The 1MDB insanity

By MT Webmaster Last updated May 17, 2016

So you see, there are many ways to convince the voters that they should vote for you other than try to win votes by playing up the 1MDB issue. But Pakatan is not doing this even when it is so simple. They still, until today, keep talking about 1MDB. Well, let’s see if Pakatan can take Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar based purely on the 1MDB issue in the two by-elections that may soon be held.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If that is the definition of insanity then those in the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign) are definitely insane. They have been milking the 1MDB issue for the last 18 months and they still cannot achieve their objectives.

In fact, the only thing the 1MDB issue has achieved is it has weakened the opposition and has strengthened Barisan Nasional. And the recent Sarawak state election has proven this. And the reason is as follows.

Because of 1MDB and the attack on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, this gave the pro-Azmin Ali faction in PKR an excuse to plot the Kajang Move. The Kajang Move, said Rafizi Ramli, was to protect the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor State Government in the event the ANC succeeds in ousting the Prime Minister.

How the Kajang Move can be a good defence for Selangor in the event Najib was ousted was never explained. We were expected to be clever enough to figure that one out without the need for any explanation.

But then the Kajang Move was initially meant to replace Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim with Anwar Ibrahim. Then, when it was clear that Anwar would be going to jail after all, it was changed to Dr Wan Azizah Ismail.

But then HRH the Sultan of Selangor did not want Wan Azizah. In fact, HRH did not want Anwar as well. So it was changed to Azmin Ali. And PAS, knowing that HRH did not want Anwar or Wan Azizah, but would be prepared to compromise on Azmin, proposed Azmin.

And that was what made DAP very angry with the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang. DAP did not want Azmin. But because of Hadi and PAS, Azmin ended up becoming the new Selangor Menteri Besar. And this was when DAP decided to punish Hadi and PAS by kicking them out of Pakatan Rakyat (after failing to oust Hadi in the party election).

So you see, it all started with the 1MDB issue. Then it spread to other issues such as the Kajang Move, appointment of new Selangor Menteri Besar, and so on. Eventually it ended up in the death of Pakatan Rakyat and in PAS becoming an independent opposition party and no longer part of an opposition coalition.

So can you see how the 1MDB issue actually strengthened Barisan Nasional and weakened the opposition? In fact, it not only weakened the opposition, it killed off the opposition coalition.

And it became even worse when PAS was kicked out of the opposition coalition but Azmin refused to kick PAS out of the Selangor State Government because he is Menteri Besar due to PAS and if not he would not be Menteri Besar.

And have you noticed that in spite of Azmin defying the wishes of Pakatan Harapan (in that PAS is no longer a friend and must be treated as an enemy) by keeping PAS in the Selangor government and by inviting PAS to rejoin the opposition coalition (without first discussing the matter with DAP and Amanah and getting their approval), DAP does not dare say one word?

Yes, Azmin does what he wants and neither his party nor DAP and/or Amanah dare say anything. And that is because if DAP and Amanah (or even his own party) whacks him, Azmin can still stay as Menteri Besar with the support of his own people in PKR plus the support of PAS and Umno.

So in this whole thing Azmin came out winning the most. The 1MDB issue was supposed to bring down Najib. That failed and instead it helped strengthen Azmin and helped make him Menteri Besar.

And let me make this very clear in case you did not notice it. Azmin is not Pakatan Harapan’s Menteri Besar. He was not even Pakatan Rakyat’s Menteri Besar. Azmin is the Menteri Besar proposed by PAS and consented by HRH the Sultan of Selangor.

Putting it another way, Azmin is the Menteri Besar of Selangor because of a plan to use the 1MDB issue to oust Najib that failed but which Azmin grabbed and used to his advantage. Is that not the mother of all ironies?

So, as I said, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results then that is called insanity. So Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Mukhriz Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin and the rest of the ANC, plus their partners in Pakatan, are all insane.

For 18 months they have been trying to use the 1MDB issue to oust Najib. They were hoping that the 7th May 2016 Sarawak state election would be the final lap and that after that Najib can be pressured into resigning because Barisan Nasional did badly in Sarawak. However, the opposite actually happened.

But still, today, Tony Pua, Lim Kit Siang, Mahathir and the rest are talking about 1MDB. Have they not learned yet that the 1MDB issue is not going to result in Najib being ousted? And the reason is very simple: because what they are saying about the 1MDB issue is not true. ANC and the Pakatuns are misleading us. And their spin is not working.

The ANC and Pakatan need to move on and talk about other issues. For example, they said that once they get into power they are going to restrict the post of Prime Minister and Menteri Besar/Chief Minister to only two terms. But then when this is raised in the Penang State Assembly they reject the proposal. Why?

They complain about religious persecution and discrimination and yet they refuse to repeal the Bill in the Selangor and Penang State Assemblies that forbid Christians from using Allah and about 30 or 40 other ‘Islamic’ words. Why?

They said they would remove all toll charges (like what PAS did when it took over Terengganu in 1999) and yet road users in Penang and Selangor still pay toll. Why?

When PAS took over Terengganu in 1999 it immediately abolished cukai pintu. Has Pakatan done that in Selangor and Penang after eight years in power? If not, why?

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK