COMMENT | Only Umno weeps for 'bossku', not Malaysians

COMMENT | Umno is becoming persistently shrill in its campaign to obtain a full pardon for its former president Najib Abdul Razak, who is serving prison time for crimes committed in the SRC International case

Najib has four more years to go before he can be released but Umno cannot wait to see him go free in 2028. The party wants to get him out now. 

One party member even shed tears for the fallen hero whose aura, it seems, is still dearly felt at every Umno general assembly.

Umno still believes “bossku” is innocent and that he did not get the justice he deserved after he was found guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering in relation to SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds totalling RM42 million.

So, they are all seeking justice for the former prime minister, but was justice not served when he was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison after all factors had been weighed and deliberated?

After the Pardons Board commuted the sentence to six years, Najib is desperately seeking to serve the remainder of his jail term as house arrest.

And now, Umno wants a full royal pardon for him, ignoring the fact that people at large want to see this disgraced leader complete his time in prison.

But Najib’s woes are not over yet. He is still in the dock over the 1MDB case, dubbed the “biggest financial scandal the world has ever seen”.

White-washing

It appears that Umno is keen to peddle a different narrative to the public, one that would exonerate him from all responsibility for the crimes that he was charged and convicted of.

The story would most probably be twisted to deepen the impression that this once most powerful man in the country was the victim and not the crafty mastermind in the financial shenanigans.

The Umno mind would be massaged steadily to prepare for the reception of a new tale that would put Najib under the halo of a newborn person who actually loves the people very much.

Perhaps, Umno wants him to lead again, considering that the party is seen as weak and has no strong leader to take the reins.

This is no easy task. The party would have to pull a big rabbit out of the hat to convince grassroots members that their “bossku” is the only one who can bring back the glory days of Umno when it was the dominant player on the national stage.

Umno is still thinking of the past and in Najib, it sees someone who carries the seeds of the past and who can be trusted to replay all those good old days.

Once all Umno members are totally convinced that Najib has not committed any crime and that he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, the next phase would be to win over the hearts and minds of the Malay hinterlands who have traditionally believed in Umno with all their heart and strength.

Saving the party

The second stage of the campaign might not be an insurmountable hurdle because politicians believe the Malay folks do not really care or understand all these mind-boggling court cases.

All you have to do is simply dismiss Najib’s troubles as political persecution without going into any details and voila! He can be crowned a hero again who would go on to reclaim his lost throne.

It is not too difficult to fathom why Umno is so eager to get its man out of the cell. It all has to do with the 16th general election.

If Umno can, by a stroke of miracle, get its man out of Kajang Prison now, it can dust him off in time to parade him around the country as the party’s saviour and poster boy.

But the new Najib narrative of innocence and integrity is unlikely to influence the majority of Malaysians who are well acquainted with his criminal record and totally agree with the just punishment meted out to him.

No matter how much Umno scrubs him to make him look squeaky clean, the stain on him will not go away - it is indelible. A criminal will forever stay a criminal.

Only Umno loves him. Only Umno weeps for him. But not Malaysians.

PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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