Najib’s problem: the perception is what counts

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jul 24, 2015

Oh, by the way, Najib had better watch his back. There is a certain Singaporean citizen (passport number E1927434K) who has Malaysian permanent residence status who heads the Special Task Force Secretariat, Administration and Finance department and who attends all the confidential meetings and who has a relationship with a certain adviser to the MACC who, in turn, has links with a certain UK Blog that is being used to discredit the Prime Minister.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The feedback I received is that over the last three days during the Hari Raya open houses and gatherings the focus of the ‘small talk’ is regarding 1MDB. Most believe that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB’s money was transferred to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s personal bank account.

And these are not just the opposition supporters who are talking, mind you. We can expect this from opposition supporters. These are bankers, professionals, intellectuals, etc., and people who are not known to be opposition supporters.

Even those who support the government and do not regard what Najib did as wrong — since Umno needs the money to finance the elections — say that the mistake Najib made was in transferring the money to his personal bank account when he could have used another bank account that would not be linked to him.

So there you have it. Like it or not, the allegation that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB’s money has been transferred to Najib’s personal bank account is THE issue of the day. Most people are waiting to hear Najib’s clarification and until then they are assuming that Najib is guilty until and unless he can prove his innocence.

This is what trial by media is all about and in the end it is the perception that counts and not the truth.

Of course, you may argue that this is not fair or is unjust. You may argue that a person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty and in the event there is doubt then the benefit of the doubt must be given to the accused.

True, that is how the court operates although there are exceptions to this rule like when Anwar Ibrahim was found guilty of sodomy and was sentenced to nine years jail because, as the judge said, he had failed to prove his innocence.

Anyway, the Federal Court later overturned that conviction in 2004 on grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove Anwar’s guilt, thus upholding the principle that the prosecution must prove guilt and not the defence that must prove innocence.

But that is in a court of law. Najib is being tried in a court of public opinion, not in a court of law. And the court of public opinion has already ‘convicted’ Najib of the ‘crime’ of ‘stealing’ RM2.6 billion of 1MDB’s money. And the ‘sentence’ is he must resign as Prime Minister and hand power to his Deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin.

Now, assuming Najib does resign and Muhyiddin does replace him as Prime Minister, there are a few things Muhyiddin must take into consideration if he wants to last the distance.

First of all, he must agree to the setting up of the Presidential Council that will advise him on all matters and guide him as to how he must run the country.

Muhyiddin must remember that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has removed four Prime Ministers before this — Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib — so he must avoid being the fifth Prime Minister that Dr Mahathir sacks.

Second, he must not give in to the Chinese or be too soft towards them like Najib was. That was something that made Dr Mahathir very angry — especially after kowtowing to the Chinese and they still did not vote for Barisan Nasional in the 2013 general election.

Third, he must not be too friendly with Singapore or give in to their demands. Malaysia must treat Singapore with contempt — and this can easily be demonstrated by demolishing Malaysia’s side of the Causeway and by replacing it with a Crooked Bridge as soon as Muhyiddin takes over, preferably within the first week of office.

Fourth, Umno and Barisan Nasional must no longer spend RM1.5 billion to RM2.5 billion for the general elections. The maximum limit that Umno and Barisan Nasional should spend is just under RM100 million, which is what the law allows based on the number of parliament and state seats being contested.

Of course, come the 2018 general election this would mean Umno and Barisan Nasional are going to get kicked out if all they spend is less than RM100 million. And if they spend just RM7 million in the Sarawak State election next year, like what the law allows, then Barisan Nasional is going to get kicked out of that state.

But then this is basically what Dr Mahathir and the Najib critics want and is one of the reasons why they want Najib out. And if Muhyiddin does not want to suffer the same fate as Najib he had better observe this religiously even if that means the end of Umno and Barisan Nasional.

Another thing that Muhyiddin has to do is to bring back the Internal Security Act (ISA) that allows for detention without trial. This is a bone of contention as far as Dr Mahathir is concerned. So if Muhyiddin does not want to incur Dr Mahathir’s wrath he has to do this.

There are many other side issues, of course, but those are the main ones that Dr Mahathir has raised so many times. Hence Muhyiddin must be sensitive towards all these issues unless he wants to also get kicked out.

Anyway, that would only apply if Najib does resign and Muhyiddin does take over as Prime Minister. And if Najib does not want to resign then he can always come out with an explanation as to whether RM2.6 billion of 1MDB’s money was or was not transferred to his personal bank account. If Najib can do that then the matter ends there and all that talk of Najib stealing RM2.6 billion of 1MDB’s money would stop.

Can Najib do that, and ideally within this month itself (because those opposed to him want him out before 1st August 2015)?

That is all I want to say about the matter lest Joceline Tan of The Star accuses me of telling grandmother stories.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK