Najib: too cool for comfort

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jul 19, 2015

And that is why Najib is super-cool, damn him. He knows that they cannot use illegal means to oust him, and unless they can come up with tangible evidence, they cannot proceed on the basis that Najib must prove his innocence. To even start the indictment process they must have enough grounds to do so.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“As I see now, the way the investigation has been playing out, it’s playing to form. I think Najib has control over the investigative process,” said Professor William Case from the South-east Asia Research Centre of the City University of Hong Kong.

“He will remain in office. The investigation panel will report directly to him. In consequence, he will probably be able to survive this,” Prof Case said in CNBC’s talk show Squawk Box.

“If no real linkages are found to the prime minister during investigations, Najib can muddle through but it’s really distracting the country from bigger issues like its economic slowdown,” added Mr Murray Hiebert, a senior fellow at American think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreeing with Prof Case.

Prof Case also pointed out that Najib will likely stay as prime minister due to the lack of obvious candidates to replace him from within UMNO, as Mr Najib has proved himself “sophisticated” in his handling of domestic and foreign affairs.

“Politically, his image is of course greatly affected but he will be able to survive because either the opposition or those in the party against him don’t have enough members of parliament to topple him,” said Dr Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. (http://justread-whatever.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/i-will-survivea-survivor.html)

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The main complaint from his inner circle is that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is a bit too cool for comfort. They would like him to panic a bit but he acts like he is not in any danger of being ousted as much as the evidence shows that there is a conspiracy to oust him through a coup d’état.

And because Najib is too cool, his detractors are getting very impatient and are panicking. Najib was supposed to have been out in May. And then it was changed to June. And now the new dateline is July. However, we are already halfway through July but it still does not appear like the plan is working.

That was when they decided to form a Special Task Force comprising of four agencies – Malaysia’s Central Bank (Bank Negara), the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).

The impression being given is that this Special Task Force was set up to investigate the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB’s money was transferred to Najib’s personal accounts. Hence that means the Special Task Force was set up in response to that WSJ expose.

That, however, is not true. The Special Task Force was set up before the WSJ article. And it was the Special Task Force itself that leaked the information to WSJ. Hence there was foul play involved.

What the Special Task Force hopes to achieve when the PAC is already investigating 1MDB is not clear. How they are going to avoid the overlap and duplication that is going to arise from two groups doing the same job was never explained.

It appears like the purpose of the Special Task Force is not to investigate the allegation involving RM2.6 billion but to make sure that the allegation sticks even if they have to fabricate evidence or leak information to the media to play up the issue.

As what DAP said, they are not interested in bringing this case to court. What they want to do is to create a perception of guilt and try Najib in a court of public opinion. The plan is if the pressure is too much Najib may just resign from office or they can gather enough support to pass a vote of no confidence in Parliament.

The Special Task Force itself does not have any constitutional powers to make a move on Najib. It is not quite like they can impeach Najib or push for the Attorney-General to indict him.

First of all, the Special Task Force is unconstitutional according to Article 145(2) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. To set up such a Task Force it needs Cabinet approval and that was not done. So the Special Task Force can do naught other than just talk.

Secondly, the Auditor-General has already announced that his department has completed its investigation and the interim report shows that there has been no wrongdoing as alleged.

Thirdly, the Attorney-General decides whether to prosecute, not the Special Task Force. So unless the AG orders Najib’s indictment then nothing is going to happen.

And finally, most important of all, the Special Task Force has demonstrated mala fide by leaking information to the media with intentions to create a perception of guilt. That makes the Special Task Force just the fourth member of Pakatan Rakyat and therefore cannot claim to be independent, as they are pretending.

So shall we drop the July deadline and push it forward to August instead, or maybe to Christmas Day? Yes, I, too, have heard the talk that it is merely a matter of days before Najib leaves. Would you like to place a RM1,000 bet on that?

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK