The untouchable Dr M
(MMO) – Why cannot the IGP, through one of his now infamous tweets, order the same treatment as has been dished out to dozens of activists, Opposition politicians and the nine times seditious cartoonist?
On the surface, it seems even more lopsided than a David and Goliath battle. On one side is a frail, almost 90, long gone from the corridors of power old man whose bark is practically all that is left of what was 22 years of autocratic but arguably economically robust rule. On the other is a man decades younger and a second term prime minister controlling all the levers of power who is increasingly comfortable in deploying them to crush all dissent, whether through legislation, 3am wake-up calls by the police or even by suing through the judiciary.
The PM also has publicly-funded government largesse to dole out as and when the situation requires. He has a plethora of government and party posts and contracts to hand out to keep his party cadres in line. He controls all the mainstream media and has a large, ever-expanding public relations machine at his disposal to run down all enemies, real or imagined.
So it would seem bizarre that things have reached such a head that the battle is not only not over, but has spilled out on the international stage courtesy of the New York Times. In a sign of exactly how difficult the situation is for the incumbent PM, his foreign minister is reduced to replying to the article by criticising Dr Mahathir for internationalising the issue rather than rebutting the issues themselves.
So why is it that the government is incapable of coming down hard on a person who is, in their own words, pursuing a personal political vendetta against the current regime? Why cannot the IGP, through one of his now infamous tweets, order the same treatment as has been dished out to dozens of activists, Opposition politicians and the nine times seditious cartoonist? After all, he has called the PM’s conduct verging on the criminal in an interview with the NYT, no less?
The answer may lie in part in the nature of 1MDB, in part the nature of Malay and Malaysian society, and in part in the nature of Umno, the political party both men belong to. 1MDB is proving to be a complex matter which defies easy answers and solutions, so carries the potential of being dragged on for a long time as an issue, all kinds of audits notwithstanding. When nobody can say anything definitively, it becomes hard to silence the questioner.
