Nurul’s meeting with Jacel is Pakatan’s 1MDB

By MT Webmaster Last updated Nov 28, 2015

So now Malaysians have a bigger issue than 1MDB to talk about in the mamak shops and coffee houses. And that issue is whether Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter is a traitor to her country. Najib was said to be a traitor for smiling as he shook Netanyahu’s hands. Would that, therefore, not make Nurul Izzah a traitor as well?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Lembah Pantai Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar’s controversial meeting with Sulu Princess Jacel H. Kiram Hasan, the daughter of Jamalul Kiram III, the Sultan who ordered the invasion of Sabah in 2013, is Pakatan Harapan’s 1MDB.

When Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, there was a similar expression of outrage, especially, as PAS said, Najib smiled as he shook Netanyahu’s hand. Probably they expected him to show a muka masam.

Pakatan Harapan has always been quick to pick up controversial issues, never mind how trivial they may be, and now they are going to have to swallow the same bitter pill that they dish out to others.

This could not have come at a worst time for Pakatan Harapan. After so many failed attempts at trying to oust Prime Minister Najib, they are now on the last lap of this one-year race that started with Plan A and then went on to Plans B, C, D, E, F, etc. There have been so many Plans that we can no longer keep track of what alphabet this final Plan is.

The final Plan is simple. Vote against Budget 2016 — and if they succeed to do that then the Prime Minister must resign from office because if the Budget does not get passed that is more or less a vote of no confidence against Najib.

However, to successfully get the ‘no confidence vote’ passed, they need at least 112 votes — 115 to be safer in case of crossovers. If not all it needs is one Member of Parliament to back down and then it would be a ‘hung Parliament’ and if it is two then the vote gets defeated.

Currently, the anti-Najib forces have about 74 votes, mainly from the opposition. So that means they are short of 38 (or 41 if they want 115 votes). And that also means the 30 or so votes from Barisan Nasional did not materialise after all, while 11 MPs from PAS did not support the ‘no confidence vote’ move (only three did). And that is why it is 74 and not 115.

The anti-Najib forces are hoping that they can get as close to 112 as possible if they cannot get exactly 112. Even 105 or 110 would be good enough although this is not enough to oust Najib. But if it is more than 88, whatever the figure may be — whether 100, 105 or 110 — this can then be used during the Umno general assembly next month to call for Najib’s resignation.

In short, it is not enough that just the opposition MPs vote against Budget 2016. They must get a number of Barisan Nasional MPs to also vote against the Budget, preferably from Umno. Then this would be seen as an indicator that Najib has lost the support of his own party and, therefore, must resign. Getting just the opposition MPs to vote against Najib is no big deal. Only when Najib’s own party members vote against him will it be a big deal.

Najib, however, is expecting this and is planning his counter-moves to frustrate the moves by the anti-Najib forces. He still has some aces up his sleeve, which he will slam onto the table when the occasion demands and when the time is right. Najib has not yet exhausted all his moves and still has a few left that have not yet been played.

Just like in the German invasion of Russia during WWII, the critical period is December. Germany failed to conquer Leningrad by December and they paid that heavy price. By January they had lost the plot and were now planning for defeat and retreat. The same applies to the anti-Najib forces. If you fail to conquer Putrajaya by December then start planning for defeat and retreat.

As the Malays would say: tiada esok bagi mu. Then what follows would be tiada maaf bagi mu. And just like what happened after the failed invasion of Leningrad, the Germans went into retreat and the Russians chased them all the way back to Berlin and slaughtered all the stragglers along the way.

The opposition has always claimed the moral high ground. Even when they break the law they argue that they may have broken a certain law but they are standing on the moral high ground. So it is not wrong to break the law. In fact, since the law is bad, and since you are standing on the moral high ground, then it is your duty to break the law.

That has always been what the opposition says: bad laws need to be opposed and it is morally right (although legally wrong) to break the law. So it has always been about morals and not about legality.

In the same breath they accuse the government of using rule by law and not rule of law. That, in fact, is Anwar Ibrahim’s favourite chant. Barisan Nasional applies rule by law and not rule of law. So we need to oppose those laws and morally break those laws. It is moral and not legal that counts.

Is Pakatan Harapan still standing on the platform of a moral high ground? Or does this moral high ground change from time to time and the boundaries get shifted to suit whatever it is that Pakatan Harapan is trying to sell to the rakyat at that particular point of time?

This latest controversy regarding Nurul Izzah’s meeting with Jacel could not have come at a better time for Barisan Nasional Sarawak, which is about to face a state election next year. Whatever gains the opposition may have made in Sarawak over the last few years have been wiped out with just this one incident. Expect the opposition to suffer in the coming Sarawak election and with that Najib would be even more secure in his seat in Putrajaya. Do they not say that the Lord moves in mysterious ways?

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK