs in the state polls will affect his longevity as prime minister of the federal government. Although Anwar's minders are quick to insist he had no direct role in Musa's appointment, only the most naive would believe the appointment could go through without his tacit nod.

On Tuesday (December 17), the 73-year-old Musa was sworn-in as governor by the King after days of intense speculation. While largely a ceremonial role, the governor has last say over whether or not snap elections should be held or deferred until expiry of a full five-year term, which currently has less than a year to go. The governor can also influence the choice of the chief minister in the event there is no clear winner.

"Obviously if the governor is on your side or friendly to your allies, it is a huge advantage. It's like playing football with 12 men on your team," said the pundit.

"No doubt Musa Aman got a full acquittal from his corruption charges but surely there are other more deserving alternative with more credible and cleaner track record," the pundit added.

Clare Brown, the editor of the Sarawak Report website that blew the whistle on Najib's multi-billion dollar 1MDB corruption debacle, was more direct.

"Musa Aman is a fellow whose record fills everyone, bar his cronies and hangers-on, with utter disgust throughout the state. Must he be inflicted on Sabah as a form of humiliation much as Taib Mahmud was inflicted on Sarawak?" was Clare's response to Musa's appointment.

"So much for the touted campaign against corruption to entice foreign investment in Malaysia by the ‘reformist’ present government," she added.

INJECTING RACISM INTO SABAH? 

Worse still, the propagandists in the pro-Anwar camp have tried to paint Musa's appointment as being the 'Muslim choice', insinuating that it goes the grain for Anwar, a Muslim, to appoint a non-Muslim as governor.  

Yet there are no requirements in the Sabah constitution that its governor must be Muslim although the majority of the population or 69% are Muslims, with Christians at 257% and Buddhists 5%. Is Anwar injecting racism into the Sabah the same way that Najib's Umno was once accused of - in order to justify the hardball politics and oppressive tactics they used to cling to power?

"One reason generally being offered as to why Musa Aman is being touted as the front runner for Governor of Sabah is that it is ‘necessary for a Muslim’ to be appointed as the main representative for the once majority Christian state," Clare said..

"If so, why choose the most embarrassing Muslim one could possibly find to fulfil that role, just at a time when Sabah’s present government is sinking under the weight of its own current corruption scandals?" asked Clare.

'CLEANSED' BUT NOT CLEAN? 

For the longest time, 15 years from 2003 to 2018 to be more precise, Musa was the archetypal villain along with Sarawak's late governor Taib Mahmud, repeatedly bashed by Anwar and Pakatan and held out to be the core reasons why the two resource-rich East Malaysian states could not prosper with the majority of ordinary folk living below the poverty line while their corrupt leaders live in ultra luxury and fabulous wealth. 

So much so that in the 2010s, Anwar's political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin had flown to Hong Kong to discuss with the anti-graft agency there about how to bring Musa to book. Then Anwar and Pakatan were still part of the struggling opposition while Musa was one the most powerful men in Umno. Musa's litany of alleged corruption misdeeds was unrivalled even by Umno's decadent standards - and outdone perhaps only by the likes of jailed former premier Najib Razak and current Umno president Zahid Hamidi.

So much so that Shamsul Iskandar Akin, now Anwar's political secretary and part of his innermost circle, had flown to Hong Kong to discuss with the anti-graft agency there about how to bring Musa to book. Then Anwar and Pakatan were still struggling in the opposition bench while Musa was already the Sabah Umno chief minister. The powerful Musa's litany of alleged corruption misdeeds was unrivalled even by Umno's decadent standards - and outdone perhaps only by the likes of former premier Najib Razak and current Umno president Zahid Hamidi.

Charged on 46 counts of corruption and money laundering, Musa managed to wrangle an acquittal during the Muhyiddin Yassin administration in 2020. His political usefulness to Anwar now is seen as similar to his usefulness to Muhyiddin, who was then trying to get his Bersatu party and PN coalition off the ground in Sabah.

USING MUSA TO CONTROL 'WILD CARD' SABAH AS SCANDAL DROWNS HAJIJI?  

The 77-year-old Anwar is pulling out all the stops to keep current Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor in power. Hajiji's GRS coalition, which is a loose alliance of eight top Sabah parties, is backed by Anwar's Pakatan. And without the PM's intervention during a 2022 political crisis, the chief minister's post might now be held by either Sabah Umno's Bung Moktar or Warisan's Shafie Apdal.  

But it looks like it might be impossible to save Hajiji, who is widely regarded as Musa Aman's loyalist, after an explosive bribery scandal erupted into the open. Hajiji and a group of his assemblyman were caught on video discussing the distribution of bribes in exchange for awarding mining licenses to a businessman.

"Sabah becomes a wild card once the state election is held and the results declared," said the pundit.

"Whether or not there is a clear winner, the odds are very high that those who won seats may be 'bought' over by the big sharks after the chief minister's post," added the pundit.

Indeed, it's very possible for Anwar to lose total control of the situation, so having an ally in Musa as governor will be very useful for him and Pakatan. For example, if Sabah Umno manages to broker an alliance to form the next state government, this will increase the power Umno headquarters in KL has over Anwar at the federal government." 

LATEST UNHINGED DRAMA - USING THAKSIN TO PAVE WAY FOR NAJIB'S RELEASE?

Then there is Thaksin Shinawatra. Whether Anwar thought he was being the consummate regional statesman when he appointed the former Thai strongman to advise him on Asean affairs, the response of Malaysians was mostly cold and hostile.

"What is he (Anwar) up to? Does that mean he is not up to the task? Does it mean that the foreign ministry  and our own foreign policy establishment are not capable of advising him, that he needs the help of someone from another country?" news portal MalaysiaNow reported a veteran diplomat as saying.

Indeed, Thaksin is a convicted telecoms billionaire whose rule was tainted by corruption and a violent suppression of Muslims in the south. He was forced to flee his country and live in self-imposed exile for 15 years so as to escape jail on corruption and abuse of power charges. He was allowed to return only for a brief visit to Thailand in 2008. During his exile he was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for abuse of power, and stripped of his Police Rank of Police Lieutenant Colonel.

In August 2023, Thaksin finally came home to face the music. He was detained the moment his plane landed but did not have to spend a single night in jail once he complained of health problems, according to the BBC news portal. The flamboyant Thaksin's original eight-year prison term was commuted to one year by the Thai king. And after spending six months of that one year in a police hospital, Thaksin was given parole and is now a 'free man'.

The handling of the Thaksin case has led to criticism from many Thais, who say the rich and powerful are often given privileged treatment. Indeed even in Malaysia, news of Thaksin's royal pardon had excited and spurred Najib into demanding similar privileges.

Speculation is now rife Anwar appointed Thaksin so as to use pardoned Thai premier as an example of why Malaysians should also forgive and allow Najib to be freed or at least be permitted to serve out a reduced six-year jail term in the comfort of one of his palatial mansions.

"This is the really eerie thing about the Anwar regime that one can't help but notice. For them, life is one never-ending political soap opera," an analyst told PoliticsNow Malaysia.

"It is like their job is not to govern the country or to design and build a prosperous and clean future for all Malaysians - but to create plots and story lines so as to justify their own shenanigans and secret deals struck behind the scenes to stay in power," the analyst added.

THE TWO MEN ANWAR CANNOT AFFORD TO ANGER

Despite being in jail, Najib still wields clout in the Malay nationalist party Umno. Together with current Umno president Zahid Hamidi, the pair are seen as the two men Anwar cannot at any cost afford to antagonize if he is to stay on as PM. 

Both Najib and Zahid control Umno, whose 30 seats in Malaysia's 222-seat Parliament are crucial for the survival of Anwar's unity government. Rumors have been rife that to get Umno to throw its support behind his Pakatan coalition, Anwar had in the aftermath of the 2022 election agreed to free Najib and Zahid from their corruption cases. All three men have denied this.

Yet, Zahid has already been discharged from all 47 of his corruption charges while Najib has obtained a partial royal pardon from the previous King that halved an original 12-year jail term to six. Najib is now demanding house detention and Anwar has been heavily criticized for approaching the current King for advice on this and it would not surprise many if Najib were to get what he wants via some sort of second royal pardon.

After all, as many have pointed out Anwar and Thaksin do not have much in common other than that both have been sent to jail - with Anwar imprisoned for sodomy and abuse of power and Thaksin for corruption and abuse of power.

'WEIRD & UNNECESSARY' THAKSIN OF ZERO USE - EXCEPT TO 'FREE NAJIB' CAUSE

.Another diplomat, former Malaysian ambassador Dennis Ignatius described the appointment as "weird" and "completely unnecessary".

"Normally, Asean countries use their tenure as chairman to showcase their leadership and make their own unique contribution to strengthening Asean," Ignatius, who served as Malaysia's ambassador to Chile, Argentina and Canada, as well as in various diplomatic posts in London, Beijing and Washington, had told MalaysiaNow.

Ignatius also questioned whether Anwar could not find suitable advisers and suggested Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz as a suitable candidate. 

Whether the diplomat was being sarcastic is not clear but Zafrul is another of Anwar's appointees shrouded by controversy - and seen as a pick aimed to achieve or shore up a political end rather than to execute a job or task for the benefit of the government and populace. 

"Besides, Thaksin - a very controversial figure - is a strange choice. Najib would be better qualified. This is bound to raise eyebrows in Asean capitals," Ignatius said.

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia

https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/