Mukhriz Mahathir snookered by Tengku Sariffuddin

So it may be true that Mahathir never transferred Umno’s money into his own or trustee bank account. But he certainly did use proxies. So what Mahathir said is not true. The only thing is Najib honestly put the money into his bank account so that the so-called trustees would not swindle Umno while Mahathir swindled Umno by hiding everything in other peoples’ names.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s Press Secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, is having a public debate with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s boboi cum proxy, Mukhriz. And it looks like Tengku Sariffuddin has snookered Mukhriz good and proper.

One very pertinent question that Tengku Sariffuddin asked is, “Why did Mukhriz contest the UMNO vice-presidency in 2013?” (READ HERE)

Mukhriz, in turn, responded to that with his statement, “Tengku Sariffuddin tak faham isu!” (READ HERE)

That is what they all say when they are snookered or kantoi: you do not understand or it is not how it looks like or allow me to explain or I have been misquoted, etc.

What is there to faham? Is not politics all about perception, as they always say? It is what people perceive that counts and not about reality. The ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign) are quick to admit that what people perceive about Najib is more important than the truth. And if the perception regarding Najib is negative then he must resign and hand over the prime ministership to…to…to…hmm…that is a good question…to whom?

And that is the crux of the matter here. Who does Najib hand power to if he does what Mahathir, the ANC and Pakatan want him to do, which is to resign? Does he hand power to his Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi? No, says Mahathir. Does he hand power to Pakatan’s undisputed candidate for Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim? Even more no, says Mahathir.

Then who? Who takes over if Najib goes? And if Najib goes but Zahid does not take over does this mean Zahid remains the Deputy Prime Minister of does this mean Zahid, too, must go together with Najib?

Okay, is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah going to be the new Prime Minister to replace Najib then? If that happens then Mahathir and his entire family will be living on borrowed time because not only does Ku Li have an axe to grind with Mahathir but he is going to go all out to recover the RM100 billion or more of Umno’s wealth that has been parked under Mahathir’s proxies, nominees and trustees and which thus far have not been returned to Umno.

Mahathir says he is angry with Najib because of the Prime Minister’s close relationship with Singapore (READ HERE). But is that not how it is supposed to be? Would the world be a safer place to live in if Korea and Japan fight or North and South Korea fight or Turkey and Syria fight or Malaysia and Indonesia fight? So why does Mahathir get angry if Najib attempts to end the 22 years of ‘Cold War’ that Malaysia and Singapore had when Mahathir was Prime Minister? Even America and Cuba are now friends.

And for this Mahathir accuses Najib of giving too much face to the Chinese. And in the same breath Mahathir says the Chinese will not support the government as long as Najib is still Prime Minister. How do we reconcile those two statements that are directly opposed to one another?

Based on the law of perception, as Mahathir himself loves to use, since Mahathir wants Najib out and yet he cannot accept all the other leaders of Umno as the replacement, and at the same time he will not declare who he wants as his choice of successor, then it can only be someone whom he wants, at this point of time, to remain a secret.

It is not a secret Mahathir wants Najib out. But whom Mahathir wants as Najib’s successor is a secret. Why? What happened to all this transparency that Mahathir was screaming about? Mahathir is transparent about his hatred for Najib and about the fact he wants Najib ousted but he is not transparent about who will take over once Najib is ousted.

Mukhriz said he has no aspirations or ambitions to become Prime Minister. Sure, and Vincent Tan and Francis Yeoh are in business not so that they can make money but to serve the people. Those who want to serve the people do not become politicians. They become priests.

Even then priests aspire to become bishops and bishops aspire to become archbishops and archbishops aspire to become cardinals and cardinals aspire to become the pope. Have you not studied the more than 1,000 years of the Church and Vatican history of intrigue, murder and assassinations in the power-struggle to reach the top of the church hierarchy?

Anyway, one does not contest an Umno vice-presidency for fun. An Umno vice-presidency is the first step to the deputy-presidency and eventually the presidency. You climb the ladder step-by-step and not straight away contest the presidency as an ‘outsider’.

Ten years ago, Mahathir suffered a very serious heart attack, which the doctors gave him a 50:50 chance of surviving. In fact, they even held interfaith prayers at the Blog House, which Mukhriz attended, to invoke God’s help in ensuring that Mahathir survives what many thought was his last few days.

But what is even more important to note is what Mukhriz told his father when they thought he might not survive the night. Mukhriz told Mahathir he would not be able to make it alone without him.

Yes, ten years ago Mukhriz already had ambitions to go all the way to the top. So it is hogwash that he has no political ambitions. Even priests want to become the pope and not merely serve God. And politicians, too, want to eventually take the top spot in the party and the country.

Mahathir says that the RM2.6 billion donation is not the issue as much as the fact it was banked into Najib’s personal bank account and that in his (Mahathir’s) time he did not do that.

Yeah, right. Prior to 1987-1988, all Umno’s money went into Umno’s bank account. But because of the 1987-1988 crisis, Umno came out with a new policy that the party would no longer directly hold assets and cash in its name but proxies, nominees and trustees would be used.

So it may be true that Mahathir never transferred Umno’s money into his own or trustee bank account. But he certainly did use proxies. So what Mahathir said is not true. The only thing is Najib honestly put the money into his bank account so that the so-called trustees would not swindle Umno while Mahathir swindled Umno by hiding everything in other peoples’ names.

Take the Sports Toto scam as one such example. It was Umno that did the deal but they used Vincent Tan as a front. Of course, Vincent Tan was not just doing ‘national service’. He did have a share of the deal. So, while Mahathir can declare that he never transferred Umno’s money into his personal bank account, how much did he transfer into Vincent Tan’s pocket and how much did Vincent Tan secretly kick back to Mahathir under-the-table?

Mahathir can fool those Pakatuns and DAP Chinese. Those people are too stupid to think. But he cannot fool me. In fact, many of the PKR, DAP and Amanah leaders also know this (especially the PKR leaders like Azmin Ali, etc., who were once in Umno and were also involved in doing deals left, right and centre).

Do you think Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Mat Sabu, etc., do not also know what scams Mahathir pulled off when he was Prime Minister? Of course they know! But for the moment they are forgiving Mahathir for all his crimes until they can topple Umno and take over the government and then they are going to hang all the Umno leaders upside down from the nearest tree.

And do you know what? Many of the Umno and Pakatan supporters are too stupid to realise this.