There is nothing unusual about the Federal Special Forces of Malaysia. It is a private political army, one of several in existence, formed by ambitious politicians to provide that extra pressure to get what they want.

Nothing unusual too that FSFM recruited 8,000 members, collected RM64 million, allegedly by selling military ranks, and had an elaborate network throughout the country, had an office in the Kuala Lumpur parliamentary constituency of a senior cabinet minister and yet escaped the attention of the home minister, the inspector-general of police, and the director of the Special Branch.

It is more likely they knew of its existence and its links to powerful Barisan Nasional politicians. What is frightening about it is that one in 12 policemen in Malaysia is a fake. It does not matter that the ranks it sold were military ranks. Few would have noted the difference. And that is worrying in any circumstance.

The prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had nothing to say about it except to term it "crazy" for its leader, Nor Azmi Ahmad Ghazali, to "think he could topple the government and become the prime minister by setting up his own special forces".

The deputy prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said FSFM is investigated for its criminal activities and threats to national security. There is no link between FSFM and other military groups like Kumpulan Militan Malaysia, which the government alleges is linked to opposition political parties and fight for a fundamentalist Malaysia.

Why so blase?

Why is the government so blase about this frightening presence of a paramilitary force led by a former technician in the Draining and Irrigation department who decided he ought to succeed Abdullah as prime minister? It cannot say much.

Ambitious politicians believe they need a mass following backed by a goon squad to achieve their political aim. Recently, there emerged another shadowy organisation called Kumpulan Jaket Hitam (The Black Jacket Group), which was thought to fuel the political career of the Selangor Menteri Besar, Mohammad Khir Toyo. He has publicly repudiated that link. And its existence went cold. But it out there waiting to pounce when opportunity strikes.

Several cabinet ministers, including Abdullah, has links to silat martial arts groups, whose members are prepared to die for their patrons. A former Selangor Mentri Besar, Harun Idris, had a praetorial guard of silat groups, whose services he called on with impunity.

The prime minister might think FSFM is a crazy offshoot of a demented individual. But can

he deny that he was the patron of the Ex-Commandos Association of Malaysia, whose members disrupted the 1987 Umno general election to ensure he was returned party president? It was organised by the then future deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim.

When he was sacked, jailed and humiliated in 1998, this organisation split and no longer regards Mahathir as its patron. That many of their members swear fealty to Anwar and, oddly, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah frightens many in the government. But a genie once released from a bottle cannot be put back in.

Tip of the iceberg

The al-Ma'unah group which allegedly seized weapons from a territorial army camp in Grik in 1999 is another. At the time, I was told it was to create mayhem in Kelantan to ensure Umno's return to power in Kelantan, which it had lost in 1990. It was part of a silat group whose patron was one Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. So what is the al-Maunah group? Is it any different from the FSFM?

This is the tip of the iceberg. The government has several organisations - Kemas, Biro Tatanegara (BTN), to name just two - whose members are there to ensure the BN's survival in power. But the Anwar affair split these bodies irrevocably, and they cannot be relied upon any more.

Frighteningly for BN, several of their leaders joined the opposition parties, and the former deputy head of BTN is now a PAS MP, having defeated a cabinet minister in the 1999 general elections.

So it is now the rise of the private political army. The FSFM is linked to an Umno MP who could well be in the next cabinet reshuffle. That its leader, Nor Azmi ( photo ), had RM64 million in his control suggests not that he got them by selling military ranks and uniforms, but by being given it to set up the army.

Those involved in it include university lecturers and others in high positions. There was obviously a philosophy behind it which enabled it to recruit those it did, including government servants. The deputy prime minister threatens severe punishment for those caught. Several BN politicians have their own goon squads, and is no different than MCA politicians' links to thetriads. It is an extra-legal attempt to attain and remain in power.

The Home Ministry, the IGP and the director of Special Branch have not addressed it with the seriousness it should. That they were alerted to it, not by their own intelligence-gathering outfits is curious but unsurprising. The police force is, since the Anwar affair, at the beck and call of the BN government to ensure the opposition is kept in line. The opposition is its enemy, and all else are secondary.

Ambitious politicians

It is this outlook that failed them in this. The failure is serious to have the minister, the IGP and the Special Branch chief to resign over it. Would they? Not by a long shot.

But unless this is addressed as it ought to be, private political armies would only proliferate. There is no suggestion it would. With a general election impending, it would be political suicide for many a BN politician without these groups backing them.

To dismiss the FSFM, as the police does, as a cranky group out to seize power without any basis for it, is dangerous. FSFM is only one of numerous political armies now roaming about on behalf of their patrons.

To an ambitious politician, it is an important accouterment to have charms, amulets, bomohs and now a private goon squad. FSFM came to the public eye because of how it was constituted with its leader wearing the police uniform and rank of a four-star general.

It is impossible, unless you are well connected, to get ranks of office and uniforms without a warrant card. Yet 8,000 did. How widespread is this? How many of them roam around throwing their weight around and behaving as members of the armed forces? No one knows.

But one thing is certain: FSFM is the tip of a political iceberg, so widespread that no one wants to do anything about it.