Kit Siang wants to save his son, not Malaysia

The Third Force

Have you ever wondered what a desperate father would do for his troubled son? Some say he would even commit murder, although that may seem a little extreme to suggest.

But not when it comes to Lim Kit Siang, who just yesterday murdered his credibility in the first degree. And it was on account of his son, now in the thick of controversy over an alleged bungalow-for-land scam. The one thing that settled when the DAP patriarch stepped on stage yesterday alongside Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was this – his words were as good as junk.

Speaking at the ‘Peoples’ Congress’ that was held in Shah Alam yesterday, Kit Siang called the recent media onslaught on Lim Guan Eng a Barisan Nasional (BN) offensive, which he claimed was a ‘bull’s eye score’ for the ruling coalition.

“I was surprised that Guan Eng had difficulty in rebutting allegations of corruption, not because there is a case of corruption for him to answer but because of a deliberate propaganda agenda and campaign to paint Guan Eng as untrustworthy…” bla, bla, bla, and all the rest of it.

While that may have been the gist to his entire speech, it may also have been the biggest applause for his detractors. The reason? They must have been stumped at how he turned his son’s lack of scruples into an opportunity to fire a long-shot across the ruling coalition’s bow.

And while it is true that it was Dato’ Shabudin Yahaya who had triggered the hubbub over the bungalow-for-land scam two weeks ago, none of what transpired thereafter – the media blitz, the exposes and the Pulitzer inspired pieces against Guan Eng – was entirely a BN-doing.

Rather, it was Kit Siang’s ‘own people’ – his detractors from DAP – who were out to finish him and his son off for good (refer http://www.malaysia-today.net/dap-insiders-dismantling-the-lim-dynasty-a-true-story/). Take my word for it – had it not been for their intervention, BN would not have been able to pick through the finer intricacies of the alleged scam. And it’s not too difficult to imagine why many DAP insiders want to dismantle the Lim dynasty. Just as Kit Siang wants to ‘save Malaysia’, they want to save DAP.

But what is baffling is the backtracking the senior Lim did on stage yesterday. Seven days ago, on Monday, he told Malaysians that he did not believe Najib was a crook. Back then, he was attempting to broker a peace treaty by telling Najib this – save my son, and I’ll save you.

It seems that everyone who is anyone is desperate to save someone or something these days. Notwithstanding, let’s get on with the rest of this story and see who gets to save whom.

But first things first – what happened in the days between Monday and yesterday is anybody’s guess. On Monday, the senior Lim went all gaga with the “I don’t believe Najib is a crook” bit. Yesterday, it was “Najib needs to go,” which means, the senior Lim believes that Najib is the crook Mahathir had painted him out to be. And that brings me to the question – is Kit Siang suffering from Alzheimer’s disease?

Not quite. A wrinkled prune he may be, but he’s still got his marbles.

It seems that the senior Lim got word that the MACC was not willing to look in the other direction and was bent on putting his son under the highest powered microscope they could get their hands on. And they needed to – or else, they wouldn’t get Malaysians to believe Najib was a fraud.

There was, of course, that other reason.

The MACC probe was deemed necessary by its chief, Tan Sri Abu Kassim, who has been at Kit Siang’s mercy for some time now. The torture was self-inflicted – the anti-graft agency has yet to come clean on Teoh Beng Hock’s murder, while Kit Siang afforded himself leverage on that note by having Abu Kassim dance to his tune.

But all of that is about to change. The bungalow-for-land scam has given the MACC chief currency to pay a portion of Kit Siang’s ransom demand – as down payment – by launching a probe against Guan Eng. And nailing Guan Eng’s balls to the wall would be the final payoff.

Abu Kassim knows, as well as the Pope and I do, that if ever there was a time to bring Guan Eng down, it is now. And bringing Guan Eng down would mean the end of Kit Siang, which is why the MACC director would never want to miss the boat.

But things could still flip the other way.

As soon as it was whispered to the senior Lim that his son was pancake, it was Save Malaysia all over again. Putting his “Najib is not a crook” remark off as a bad dream, Kit Siang went on stage yesterday alongside a bunch of goons to declare that the sky was red and leprechauns existed and that Santa was real – and oh yes – that he needed to save Malaysia.

Of course, that also meant Kit Siang agreed that Najib needed to go.

Knowing all too well that his days as DAP’s head enchilada were numbered, Kit Siang decided to tuck himself in bed alongside the person under whose subjection Abu Kassim was now forced to live – Mahathir. It’s a brilliant strategy, really. After all, it was Mahathir who had contrived the plot to topple the PM, and it was at his behest that both Abu Kassim and former Attorney general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail – not to mention Muhyiddin – had conspired to fabricate a charge sheet against Najib.

Still don’t get it?

Let me put it to you this way – Gani, Muhyiddin and Abu Kassim left a dirty trail not only Mahathir has the imprints of, so does Najib and the better half of UMNO’s Supreme Council. But what do Abu Kassim, Muhyiddin and Gani have on Mahathir?

Nothing. But they each still have their two balls.

Perhaps now you can understand why the senior Lim found it necessary to attend the Peoples’ Congress yesterday despite knowing that his son’s balls were on the guillotine. A deal of sorts may be in the works between Mahathir and Kit Siang, although, I can’t be certain of this.

But it sure as hell looks like it. And by the way, I’m still in a daze as to who is really saving whom.