COMMENT | PM wants rakyat to speak up but barely utters Najib's name

“This tolerance for evil is what destroys us.”

– Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

COMMENT | This is Madani, where the prime minister wants the rakyat to speak up about Najib Abdul Razak’s house arrest and corruption but will not utter the former prime minister’s name unless it is to justify Madani’s role in the horrendous optics of the house arrest.

Meanwhile, his number two, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, warned that speaking up could be considered “derhaka”.

The perception that Madani has given a free pass to certain Umno leaders on their corruption charges has diluted any kind of possible messaging to many Malaysians. From the beginning, Madani had mired Najib’s pardon in bureaucratic legerdemain because they understood that this was bad for the country and the rakyat.

Remember the royal addendum fiasco? Nobody in Madani had said that the royal addendum pertaining to Najib’s house arrest was false or fabricated, but merely that they had not seen it. The Pardons Board said it didn’t receive it. The then-minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) said she “did not look at it”.

The home minister said no such document was sent to the Prison Department. Both attorneys-general were scuttling about, not answering direct questions. The government spokesperson said that he didn’t receive anything, and as such, it means that it was not hidden.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, meanwhile, was dithering before he came clean and admitted that the addendum was sent to the AG, although he didn’t say which one.

We have a history of corruption scandals under the former Pakatan Harapan prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Even when Harapan was under his power, allegations involving big names in Sabah and Sarawak were ignored because it was politically expedient to do so.

Do Malaysians tolerate evil or does the political class enable it? Anwar claimed the charges against his number two were politically motivated. He has defended convicted felon Najib’s reduced sentence. His home minister apparently has the power to define any location as a prison.

Muddying the waters

In defending the house arrest and reduced sentence, Anwar echoed his number two’s sentiment about “derhaka” when he said this: “Ever since Merdeka until today, there has been no action by the government that goes against the role and power of the Malay rulers, and this we must keep.

“Those who can’t understand the decision are not fit to be a political commentator.”

So, what happens to those who speak up? Will Madani come to their rescue if police reports are filed against them, or will Anwar and his coterie claim that there must not be any “interference” in situations like these?

All the prime minister has done with this issue, and the high-profile corruption cases, is to muddy the waters. And rational Malaysians have to wonder why.

Indeed, when a convict – this would be the former prime minister – uses the current premier’s words as a point for his political persecution defence, you know that we are in Alice in Wonderland territory. So while the prime minister may not want to say his name, Najib has no qualms about referencing Anwar.

“I believe Anwar’s recent remarks on flaws in the prosecutorial process strongly validate my longstanding concerns about the legal proceedings against me.

“For six years, I have maintained that these proceedings exemplify rushed and flawed prosecutions,” Najib told the court last week during the defence stage of his RM2.27 billion 1MDB corruption trial.

In justifying the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for Zahid’s corruption case linked to millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi, Anwar advanced the narrative that this was partly a political persecution by Mahathir.

The fact that Zahid, Najib, and every other alleged kleptocrat said the same thing points to the narrative that is being shaped by the mainstream political establishment when it comes to how it deals with kleptocrats.

The problem with Madani

Of course, when Anwar made those remarks, which occurred when Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor was acquitted of money laundering charges, he said: “Why (ask me about Rosmah’s case outcome)? Do you want me to interfere in the judicial process? I have my personal view, and I have my personal reasons, whether I like it or dislike it.

“But we have to talk about judicial independence. How do you want judicial independence?"

This is the problem with Madani. It weaponises reform issues against the folks clamouring for change. What is the point of quoting from religious texts and asking folks to speak up, when the instruments of the state have enabled the very thing that some in the rakyat are speaking up against?

Zahid, on the other hand, has got everything he wants. Umno-BN is in ascendance. PAS is dumb enough to believe that they have a seat at the table, and Najib has now got more opportunity to enact his own agenda in the comfort of home.

For some inexplicable reason, Anwar chose to hitch his wagon to Umno, instead of using this unity government to hobble the grand old party which had caused so much hardship for this country.

Instead of betting his political fortunes on that segment of the Malay and non-Malay population who supported him, he chose instead to use race and religion the way the right-wing forces in this country used them and, in the process, empowered the opposition in this country.

The results of the Malacca state election demonstrate that Umno is destroying Madani from within, and the only people who are holding the line are the DAP. While Umno has the gall to lecture the DAP on not destabilising Madani, the prime minister continues enabling Umno for reasons known only to himself.

History will look at his premiership and Harapan as the coalition which snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

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

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