Ousting Najib by all means
Zakiah Koya, Hornbill Unleashed
There was no question as to what the agenda was: It was an event designed to oust Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak by all means, even if means linking hands with sworn enemies, in the name of “Save Malaysia”.
The group was a strange one — even motley — and emotions were running high in the packed room.
It was something one never thought one would see in politics of this country. The former tops of the government, key opposition leaders, rebels from the government, rebels from the ruling parties and civil society leaders came together to sign a citizens’ declaration, all in one room, sitting shoulder to shoulder, in a civil manner.
There is no saying who is who in that room, but it is obvious that the opposition dominated. The opposition and the civil society leaders, who had once pushed for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to step down as PM after 22 long years, knew that they needed to engage their once sworn enemy to boot Najib out.
It is almost akin to getting a hacker to unlock a password.
In a political scene even which Mahathir would have never envisioned, the 91-year-old former premier led top opposition leaders, even those bickering among themselves, as well as Umno and BN rebels and civil society leaders in signing a declaration demanding that Najib be removed.
Even PAS leaders were in attendance but obviously missing was PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who has been chummy with Najib for quite a while now.
This much historical event has come after months of allegations against Najib for allegedly pocketing RM2.6 billion from the government’s investment arm, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Reading out from a prepared note, Mahathir went on isting of the misdoings of Najib and his inner circle for almost an hour. Mahathir was obviously not his comfortable self and did not stray from the copy as he is used to do.
The names attending the event were impressive, ranging from Mahathir’s family to key Pakatan leaders and top civil society champions such as Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasen.
At the press conference, Mahathir had to fend off questions of whether he is against or with Umno.
“I am here as a citizen of the country. Whether I have a wife or children, it does not matter,” said Mahathir.
He said it has come to this because the whole system has been disabled by Najib who refuses to address his misdoings.
Ambiga succintly summarised it when she said, “This is the way democracy works… anyone else would have resigned under similar circumstances.”
She also insisted that releasing former DPM and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must be on the agenda.
She spoke up after Mahathir tried to brush off reporters’ questions on whether he will push for Anwar’s release.
“The time to act (to remove Najib) is now, the time to set aside differences is now. The time to reclaim our nation is now, preferably before we are all behind bars,” said Ambiga.
For now, enemies have linked hands, more than 70,000 viewers watched it live online and the main comment on social media as the event took place was: Is Najib at the airport?
Only time will tell if this strange group of people will be able to oust the PM in a democratic manner, as democracy dictates.
