COMMENT All hell broke loose when both The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ) and Sarawak Report made the earth-shattering exposé of the 1MDB scandal, which first hit the streets early this month.

For a long time, the media have been asking about the true nature of a deal signed between PetroSaudi International (PSI) and the 1MDB.

The 1MDB has finally landed the country’s leadership in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. It has been given wide coverage in the international media, especially since WSJ revealed that US$700 million had been funnelled into the personal accounts belonging to one ‘Najib bin Abdul Razak (Dato’ Sri)’ prior to the last general election.

It shocked nearly every Malaysian, who has since been asking if there is any truth in the WSJ news break.

Sarawak Report subsequently carried another story alleging that RM2 million cash had been deposited into a private account belonging to one ‘Rosmah Binti Mansor (Datin Sri)’. This could have led to the portal being blocked.

Huge stakes

In my opinion, being an international business paper, WSJ would not risk its reputation to carry the exposé if it did not have all the hard facts. After all, Malaysia is only one of the many Asian nations on its radar but the focus being business, it is naturally interested in news such as on 1MDB.

Before they published the story, it is learnt that the editorial staff of WSJ had apparently contacted the Prime Minister’s Office for an official response, but a response was not forthcoming.

While the legal letter sent to WSJ had gone viral, WSJ ’s legal eagles did not even bother to respond to the letter from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s solicitors, leaving Najib even more vulnerable to further ridicule in the international arena.

The suggestion to pursue the case locally all the way to the Federal Court would not help Najib’s reputation at all; but on the other hand, if Najib stepped down, he might finally have to face the long arm of the law himself.

If tried and convicted, Najib would become the first Malaysian chief executive to be sent to jail. Technically, this would do the country some good, as it would clearly demonstrate to the world that no one is above the law.

Scapegoat for the sake of all

For his nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad, if the sacrifice of one man could save the entire nation from going to the dogs, and help Umno and Barisan Nasional to regain the people’s confidence, it is a sacrifice that is worth it all.

To date, Najib has not given a direct answer whether the money had been transferred into his personal accounts, but the media is rife with speculations that part of the money could have been used for the last general election.

It appears that this 1MDB saga is a quagmire that even his public relations ‘mogul’ Lim Kok Wing ( left in photo ) appears helpless to handle, despite entering the scene with a big bang.

Judging from the number of attempts to win back the people’s confidence, Lim was doing anything but the right strategies to salvage whatever dignity that is left.

The tides appeared to have turned for Lim. Instead of Dr Mahathir losing his legacy, now Lim has to swallow his own words. His many years of achievements were the result of Dr Mahathir’s support, and for him to abandon his ally has left him high and dry.

From the public relations point of view, the answers prepared for Najib are anything but convincing. Through the entire period, Najib could only afford to say that he had ‘never taken funds for personal gain as alleged by his political opponents - whether from 1MDB, SRC International or other entities, as these companies have confirmed’.

Najib should have realised right from the beginning that relying on the testimony of the givers would not give much credibility to his statement; after all, givers would never divulge such information, or they may end up being incriminated as well.

Wrong strategies

Blaming on Dr Mahathir for the 1MDB saga, and labelling the entire expose as a political conspiracy may be Lim’s best strategy, but it has not worked.

People are still asking whether the amount equivalent to the Selangor state government’s reserve (or RM2.6 billion) had been funnelled Najib’s private account; and if yes, where and how was the money used.

Within the past one month, ammunition has been fired from all sides. As some claim, in order to distract the people’s attention from 1MDB, even a small theft case in Low Yat IT mall was suddenly turned into a racial issue by some scoundrels.

Besides attacking Dr Mahathir, the other strategy adopted by Najib’s camp is apparently to try to discredit the source of the leak, by saying that both former PSI executive Xavier Andre Justo and Sarawak Report had tampered with the emails at the request of the Malaysian opposition.

Surprisingly, as pointed out by Clare Rewcastle-Brown of Sarawak Report, only accusations were hurled, but no one including PSI has been bold enough to publish the original emails. This would have silenced the critics once and for all.

When all things did not work, even an opposition leader meeting Justo was suddenly considered a ‘big crime’, but no mention was made about which Umno leader had also met Justo. Who was it who met Justo and was there a counter-offer made by this Umno man who made the attempt to meet Justo?

It is obvious to most of us that Justo was arrested in Thailand for blackmailing PSI rather than tampering with the thousands of emails, as affirmed by the Thai authorities, but self-styled Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Rahman Dahlan has claimed otherwise.

When allegations against Justo failed to convince the people that he had tampered with the emails, attempts were also made to accuse Sarawak Report of doing the same. But, it was another BN cabinet minister, James Masing, himself who said that it is the former Sarawak Tribune journalist Lester Melanyi who lacks credibility as a witness.

When this did not work, Sarawak Report was blocked , but that alone is enough to raise more curiosity to people like me who had hardly been reading the portal.

To bypass the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blockage, all one needs to do is to google for Wayback Machine and type www.sarawakreport.org to start accessing the portal again.

There was also the attempt to hoodwink some online editors by a fake NGO known as Citizens for Accountable Governance Malaysia (CAGM), but its fake stories have not only damaged the reputation of a local bank, but also made a mockery of concerned Malaysians who want to know if the story on the 1MDB was true.

Finally, Najib’s team has been spinning stories that there is a political conspiracy to topple the prime minister. However, Dr Mahathir himself has categorically stated that this is not the case, as he had openly urged Najib to step down.

Meanwhile for the opposition, as someone has put it, they wish that Najib would continue with his term in office until the next general election, as there would be more than enough issues to eventually rout BN from Putrajaya. For now, the wielding of the iron fist would further aggravate an already fragile situation.

The solution is simple - Najib has to step down, as there is no other possible solution, given that it is now 25 minutes too late.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

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