Is it all because Najib is stupid or merely bodoh sepat?

Judging by the developments over the last week or so I would give Najib the benefit of the doubt and say that he is actually bodoh sepat. And feigning stupidity has worked in his favour. His enemies, who were pretending to be his strongest supporters, came out and exposed themselves and he finished them off good and proper.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Syed Ali Alhabshee, the Umno Cheras division chief, masqueraded as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s strongest supporter in Wilayah Persekutuan who would sacrifice his life to protect the Prime Minister from harm.

Shafie Apdal, the one-time Federal Minister of Rural and Regional Development and the Member of Parliament for Semporna, masqueraded as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s strongest supporter in Sabah who would rather die than see anything happen to the Prime Minister.

Muhyiddin Yassin, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, masqueraded as a strong supporter of the Prime Minister who does not wish to become Prime Minister and if the Prime Minister decides to retire he would not want to take over but will also retire together with the Prime Minister.

And the fox swore to the farmer that he does not wish to eat any of the chickens and will guard the chickens with its life to make sure that no wild animal does anything to the chickens.

Yes, it is a stupid farmer that would believe this oath from the fox while it will be a stupid politician cum prime minister who would believe that another politician intends him no harm and does not wish to oust him and take over his job.

But is Najib really that naïve to the point of stupidity because, as they say, if you can make your enemies believe you are stupid then you are actually far cleverer than your enemies? Anyone who can make another person believe he or she is stupid is actually very clever.

I suppose history would have to judge whether Najib is downright stupid or merely bodoh sepat (peribahasa: pura-pura bodoh, tetapi sebenarnya cerdik). But then if you are a student of Sun Tzu you would know that deception is the spice of politics and feigning stupidity is one way to draw your enemy out and once they are exposed you go in for the kill.

Judging by the developments over the last week or so I would give Najib the benefit of the doubt and say that he is actually bodoh sepat. And feigning stupidity has worked in his favour. His enemies, who were pretending to be his strongest supporters, came out and exposed themselves and he finished them off good and proper.

This is reminiscent of what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did in 1998. He knew that Anwar Ibrahim was plotting his ouster and that there were many within the Cabinet and the Umno Supreme Council who were aligned to the Deputy Prime Minister. It was said that very few save three of the Umno Supreme Council members, and only two Menteri Besar, still supported Dr Mahathir.

But Dr Mahathir did not panic. He was very cool. Instead of melenting, he took two months leave and appointed Anwar the Acting Prime Minister and then left the country. Then, from halfway across the world, Dr Mahathir monitored what Anwar was doing in those two months as Acting Prime Minister.

The talk in town was that Dr Mahathir was finished. Anwar had his knife at Dr Mahathir’s jugular and all it needed was a swift flick of his wrist and the Prime Minister was dead meat.

But still Dr Mahathir did not panic even though those in his inner circle were frantic. They thought that Dr Mahathir was too trusting and blind to Anwar’s moves and was being taken in by Anwar’s ‘sweet talk’.

Even up to 48 hours before Dr Mahathir made his move he told the whole world that Anwar was going to take over when he finally decides to retire. He told the entire nation that all those allegations of sodomy against Anwar were false and were lies being spread by people who were jealous of Anwar.

Dr Mahathir, with Anwar standing beside him, assured the entire nation that he had no intention of sacking his Deputy. What proof do you need? asked Dr Mahathir. Do you need him to hug and kiss Anwar to prove that there are no problems between him and his Deputy and that Anwar was his anointed successor?

Then, 48 hours later, Dr Mahathir made his move and finished Anwar off. Immediately, the Cabinet plus Umno’s Supreme Council — most of whom were with Anwar — swung and turned their backs on Anwar. That was the end of the challenge and Dr Mahathir ruled for another five years with no one daring to even lift his or her face.

The first thing you do when you take over is you remove the cronies and tools of the old regime. Somehow Najib did not do this when he took over in 2009 and that was most perplexing. He should have known that many of these people were planted there by the previous prime minister and would act as sleepers, to be awakened whenever needed.

For example, the previous Attorney General, according to Anwar, is Dr Mahathir’s ‘running dog’. That was what Anwar said but then Anwar is pissed with him because of his two sodomy cases and the abuse of power case that saw him serve a few years in jail (and he is still in jail).

The Attorney General, in turn, had his own ‘runner’, the Tan Sri who was recently detained. According to the market talk this chap is a loan shark who does deals if you want the Attorney General to drop any charges against you. But then it would cost you a great sum of money depending on the charge and depending on how rich you are.

Hence for these people money talks and their loyalty is suspect. So they are dangerous to be allowed to be around you. In short, Najib was sleeping in a pit of vipers and these vipers can strike you at any time without warning.

Has Najib finally got rid of all the vipers? Far from it! He has merely got rid of a handful and if he does not want to get struck there are many more he needs to get rid off. So expect the purge that started a week ago to continue until all the vipers are put to sleep.

Yes, Najib may be bodoh sepat after all. And beware of the sting of the sepat. It is most painful indeed. And sepat have this ability to pretend it is sleeping until your hand gets close. Then it strikes.