Rafizi reveals the plot to oust Najib started back in early-2013
Mahathir cannot admit that he wants Najib out because the Prime Minister did not help his son, Mukhriz, win an Umno vice president’s post. And Mahathir cannot admit he needed his son to win an Umno vice president’s post so that he could become Deputy Prime Minister when Najib is ousted and replaced with Muhyiddin.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Soon after the May 2013 general election when the then Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, announced that he was going to serve for only half a term, many did not quite catch what he meant. I tried to do some probing but could not get a direct answer to my questions.
Does this mean that some time in mid-2015 or thereabouts Muhyiddin is going to retire from politics? And, if so, why? Is it because of ill health? Is it because Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is going to retire instead and hence Muhyiddin is going to take over? But then why would Najib retire in mid-2015 or thereabouts? Is it due to health reasons?
It was not until about three or four months later that it became slightly clearer, although not 100% clear yet at that time. And that was when Mukhriz Mahathir decided to contest one of the vice president’s posts.
The fact that he was not even a supreme council member and yet was ‘jumping’ straight into a vice-president’s post was already quite odd. Normally in Umno you are expected to go up one step at a time and not straight away langkah (or what they would call ‘double promotion’).
Many expected Mukhriz to win by virtue of the fact that he is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son. And what Mahathir wants Mahathir gets. And all it needed was for Najib to instruct his cousin, Hishammuddin Hussein, to stand down and bagi jalan to Mukhriz. Mukhriz would be guaranteed a win.
So that was why Muhyiddin said soon after the May 2013 general election that he was going to serve as Deputy Prime Minister for only half a term. Mukhriz was going to be an Umno vice president later that year and one-and-a-half years or so after that he was going to take over as Deputy Prime Minister.
But then Deputy Prime Minister to whom? Will Mukhriz become Deputy Prime Minister to Najib or will Najib step down after which Muhyiddin takes over as Prime Minister so that Mukhriz can be his deputy?
Yes, that was the main question that begged answers. Is Muhyiddin going to make way for Mukhriz or is Najib going to make way for Muhyiddin so that Mukhriz can take over that ‘empty seat’ of Deputy Prime Minister?
Then, a few months later, that question was answered as well. And the man who answered that question was Rafizi Ramli, the man who claims to be the mastermind of the ‘Kajang Move’. (READ THE NEWS ITEM BELOW).
Basically, Najib was going to be ousted and Muhyiddin would take over as Prime Minister and appoint Mukhriz as his new Deputy Prime Minister. So, if Najib had made sure that Mukhriz won the Umno vice presidency, technically Najib would have been signing his own death warrant.
Can you just imagine the irony of the whole thing? Mahathir expected Najib to ensure that Mukhriz won the contest for one of the Umno vice presidencies so that Muhyiddin can take over as Prime Minister and then appoint Mukhriz as the new Deputy Prime Minister.
And this plan was mooted soon after the May 2013 general election as both Muhyiddin and Rafizi revealed. So what does 1MDB or the RM2.6 billion have to do with the move to oust Najib? Nothing at all! The 1MDB and RM2.6 billion issues were brought in later, 18 months to two years later, just as an excuse to oust Najib.
I mean, Mahathir cannot admit that he wants Najib out because the Prime Minister did not help his son, Mukhriz, win an Umno vice president’s post. And Mahathir cannot admit he needed his son to win an Umno vice president’s post so that he could become Deputy Prime Minister when Najib is ousted and replaced with Muhyiddin.
And that was what Asia Sentinel reported (READ HERE) and what Najib’s press secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, said (READ HERE). And, according to Rafizi, this was also why they launched the ‘Kajang Move’ (READ BELOW).
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‘The Kajang Move’ is part of quest for Putrajaya, Rafizi reveals
(Malay Mail, 29 January 2014) – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Kajang contest is part of a carefully crafted plan to keep Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) enemies at bay in Selangor, Rafizi Ramli said today as he explained PKR’s latest political manoeuvre.
In a statement here, the PKR leader admitted to his role as the mastermind behind the move, and said he acknowledges that forcing a by-election in Kajang would not only invoke public anger but also consume a lot of money.
He apologised to Kajang constituents for this and said he was willing to bear the brunt of the blame.
“There is no excuse for wasting public money except to offer my sincerest apology and for the party to be prepared if the voters of Kajang decide to punish us,” Rafizi said.
But the Pandan MP insisted that “The Kajang Move” could well be a game changer for PR ahead of the next general election, in that it would not only help the pact fortify its ranks in Selangor but also chart its course towards achieving federal power.
“What PKR and Pakatan Selangor need is a fortification so that we can expedite reforms and simultaneously fend off political attacks and manoeuvres from Umno.”
“We need as many of our top leaders around Selangor to defend Selangor because it remains the crown jewel of any political coalition in the country,” Rafizi explained.
He alleged there were recent plans by Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) to use racial and religious issues to cripple the PR administration in Selangor, which is now led by second-term mentri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
Rafizi said it is an open secret that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s underlings in Umno have been pushing hard to unseat their chief Datuk Seri Najib Razak from his Putrajaya pedestal.
Should Najib fall, he warned, a full-blown manipulation of racial and religious issues to create mistrust and frustration with the Selangor government can be expected.
With this in mind, Rafizi said PR needed to make its move fast or risk another Kedah episode.
A weakened PR leadership in Kedah lost grasp over the northern state during Election 2013 last year.
Rafizi said all three parties in the PR leadership agreed that their best bet was to get Anwar a seat in the Selangor legislative assembly and use him as their supersub should Umno heat up its political game.
“Does this mean there will be a change of stewardship of Selangor government? Maybe yes, maybe no.”
“But we do have the option to optimise our leadership potential if Umno stirs up more trouble,” Rafizi said.
In his statement, the leader would not confirm the rumoured plan to replace Khalid with Anwar, or touch directly on the former’s run-in with PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, which was said to be the reason behind the Kajang move.
But he stressed several times on Khalid’s good work in administrating Selangor for his second term running, despite saying that there was still room for improvement.
“In other words, Selangor has to be doubly better than what it is today if it were to become a showcase for Pakatan in its quest for Putrajaya,” he said.
“Just as Istanbul was a launchpad for Erdogan and Jakarta is a launchpad for Jokowi, Selangor can be a great launchpad for Pakatan to take over Putrajaya.”
Rafizi also praised Anwar for allowing his name to be dragged through the mud for the sake of PKR’s latest strategy, noting the Opposition Leader has been accused of using Kajang constituents as pawns in his political game.
“Good political leaders will never be popular,” he said. “It pains me that we have to drag Anwar Ibrahim through this and subject him to public anger, yet his willingness to be a part of the bigger picture is the mark of the man.”
In a surprise move on Monday, PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang assemblyman amid speculation of plans by the party leadership to remove Khalid from the mentri besar’s post.
While popular with the general public, Khalid’s penchant for unilateral decision-making in administrating the country’s wealthiest state is understood to be a source of dissatisfaction among PR leaders in the state.
