Mahathir’s last throw of the dice

It took 30 months and RM1.4 billion to execute. First the 29th July 2015 move to oust Najib failed. Then the 26th July 2016 move failed as well. And Mahathir blames the three Tan Sri for this who Mahathir feels let him down. Mahathir wants the three Tan Sri to be dragged down with him in the event the ship sinks. So the three have to now decide whether to drown with Mahathir or swim away to safety.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The ten-year old boy was sent to the principal’s office for calling his classmate stupid. “Apologise,” said the principal, and the boy turned to his classmate and said, “I am sorry you are stupid.”

Yes, when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad apologises, like he did yesterday in his blog posting, you need to dissect his apology and look deep inside it. Mahathir never apologises, never in a million years, so if he does then you must treat it the way Trojans should treat a wooden horse, with extreme caution, prejudice and suspicion.

Other than his ‘apology’ yesterday for removing the powers of the four branches of government (Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and Monarchy) and concentrating all this power in the hands of just the Executive (the Prime Minister), Mahathir further shocked the nation by revealing the existence of a conspiracy to topple Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and also revealing that the PM would have been successfully ousted had the three Tan Sri not been betrayed by one of their own.

So there you are. A conspiracy to oust the Prime Minister does exist after all and the conspiracy failed because of the betrayal by one of their fellow conspirators. In fact, Malaysia Today had already revealed this more than a year ago but only now does Mahathir admit to this. So why does he now confess to this after denying it and calling it a lie since 2015? Well, the reason is the same as to why he apologised for what he did 25 years ago (remove the powers of the Rulers to play the role of checks and balances). He wants to wash his hands over what happened.

Note that Mahathir first said earlier this week that Najib would have been ousted had Abu Kassim Mohamed (ex-MACC head), Abdul Gani Patail (ex-Attorney-General) and Zeti Akhtar Aziz (ex-Bank Negara Governor) not been betrayed. One of the three betrayed the other two conspirators, said Mahathir.

The following day, Mahathir changed his story and said that there was actually a fourth conspirator and that this fourth conspirator betrayed the three — Abu Kassim, Gani and Zeti. When asked whether this fourth ‘rat’ was the IGP, Mahathir refused to reply and cited his fear of getting arrested as the reason he cannot name names.

But then guessing who Mahathir meant is so elementary, my dear Watson. There were four people who headed the Special Task Force — Abu Kassim, Gani, Zeti and Khalid Abu Bakar, the IGP. So, if Abu Kassim, Gani and Zeti were betrayed by the fourth person, then this betrayer can only be the IGP. Do you need a PhD to figure that one out?

Actually, it is true that there were four people heading the Special Task Force — Abu Kassim, Gani, Zeti and Khalid. But this Task Force was illegally set up without the consent or endorsement of His Majesty the Agong or of the Cabinet. To put it another way, it was a sort of covert or clandestine operation like what the CIA normally does with its Black Ops. The Special Task Force’s job was not to investigate a crime, like they claim. Its job was to commit a crime — fixing up the Prime Minister.

Further to that, the Task Force was set up two months after a charge sheet to arrest Najib had been drafted. And the excuse they gave us was that the Task Force was set up to investigate the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) story on 1MDB.

But then the Task Force was set up before the WSJ story surfaced. So how can they say the Task Force was set up in response to the WSJ story when the WSJ story came after the setting up of the Task Force? And since when are Task Forces set up in response to newspaper reports? If they do that then Malaysia would have thousands of Task Forces that are set up for every newspaper story.

When the IGP realised that something was not too kosher, he withdrew from the so-called Special Task Force, which was actually a front for the conspiracy to oust the Prime Minister. It was then that the Special Branch confronted the IGP and threatened him.

There was a heated shouting match between the second man of the Special Branch and the IGP. They were angry that the IGP had withdrawn from what he now realised was an illegal Task Force. They practically threatened the IGP with everything short of castration. They needed the IGP in the conspiracy because they needed the police to arrest Najib on 29th July 2015. The Special Branch, AG, MACC or Bank Negara cannot do that. The police must do that.

SWAT team arrests Anwar Ibrahim on the night of 20th September 1998 with orders of shoot to kill if required.

In fact, they were worried that the Prime Minister’s security detail might prevent Najib’s arrest. So they needed the police SWAT team to arrest Najib like how they arrested Anwar Ibrahim at his home on the night of 20th September 1998 (pic above). Then if Najib’s bodyguards intervene the SWAT team can shoot them dead like they did Bentong Kali when he was asleep in his bed.

And this explains why when the Attorney-General and the Deputy Prime Minister were removed the day or two before the 29th of July 2015, the number one and number two of the Special Branch were also removed. (And after that the number two of the Special Branch held a press conference to openly pledge loyalty to Mahathir).

Hamid Bador, the Special Branch number two, pledges loyalty to Mahathir — “I’ll never turn against Tun Dr Mahathir even if cut to pieces.”

So Mahathir is very sore with the IGP for the failed 29th July 2015 coup and that is why the old man accused the IGP of betraying the three Tan Sri. That may have been true for the 29th July 2015 exercise but the IGP was not involved in the 26th July 2016 exercise. So why try to rope the IGP in as well?

Well, it was mainly trying to kill two birds with one stone. Mahathir was angry with the three Tan Sri and he wanted to hit out at them, which he did. But then he thought if he was going to kill three Tan Sri he might as well kill four and get four for the price of three. And that was why after implicating the three Tan Sri in a conspiracy and betrayal, the next day he changed his story to four Tan Sri — alang-alang mandi biar basah, as the Malays would say.

So now the three Tan Sri — Abu Kassim, Gani and Zeti — have been fingered. They set up a Special Task Force before the WSJ report on 1MDB and then told the nation that it was set up because of (which means after) the WSJ story. Then they drafted the charge sheet before the setting up of the Special Task Force (when it should have been done after the investigation by the Task Force).

And the man who fingered the three Tan Sri (and the next day changed the story to four Tan Sri) is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the new Opposition Leader for Pakatan Harapan, the initiator of the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign), the mastermind of the Save Malaysia Campaign, the architect of the Citizens’ Declaration, and founder of the new all-Malay party, Pribumi.

Mahathir is pissed that over the last month since 26th July 2016 — the day the Umno Youth deputy chief, Khairul Azwan Harun, made his police report against the former governor of Bank Negara, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the former Attorney-General, Abdul Gani Patail, and the former head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Abu Kassim Mohamed — the three Tan Sri have been avoiding him and have refused to take his phone calls.

As what Malaysia Today reported a month ago — after the US Justice Department and US Attorney-General’s announcement of 20th July 2016 — the three Tan Sri were supposed to have held a press conference during Abu Kassim’s farewell dinner of 26th July after which Mahathir would hold a press conference in Jakarta with the international media.

Before they could hold those two press conferences in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, Khairul made his police report, hence torpedoing the whole thing. That same afternoon, Abu Kassim went running to Najib’s office to try to switch sides (betrayal number one) but the Prime Minister refused to see him. That evening, Gani did not attend Abu Kassim’s farewell dinner so that he could distance himself from the conspiracy (betrayal number two) since the element of surprise was now lost and it would have been futile to continue. Then, during Abu Kassim’s farewell dinner, when the press asked Zeti for her comments, instead of saying what she was supposed to say, she said ‘no comment’ (betrayal number three).

So that was the end of the Kuala Lumpur press conference and in the same process Mahathir’s press conference in Jakarta also had to be abandoned. Since then the three Tan Sri have been avoiding Mahathir like the plague because they know any further association with Mahathir will just prove Khairul’s police report as correct.

The IGP was also very clever. He announced that Khairul’s police report was based on conjecture or assumption and hence the police will not take the matter further. So as long as the three Tan Sri steer clear of Mahathir then they are safe. But the instant they meet up with Mahathir and start planning further action, the IGP can open the case based on what Khairul reported — meaning that the conspiracy does indeed exist after all.

So Mahathir knows the three are playing safe. If they behave then nothing is going to happen. But if they continue to be Mahathir’s running dog, then an investigation into their act of treason might just be launched.

And this was why Mahathir fingered them. This is Mahathir’s message to them that they cannot play safe. If he goes down then he is going to bring the three of them down with him. So if they think they can distance themselves from him then they are grossly mistaken. Their fate is tied to Mahathir’s fate.

What the three Tan Sri now realise is that they are merely collateral damage. Mahathir has demonstrated, that when push comes to shove, he will not hesitate to throw them under the bus. As Mahathir said, the three were involved in the move to oust Najib but it failed because they were betrayed (and betrayal can only happen in a conspiracy). And Mahathir added that he was not involved in that conspiracy.

Mahathir knows that the only defence the three would have is to say they were forced or blackmailed into joining the conspiracy. So they had no choice and were not a willing participant. That means the three can abandon Mahathir and throw him under the bus. So, before they do that, Mahathir throws them under the bus first. So now they cannot use the story that Mahathir forced them as their defence.

When Mahathir first fingered the three Tan Sri, many thought that this time the senile old man has blown it. Actually Mahathir knew precisely what he was doing. Before the three Tan Sri can spill the beans, Mahathir quickly washed his hands of them by identifying them as the conspirators and saying that they were betrayed and declaring that he played no part in that conspiracy.

Mahathir put the three Tan Sri (and then tried to put the fourth) in a canoe and pushed them to the middle of the lake without giving them a paddle. And the only person who can bring them all back safely to shore would be Mahathir. So, support Mahathir or drown, is that simple message. And if you try to belot then you will die.

To understand Mahathir’s anger you need to go back to early 2014 when the whole plot first started. And the plot was actually mooted in late 2013, which is almost three years ago (READ: Pro-Anwar site says it’s all about making Mukhriz the PM).

For 18 months from early 2014 to July 2015 Mahathir plotted and planned. That 18-month exercise cost RM600 million and involved, amongst others, sabotaging 1MDB’s IPO, blocking bank loans to 1MDB, forming a Special Task Force (illegally), fabricating evidence, selling leaked information and documents, fabricating a charge sheet, plus bribing journalists and bloggers in the UK, US, Australia, etc., to write negative stories on Najib, his family and 1MDB.

In short, 1MDB was going to bring Najib down and it was going to happen in July 2015 on the 29th. But it did not happen and instead the conspirators were all beheaded one by one.

After failing to oust Najib on 29th July 2015, Mahathir tried a vote of no confidence in Parliament in October and the similar thing at the Umno Assembly in December, both which also failed.

After that failed 29th July 2015 coup attempt, Mahathir sent Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Matthias Chang to the US and a number of other countries to try to get foreign countries involved. In late 2015, Mahathir said they have no choice but to seek the help of foreign countries since the Malaysian Parliament and Umno would not sack Najib.

That culminated in the 20th July 2016 press conference by US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice.

So the 29th July 2015 move to oust Najib failed after 18 months and RM600 million spent. But now that was replaced with the 20th July 2016 move that took a year and another RM800 million. Thirty months and RM1.4 billion — that was the toll in time and money. And this time it is not going to fail like in July 2015.

But then blunder after blunder happened, which Malaysia Today has written about before, which you can read here:

Abu Kassim caught in his own web of deceit

Are Abu Kassim, Gani and Zeti going to face charges of treason?

The trap that Khairul set up for Abu Kassim, Gani and Zeti

Mahathir’s near heart attack in Jakarta

Khairul’s brilliant pre-emptive strike against the three Tan Sri

I am no moron, says Kadir Jasin

What Abu Kassim, Gani and Zeti feared most

Murphy’s law says that ‘anything that can go wrong will go wrong’. And many things did go wrong on 26th July 2016. And if Mahathir cannot salvage the situation then it is game over for him.

Today, Tamrin Ghafar announced that he is abandoning Mahathir. And he is just one more of many who have been doing so over the last month or so. Two Umno division leaders from Johor and one from outside Johor who were supposed to defect have changed their mind. Over that same month many such as the three Tan Sri have gone into hiding and refuse to even take Mahathir’s calls.

His son Mukhriz has lost his job as the Kedah Menteri Besar. His son Mokhzani may be charged for insider trading and may be sent to jail. His son Mirzan is not safe as well. The last thing Mahathir wants is to see his three sons finished off. As they say, there is no worst punishment than for a parent to bury his child. And in Mahathir’s case we are talking about three children.

Mahathir is hoping that the Rulers would step in and help oust Najib. However, the Rulers hate Mahathir and would rather see him buried instead. So far only the Sultan of Johor has openly whacked Mahathir but many other Rulers said what HRH said, only that they said so privately.

So what has Mahathir got left? Retired politicians, over the hill politicians in their 70s and 80s, retired senior government officers who used to head departments but now are scared shit that they might end up in jail for treason, and people like Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Matthias Chang, Zainuddin Maidin, Kadir Jasin and many who are expired goods and could not plan a strategy if their life depended on it.