Najib’s adversaries know it is game-over

Najib’s adversaries are interpreting this as an act of weakness. They say he is scared, which is why he is not talking. Actually this is part of Najib’s strategy. He lets his adversaries scream, rant, rave, moan and groan while he quietly asar parang. Then he swings that parang and chops off all the screaming heads and silences them forever.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

A veteran newsman recalls never seeing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak this afraid over the past almost four decades he has known him on a personal basis.

On the same note, former News Straits Times group editor-in-chief Kadir Jasin said he never witnessed former deputy premier Muhyiddin Yassin being this feared as well.

“The reality is, Najib has never been brave or stern.

“He rose (up the political hierarchy) because he was skilled at playing it safe and due to being guided as well as protected by his mentors,” he said in a blog posting.

Contrary to the assertion by veteran newsman Kadir Jasin that he has never seen Prime Minister Najib Razak so afraid, Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussien tonight said the Umno president is in a very calm state.

“I do not think he is afraid at all. He is very calm,” Hishammudin told reporters. (Hornbill Unleashed)

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So there you have it. One person says Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is running scared. Another says he is calm and collected and is not flustered at all. At the end of the day it is one person’s opinion against another. And, just like assholes, everybody has one — opinions, that is.

Actually, if Najib has anything to fear he should have been fearful the first half of this year. That was during the height of the oust-Najib campaign and when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakatan Rakyat made their deal to work together to oust Najib and replace him with Muhyiddin Yassin.

Not only did Dr Mahathir and Pakatan Raykat make an alliance. The Special Branch, Bank Negara, MACC and the AG’s Chambers were also part of that conspiracy. They made all sorts of moves and Najib was supposed to have been history at the latest by the end of July 2015.

But Najib did not panic. He sat down with his Boffin Boys and planned their strategy. In June 1MDB presented its rationalising and debt-reduction plan to the Cabinet. In July Najib got rid of those key people in the conspiracy and even threw a few in jail.

Najib also made the boldest move ever of sacking Muhyiddin, the Prime Minister impatiently in waiting, and replaced him with Zahid Hamidi (who he had earlier brought to Saudi Arabia to personally meet the donor of the RM2.6 billion so that the matter could be clarified and put to rest).

By the last day of July the conspiracy was smashed and the conspirators all neutralised. There was now only one direction for Najib to go, which was up.

Muhyiddin said that Najib’s rating has dropped from 50% to 30% while only 5% of the Chinese still support him. This is what Dr Mahathir is saying as well so Muhyiddin is just repeating the words of his puppet master.

But is it this 50% or 70% or the 95% Chinese who are said to no longer support Najib who will be attending the Umno Assembly next week and who are going to decide Najib’s fate? Najib has the support of 160-170 of the 191 Umno divisions while 190 Wanita heads and more than two-thirds of the Pemuda heads support him

And that is what matters because it is they who will decide whether Najib remains the Umno President and subsequently the Chairman of Barisan Nasional and the Prime Minister of Malaysia. All those others — Dr Mahathir, Muhyiddin, etc., included — are really not relevant in the bigger scheme of things. They can continue barking but it is the bite that matters, and they no longer have any bite.

Najib’s adversaries criticise him for keeping silent and for not talking. He did not even go to Parliament to talk about 1MDB, which angered his adversaries even more. He let other people do all the talking while he just silently monitors the responses.

Najib’s adversaries are interpreting this as an act of weakness. They say he is scared, which is why he is not talking. Actually this is part of Najib’s strategy. He lets his adversaries scream, rant, rave, moan and groan while he quietly asah parang. Then he swings that parang and chops off all the screaming heads and silences them forever.

This is a game of power. What his adversaries want is to remove Najib and take power. However, currently, power is in Najib’s hands. So he does not need to scream when he is in power and when he possesses power. Those who are screaming, ranting, raving, moaning and groaning do so because they do not have power and they want to grab power but have failed to do so.

Basically, it is the pathetic sounds coming out from a gulungan kecewa who can see that it is already game-over and the conspiracy to oust Najib has failed and has nowhere else to go except down.

Even 1MDB no longer spares its words when dealing with Dr Mahathir.

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“Unlike Mahathir, who relies on assumptions, 1MDB prefers to deal in facts,” the state-owned firm said in a press statement on 03.12.2015.

“The retired and former politician has continued to repeat old, unproven and unsubstantiated allegations based on, now he himself admits, assumptions instead of evidence,” it added.

“This is despite detailed and factual clarifications being issued by 1MDB and the fact that Mahathir has repeatedly been proven wrong in his claim that ‘RM42 billion hilang‘ (RM42 billion missing) from 1MDB.”

The company said that it is a fact its accounts are audited by reputable, international firms and anyone can easily verify 1MDB facts and figures by reviewing the publicly available audited accounts.

“It is a well-known fact that the auditor-general has been tasked by the cabinet on March 4 to review the past accounts of 1MDB.”

“Documentary proof and evidence has been submitted to these authorities.

“Each of these lawful authorities has independently conducted investigations and publicly issued statements relating to 1MDB.”

It said if Mahathir is interested in the truth, he would allow these agencies to complete their investigations and await their findings.

“However, rather than do this, Mahathir continues to freely make unproven allegations without any investigation, without any reference to facts and without any regard to the rule of law and due process.”

It said through his statements, Mahathir clearly shows his contempt and disdain of the various agencies that are investigating 1MDB.

“After 22 years in power, in his mind, only Mahathir can be right. This is despite him being proven wrong on ‘RM42 billion hilang‘ allegation and meekly confessing to not having evidence when asked whether he would lodge a police report against 1MDB.” (Hornbill Unleashed)

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What 1MDB is saying, but in a more ‘diplomatic’ manner, is that Dr Mahathir is an idiot and a liar. As the Chinese would normally say: Dr Mahathir is talking cock. This is a very strong allegation and so far the strongest critic yet 1MDB has made against Dr Mahathir.

If Dr Mahathir wants to clean up his image he had better stop asking questions and making allegations about matters that have already been clarified. Dr Mahathir should look at the replies given and see whether he has anything new to ask or does he want to keep asking the same questions to matters that have already been replied.

Better still, if Dr Mahathir is still convinced that there is something wrong, then produce the evidence or he should forever hold his peace because it is becoming very embarrassing, for him, that is.