comment Sex scandals, political betrayals, threats and anger at the monarchy - politics in Malaysia, after a sterling start last year which saw a strong opposition in Parliament, is suddenly taking an ominous turn.

The gloom comes in the midst of the departure of the fatherly Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who, although laidback and unable to implement promised reforms, was a stickler for basic rules of personal decency.

bn supreme council abdullah announcement 081008 04 Abdullah was pushed out of power following the March 8, 2008 poll which saw Barisan Nasional (BN) lose five state governments and the two-thirds majority in Parliament that the BN (and its predecessor the Alliance) had enjoyed since Independence.

There was general jubilation and euphoria with the rise of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition which formed the government in the five states and had a large block in Parliament to check excesses and misuse of power.

With his impending departure on March 31 and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak, a protégé of the former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad taking over, the political climate has changed considerably with restlessness gripping the country amidst deepening economic gloom, closure of manufacturing plants and loss of jobs.

State repression is rising, lawyers and human rights activists said, in tandem with rising public unrest.

Abdullah lost effective power after he surrendered the contest for the post of president of Umno, the ruling power behind BN. Since last December, Najib has wielded effective power.

najib tun razak and altantuya However, he is handicapped by allegations that he is connected to the gruesome death of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian translator whose body was blown up after she was shot dead in November 2006.

His close friend and political adviser Razak Baginda was acquitted of abetment, but two police officers of his security detail are on trial for the murder.

Although Najib has strenuously denied the allegations, he has not escaped condemnation in the public mind.

"All prime ministers before have taken office without such a severely negative public perception as Najib. He is severely handicapped by the allegations that have refused to disappear," said a prominent lawyer who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

“His rise in these circumstances is fuelling general unease over the future, especially for the democratisation process that Abdullah had initiated, no matter how feebly.'

"It is common knowledge that Najib is not averse to bending the rules to win the political fight. Will he respect privacy and human rights? Will he play by the rules no matter how much the rules have been battered?"

'Subterfuge at work'

For lawmakers like prominent human rights lawyer Karpal Singh the fears are already real. For his strong support of people's rights, he has received bullets in his mail and was subjected to rough treatment by Umno members as he attempted to enter Parliament House recently.

Najib, son of former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, has given a demonstration of his focused and determined approach by toppling the Pakatan-ruled Perak government.

In a few deft moves early last month, he engineered the resignation of four elected representatives from Pakatan, which led to the collapse of the Perak government as it only held a slim majority in the legislative assembly.

dr zambry abdul kadir new perak cm 110209 01 Immediately afterwards, Najib persuaded the Sultan of Perak not to dissolve the assembly for fresh elections but use the now ‘BN-friendly” Independents to swear in a BN government.

That move sparked immediate public anger against Sultan Azlan Shah - who was previously a highly respected top judge - and a constitutional crisis that is still playing out.

Malaysia's monarchy has come under severe criticism by the general public who see its complicity in the plot by Najib to hijack the public mandate.

For the first time, Malaysia witnessed Malay protestors stoning a royal entourage, shouting abusive slogans and leaving angry and abusive comments on the Internet.

The fall of the Perak government has sparked a constitutional crisis with two chief ministers battling it out in court and on the streets, as to who is the rightful head of government.

The BN under Najib's leadership is now focusing on grabbing the other Pakatan-ruled states of Kedah and Selangor where anything from money, positions and blackmail are allegedly being employed to win over defections.

klscah talk on kt by election 230109 tian chua "Their objective is to grab by subterfuge what they had lost in the polls," said PKR information chief Tian Chua.

"There are using anything - money, sex blackmail, corruption, anything at all to get us. The people's mandate is being stolen."

Already, sex and corruption scandals have hit Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong, a prominent human rights activist before she entered politics.

Wong offered to quit all her posts after secretly-taken nude photos of her at home, presumably by a boyfriend, fell into the hands of the government-controlled mainstream media which went to town with it.

elizabeth wong crying at her resignation nude photos fiasco 250209 Wong's departure is a major blow to the opposition as she has been working through her portfolio to protect the environment, clean up the heavily polluted rivers and exert control over polluting industries.

Khalid, a former top government official before joining PKR, is facing charges of corruption and misuse of power over the distribution of cows for Hari Raya Haji and maintenance of his private luxury vehicle which he uses on official duty.

In Kedah, Pakatan exco V Arumugam, has resigned and is said to have skipped to India after allegations surfaced that he has committed bigamy.

"We see a hidden hand behind all these events," said Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

"They are attacking us everywhere.they are seizing the public mandate by subterfuge.”

- IPS