COMMENT In my article on Thursday , I mentioned that the decree by the Conference of Rulers should be followed up with a royal commission of inquiry (RCI).

This is because besides the brutal murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shariibuu and her alleged connections with the purchase of two Scorpene submarines, the majority of Malaysians are serious about knowing the truth behind 1MDB.

If it is true that the 1MDB has borrowed RM42 billion, and the money has disappeared, it concerns all of us as well as the future generations of Malaysians who may have to pay the loans.

Government lands sold to 1MDB at subsidised price do not constitute what should be an answer as to where the borrowed money has gone to.

Everything is still hazy despite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Zahid Hamidi try to explain that the money had been donated by some Arabs. There are no concrete answers and even former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has to guess that there were hidden hands shielding the 1MDB.

At this juncture, investigations carried out by Sarawak Report show that there was no such Arab family existing who can afford to donate such a whopping amount of money to Najib’s personal accounts.

Unless the truth is uncovered, the confidence of most Malaysians will not be returned towards the existing government under Barisan Nasional (BN), not to mention the foreign investors who are moving their funds out of the country.

Cannot afford not to heed

When some 500,000 Bersih yellow-shirted supporters went to the streets for a stretch of 34 hours on Aug 29 and 30, their voices were being conveniently ignored by Najib.

Despite it having a good ethnic mix, Bersih 4 was dubbed the Chinese street protest a la DAP, a déjà vu of May 13 where the blame was placed squarely on the Chinese community and the DAP.

Since a number of historical documents had been declassified by the British government, we now know the truth - that one of the major causes of the riot was a disgruntled and defeated menteri besar of Selangor.

Two months after Bersih 4, now, Najib and his supporters can ill-afford to ignore the royal yellow decree, when it is issued by none other than the Conference of Malay Rulers themselves.

To me, the royal decree is crystal clear; and if the key government senior officials choose to defy the royal decree to deal with the 1MDB scandal urgently and bring the culprits to task, they are doing this at their own peril.

The newly-minted attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali ( photo ) has said that the probe team was never disbanded; therefore, someone must have not been telling us the truth and since former attorney-general Gani Patail was dropped due to health reasons, the 1MDB probe team has been keeping very silent about their investigations.

Although most of us agree that collectively, the key government officials have all the powers to remove a sitting prime minister on the basis of corruption, but the reality is far from the provisions under existing laws; before this, no one has the boldness to take any actions.

As a member of parliament, the sitting prime minister will be disqualified as an MP if convicted and imposed a penalty of RM2,000 and above.

But now, with the royal decree out, it is the paramount duty of the attorney-general, the inspector-general of police, Bank Negara and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to ensure that the key people behind the 1MDB scandal are punished.

No amount of hiding or twisting of facts will help, especially when the truth is eventually unraveled by the RCI.

Vote of no-confidence constitutional

A vote of no-confidence in Parliament is constitutional and so are the statutory declarations (SDs) from fellow BN members of parliament who no longer support Najib.

Under Article 43 (4) of the federal constitution, if the prime minister ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of Representatives, then, unless at his request the Yang di-Pertuan Agong dissolves Parliament, the prime minister shall tender the resignation of the cabinet.

It is well within the powers of the Agong to dissolve the Parliament, and if His Majesty decides to do this in the coming parliamentary session, Barisan Nasional is likely to be wiped off by an overwhelming political earthquake, which was already preceded by a political tsunami in 2008.

Najib, in my opinion, has no other choice but to step down. Najib himself has used the statutory declarations (SDs) by three defected Pakatan state assemblypersons during the Perak state government crisis, yet he and his men tried very hard to block the progress of SDs by calling this an attempt to topple the government.

That was about a month ago, but now, with the royal decree, it appears even more ridiculous for former Batu Kawan Umno deputy division leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang to be detained under the draconian Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.

Their alleged offences were mainly about lodging reports to some legal institutions outside of the country over some alleged crime in their homeland. What is so wrong about that? How could both Khairuddin and Chang become a threat to national security?

I wonder if the situation would not see a roundabout turn, especially when the Conference of Rulers decide to flex their muscles at this time of crisis; and when the other BN component parties realise that their chances to keep Putrajaya are extremely slim, the moment Parliament is dissolved by the Agong.

That is why I say it is checkmate for Najib and his entire cabinet, as had happened in Perak.

Based on Article 43(4), it is not only Najib but the entire cabinet that needs to resign. After all, Article 43 (3) is also very clear that the cabinet is collectively responsible to the Parliament, not to the sitting prime minister.

Too much has happened that defy our imagination, and most of us are fed up with the excessive politicking, the use of the bogeyman to intimidate the other races, and the numerous attempts to play up racial and religious sentiments.

In a healthy democracy, there has to be acceptance of the final outcome despite the intensive campaigns leading up to the general election.

Hopefully, the royal decree will set in order all that has gone ‘awry’ within the last six years since Umno and BN lost five states to Pakatan Rakyat.

Justice must be done

The people, especially prisoners of conscience, who have suffered unjustly should be pardoned and released from the prisons.

The chiefest of them is none other than former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is 67 and who will be languishing in jail for the next five years, unless there is royal intervention.

May the Agong grant him a pardon, not because we believe Anwar had committed sodomy against Saiful Bukhari Azlan and could only be released through a royal pardon, but that the entire court process from Day One has become a major embarrassment to the country!

Queen’s Counsel Mark Trowell ( photo ) has chronicled the entire episode so well, and this has indeed left a black mark on our history as a nation. Taken in positive light, it is something to be taught to students of law and politics in this country to prevent a recurrence of abuse of the court’s process.

Imagine charging an individual twice for the same type of offence, when others involved in more serious offences involving corruption, abuse of power and squandering of public funds, are let off the hook.

The prisons, after all, are meant for the gangsters and people involved in vices of any race, including those who use race or religion to justify their acts of aggression.

The prison cells are also designed for people who have lived on corruption, a sin condemned by nearly all religions, including Islam, the official state religion.

Unless punishment is meted out against even the most senior person in government, corruption will take a toll on the existing administration. Even when Pakatan Harapan takes over Putrajaya in the imminent future, the change will be a tough one. Let it begin now with the Conference of Rulers taken the lead and setting things in motion.

As citizens of this country, we look forward to the initiatives by the Conference of Rulers to right the wrong and to uphold justice. The words of Lord Chief Justice of England, Gordon Hewart spoken in 1921 still ring true: “Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.”

Although in Malaysia, we practice constitutional monarchy where the monarchs are supposed to be above politics, their involvement in today’s political stalemate, amidst a financial crisis, is not only necessary but a last resort to save the country from going to the dogs.

Within the Malaysian context, the royal decree cannot be disputed in this country. If ever there is a time for it to be upheld, now is the time.

As cleverly as the squirrel is to climb the tree, it has to fall the ground at some point. Let this be a lesson to our politicians who continue to defy the rakyat of this nation.

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