Why Najib wants the vote of no confidence to happen

By MT Webmaster Last updated Aug 31, 2015

Najib will then give Sabah and Sarawak what they are asking for and win at least 45 of the 57 seats there, maybe even 48. That will give Barisan Nasional roughly 150 seats with at best 72 going to the opposition if MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP do not win a single seat.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The former Inspector-General of Police, Rahim Noor, has commented on the transfer of the ex-Deputy Director of the Special Branch, Abdul Hamid Bador. I remember when Rahim Noor put Ramli Yusuff into cold storage as well.

Ramli Yusuff was put into cold storage for telling the truth during the commission of inquiry into Anwar Ibrahim’s beating while in police custody. And because of that Rahim had to spend a couple of months in jail.

They also made sure that Ramli never became the IGP. So Ramli’s junior, Musa Hassan, went up to become the IGP instead. Musa Hassan is infamous for his links with the underworld and when Ramli launched an investigation into Malaysia’s national airlines, MAS, they fixed him up on fabricated charges of corruption.

This is not the first time that the Royal Malaysian Police has been plagued with internal politicking and not the first time that one man got rid of another man who he views as a threat.

Khalid Abu Bakar was the Selangor police chief before he was promoted to become the current IGP. And, according to Hamid, it was the Special Branch that supported him for that post. If not Khalid would not have got the job.

It is said that in December last year Hamid and Khalid had a serious clash where Hamid called Khalid all sorts of nasty names and even threatened him with arrest and jail. From that day on Hamid’s and Khalid’s relationship was beyond repair.

When the Director of the Special Branch retired, there was no way the IGP would agree to Hamid taking over. In fact, Khalid did not even want Hamid to remain in the police force. So he transferred Hamid out of the police to the Prime Minister’s office.

They are making it appear like there is some conspiracy in Hamid’s transfer and that it is linked to 1MDB. Actually it is a simple case of two men who just can’t stand each other.

This is just like the case of ex-Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and current Menteri Besar Azmin Ali. They just hate each other’s guts. Of course they cannot kick Khalid out on grounds that Azmin hates him. So they had to raise all sorts of ‘crimes’ that Khalid committed even though none have been proven.

Khalid Ibrahim was kicked out because he is a crook. Abdul Hamid Bador was kicked out because he wants the truth regarding 1MDB to be told. And yes, Anwar Ibrahim was kicked out because he is gay, not because he tried to oust his boss, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

My good friend, Aspan Alias, said that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not going to last. They said that about Dr Mahathir in 1987 and again in 1997. But he lasted till 2003 and became the longest serving Prime Minister in Malaysian history.

And do you know what? Even after Dr Mahathir retired in 2003 he decided who should become Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister after him.

It was Dr Mahathir who decided on Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the new Prime Minister with Najib as his running mate (even though Pak Lah did not want Najib as his number two).

It was Dr Mahathir who decided that Pak Lak must step down to make way for Najib with Muhyiddin Yassin as the number two.

And it is also Dr Mahathir who decided that Najib must step down and hand power to Muhyiddin with I don’t know who should be the new number two.

For the first time Dr Mahathir is not getting his way. Najib removed Muhyiddin and replaced him with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. So even if Dr Mahathir does succeed in ousting Najib, Muhyiddin is not going to take over as Dr Mahathir had planned.

Then Najib removed all those ‘instruments’ that Dr Mahathir was going to use to fix him up on charges of corruption, the Attorney General being one of them. So with all those instruments out of action the only avenue left to remove Najib is through a vote of no confidence in Parliament.

Knowing that this is the only possible route left, short of an assassination or military take over, Najib prepared himself for the possible vote of no confidence. If that vote of no confidence does come in October, Najib will exploit it and use it to his advantage.

Once the vote of no confidence is passed Najib will ask His Majesty the Agong to dissolve Parliament to make way for snap federal elections. Umno will contest the seats it can be assured of winning and increase its seats from 88 to 100-110.

That will also give Barisan Nasional two-thirds control of Parliament. If MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP can pull in 10 seats combined then Barisan Nasional will get 160 seats versus 62 for the opposition.

The Boffin Boys in Najib’s office have done their arithmetic and they are of the opinion that a snap election can actually work in Barisan Nasional’s favour. If Najib can bring in those results then Umno can hold its annual general assembly and party elections and Najib will not face a risk of being ousted in the party elections.

The added bonus would be that Najib will be able to use the general election for spring-cleaning and to purge the party of those opposed to him by not fielding them as candidates. All those from Barisan Nasional who join the vote of no confidence would be dropped and that would be the end of their political career.

It is no wonder that the Boffin Boys are gung-ho about the vote of no confidence. In fact, they want it to happen. That may actually solve Najib’s problems once and for all. If the vote of no confidence fails it will work in Najib’s favour. If it succeeds it will also work in his favour.

Heads I win, tails you lose. That is how the toss of the coin is going to work out for Najib.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK