Hard to Sabotage 1MDB Task Force Now
The police sudden shift of attention from the 1MDB investigation to the allegation of conspiracy to topple the PM and the role of Justo had raised concern that it was more interested the political rather than criminal aspect of the case.
Kadir Jasin
CLOSING down newspapers, attacking websites and the IGP’s failed mission to interrogate Xavier Andre Justo in Thailand and the emerging attacks on 1MDB Task Force members are the distractions – a subplot from the movie “Wag the Dog”.
In the movie, starring Robert De Nero and Dustin Hoffman, the President of the United States was caught making advances on an underage girl less than two weeks before election day. Conrad Brean (De Niro), a top-notch spin doctor, is brought in to take the public’s attention away from the scandal. He decides to construct a diversionary war with Albania with the hope that the media will concentrate on this instead. Brean contacts Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Hoffman) to create the war, complete with a theme song and fake film footages.
I would not put the Prime Minister’s communication chief, Abdul Rahman Dahlan in the same league as the film’s director Barry Levinson but the plot is near enough – to drive attention away from the tightening noose of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s Task Force.
But what a slap in the face it was for the government when the Thais refused access to Justo to the IGP team but allowed a journalist of the Singapore Straits Times to interview him instead (Read here). As if the Thais were telling our government, if you want to know about Justo read the Straits Times.
Clearly the Thais are more willing to work with Singapore than with Malaysia on this matter. Secrets and blackmails are an evil but necessary tool in international relations.
The IGP could have sent a wrong signal to the whole national by his instance to interrogate Justo and his dismal failure. It gave the impression that he was more interested in the Justo sideshow than in the matter at hand – the Task Force investigation – and was not influential enough with the Thais.
It may have been too late for any one member Task Force to sabotage or pervert the investigation in favour of any party. They have to play the team game or risk being exposed as renegade.
The police sudden shift of attention from the 1MDB investigation to the allegation of conspiracy to topple the PM and the role of Justo had raised concern that it was more interested the political rather than criminal aspect of the case.
The suspicion arose out of the fact that among the four members of the Task Force, the police are the easiest to the influenced because its ultimate boss, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is seen as the last few remaining supporters of the Prime Minister.
In fact Ahmad Zahid is seen as the man most likely to be promoted should Mohd Najib Abdul Razak decide to reshuffle the cabinet in the coming days and the most likely casualties are the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin and Rural Development Minister Shafie Apdal.
