MAD: acronym for ‘Mahathir Accedes Defeat’

When Mahathir insulted (or thought he had insulted) Najib’s media team and Boffin Boys on 28th September 2016, he did not realise he was not only praising his competitor but he also acceded defeat at the same time. Unwittingly, Mahathir admitted he had lost the media or propaganda war.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wrote his blog posting, Propaganda, on 28th September 2016, you could see he was really pissed, or mad as hell, as what they would say in the west. The old man did not hold back his punches and lashed out fast and furious. (READ HERE)

In that article, Mahathir spoke about Goebbels, and he named Salleh Said Keruak, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, and Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, plus bloggers ‘Big Dog’ (Zakir Mohamad) and ‘Rocky’s Bru’ (Ahirudin Attan), as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s ‘Goebbels’.

Maybe Mahathir meant that as an insult. However, to those in the know, you cannot be called Goebbels unless you are a genius (Joseph Goebbels was a Doctor of Philosophy, which he obtained from Heidelberg University, which today is ranked number one nationally and 46th in the world.

I mean, if Mahathir ever calls me Goebbels I would frame that statement and hang it on the wall. I would consider that a great honour. Unfortunately, I was not one of those bloggers named alongside Rocky’s Bru and Big Dog — for what reason I do not know since I am the number one most hated blogger in Malaysia, and am proud of it.

Mahathir also did not name the real ‘Goebbels’ in Najib’s team, although he named four other people. This man is the head of the Boffin Boys, who Mahathir knows personally and knows he is Najib’s head of counter-propaganda. Yes, this man who Mahathir will not name has managed to outthink Mahathir and counter all Mahathir’s propaganda with an effective counter-propaganda.

And this man’s counter-propaganda is not a bull in a china shop strategy. Sometimes he rebuts. Sometimes he deflects. Sometimes he distracts. Sometimes he counters. And sometimes he remains quiet and does nothing while Mahathir keeps going and then hits a blank wall in front of him that he never anticipated. It is like you just step aside when the bull charges because you know that ahead of it is a cliff, which the bull will fall over if it keeps charging.

And that is how a good counter-propaganda strategy is played. You do not always meet a punch with a punch. You also do not always block a punch. Sometimes you duck. Sometimes you bend backwards. Sometimes you kick back. There are so many forms of retaliation when you are attacked. And even just retreating to tire out your adversary is another form of retaliation.

The problem is Mahathir’s propaganda team is a bunch of dimwits. As an example, take this blogger named Syed Akbar Ali who writes as OutSyed the Box and who is fond of calling everyone a moron. Today he posted an article titled The Bugis Is Becoming More Infamous – Here is The Diplomat (READ HERE).

Now, that article was written by Luke Hunt, a pro-opposition writer. He is just like Sarawak Report’s Clare Rewcastle Brown, Asia Sentinel’s John Berthelsen, and many more. It is said the opposition is funding these people (plus they are funding Mat Salleh journalists in the US, UK and Australia) just like Malaysiakini is being funded to whack Najib using the 1MDB issue.

In short, none of these people are independent journalists and bloggers, as they claim to be. All are being financed (and some even being bribed) to write negative stories about Najib. But then if you write anything against Najib you are just seekers of the truth, while if you write anything against Pakatan Harapan or Mahathir you are pemakan dedak (eater of chicken feed).

One important point to note is their stories are only about one issue, 1MDB. And they keep recycling this story and keep giving it a new and different angle as if it is a new issue rather than an old issue. However, other than 1MDB, they really have nothing more or nothing new to say.

And this is also how Mahathir is playing his propaganda game. He still talks only about 1MDB but then he keeps talking about it from a different angle each time as if it is a new story. Mahathir knows he cannot score any goals so he keeps moving the goalpost.

One day it is RM42 billion disappearing into thin air. Then it is RM50 billion and maybe even more. Then it is RM12 billion. Then it is RM2.6 billion transferred to Najib’s personal bank account. Then it changes to RM4 billion transferred into that personal bank account. And so on.

When you confront Mahathir with questions and ask him to verify his facts, he avoids answering directly. When you ask him whether he is really sure about his so-called ‘facts’ regarding the 1MDB matter, he replies that that is what many people came to see him to complain about. When His Majesty the Agong asked him about his so-called 1.3 million signatures on his Citizens’ Declaration, he replies that that was what they gave him.

It is just like Muhyiddin Yassin saying that what he knows about 1MDB is what he read in The Edge and The Malaysian Insider, even though 1MDB was discussed during the weekly Cabinet meetings, which he attended, and one meeting which he actually chaired himself where they discussed 1MDB.

Mahathir’s propaganda moves are actually very simple. He raises doubts and questions and then says that Najib must respond and prove his innocence and unless and until he does he must be presumed guilty of all those suspicions and allegations. In short, you are guilty until proven innocent.

If you were to use back that same argument against him, Mahathir would reply that nothing has ever been proven, he was never arrested and charged, and even if there were losses (and Barry Wain estimated these losses at RM100 billion — excluding the RM100 billion parked under trustees, proxies, nominees and cronies) these were just losses under the ‘normal’ course of business.

On 10th January 2004, Lim Kit Siang said, “Nor Mohamed’s first job is to issue a White Paper to “exorcise the ghost” of the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses a decade ago to establish his suitability as the Second Finance Minister – apart from professionalism, a full commitment to accountability, transparency and good democratic governance” (READ HERE).

Lim Kit Siang wrote that piece about ten years after he first raised the same matter in Parliament when Mahathir was the Prime Minister and Anwar Ibrahim the Finance Minister — and which was never answered in ten years. On 12th December 2011, the WTF Report again raised the matter (READ HERE).

By 2004, Anwar had already joined the opposition so, of course, Lim Kit Siang no longer wanted to blame Anwar for the RM30 billion losses, which is worth RM55 billion today. But he still wanted to nail Mahathir for the loss. Today, since Mahathir has also joined the opposition, Lim Kit Siang considers this matter closed and no longer wants to discuss it.

But Mahathir (or Anwar) never explained their actions that resulted in that RM55 billion loss in today’s money value. And this is just part of it. According to Barry Wain, the total losses come to RM200 billion in today’s money value.

Whether it is RM200 billion in today’s money value or just RM100 billion when the money was first lost is not really important. What is important is that Mahathir never replied to any of those allegations and pretends as if nothing happened.

And even more important is the fact that Lim Kit Siang, who kept screaming non-stop since 1983, now no longer says anything because all his enemies are now his friends and that is more important than RM200-300 billion of the taxpayers’ money.

So you see, Mahathir’s propaganda team is not really that clever after all. They have never been able to reply to all these allegations. And because they have never replied, all those allegations still stand. And, to use Mahathir’s same yardstick and standards, since Mahathir has never replied to those allegations, we must assume that Mahathir is guilty and will remain guilty until and unless he can prove his innocence.

When indisputable facts are raised, instead of responding and explaining, they resort to name-calling. Makan dedak. Rent-seeker. Traitor. Turncoat. Bontot-licker. Melayu bodoh. Raja Putar. The list of names they invent to insult those who they cannot reply to is astounding. But that is all they can do, vilify you and call you names. And would you believe it, that is their best shot.

Basically that is the political strategy that the opposition adopts — play hate politics. And that is the same game Mahathir is playing as well. He tries to win you over by making you hate Umno, hate Barisan Nasional, hate the Prime Minister, etc. In fact they even try to make you hate Malaysia, which is why Mahathir goes all the way to London to talk bad about Malaysia. If you can hate Malaysia and everything about Malaysia then you may vote opposition.

But the hate politics is not working and Mahathir knows this. The Sarawak state election and two by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar proved it. The more he attacks Najib the stronger Najib gets. And this is what Mahathir cannot seem to understand. And he cannot understand this because he has a bunch of nincompoops working for him, compared to Najib’s team who even Mahathir reluctantly admits are of the standard of Goebbels.

Let’s analyse Mahathir’s moves the last two years since 2014.

Najib’s Boffin Boys actually knew since mid-2013 that Mahathir was planning something. And this also coincided with PKR’s Kajang Move, which was planned around the same time. Can you remember Rafizi Ramli saying that the Kajang Move was necessary to save Selangor in case Mahathir successfully ousts Najib?

So, in mid-2013 PKR already knew that Mahathir was planning to oust Najib. And that was because Mahathir and Azmin Ali were already talking about it. And if PKR, and if even someone as junior as Rafizi knew that Mahathir was planning to oust Najib, do you think Najib’s Boffin Boys did not also know?

Of course they knew. Even a young Chico like Rafizi knew. But what did Najib’s team do? Nothing! Yes, that’s right, they did nothing. They did what every smart strategist would do. They watched and they planned. They not only monitored the enemy’s every move, they triangulated all these moves to figure out what the final move is going to be and where the enemy is headed for.

That Mahathir was going to oust Najib was certain. He only needed to wait first and see whether his son, Mukhriz, was going to win an Umno Vice President’s seat before acting. How he acts would depend on whether his son wins or loses the party election.

In October 2013, Mukhriz lost the party election. And that means Najib has to go. Mahathir then activated the Anti-Najib Campaign (ANC) machinery and looked for a catalyst or excuse to attack the Prime Minister and demand his resignation. And that was when 1MDB came into the picture because if he did not use 1MDB he really had nothing else to use against Najib.

The cladenstine war (just like the four-year secret war which the Americans fought in Cambodia from 1969) became open warfare in December 2014 with Khairuddin Abu Hassan lodging his police report against 1MDB. So the 18-month secret war was no longer a secret. In December 2014, war was declared and it was now open warfare.

Yet Najib still stayed silent and did not make any moves. This made Mahathir become bolder because he interpreted this as Najib being scared. Mahathir even began to smell victory and he planned his ‘kill’ or coup for the 29th of July 2015. That was going to be the day that Najib dies. So all the moves were made towards that endgame and the chess pieces were put in place to meet this objective.

Anyone else would have panicked by then and would have either run for cover or would have made a premature pre-emptive strike. Najib and his Boffin Boys, however, remained cool. They did not panic. They knew when they make their move it must be brutal and final. It must be a move that not only catches them with their pants down but a move that they will never be able to recover from.

Mahathir was stunned when Najib launch his counter-coup just two days before the 29th July 2015 coup. Mahathir was down but not quite out yet. He then planned his October vote of no confidence move in Parliament. That failed. He then planned his December vote of no confidence move in the Umno general assembly. That, too, failed. Both times Najib outwitted and outplayed Mahathir’s hand.

Anyway, we have written about all this in this same column, The Corridors of Power, in great detail over the last two years (READ MORE HERE).

So far, for 30 months from mid-2013 to end-2015, Mahathir made all the moves. Najib either just kept quiet or he responded in kind, but never more than what Mahathir threw at him. Now it was time for Najib to make his move and let Mahathir respond instead. And Najib knew that if he surprised Mahathir, the old man would make a silly move and trap himself into a corner.

On 3rd February 2016, Mukhriz was sacked as the Kedah Menteri Besar. On 29th February 2016, Mahathir merajuk and resigned from Umno. It was a move that Najib knew Mahathir would make. And it was a move that Najib wanted the old man to make. It was a move to checkmate Mahathir and force him to move to the opposition where it would no longer be Mahathir versus Najib but Mahathir versus Umno.

And that meant it would be game over for Mahathir, 32 months after the plan to oust Najib was first mooted.

And that is why Mahathir calls Najib’s people ‘Goebbels’. Goebbels means the best. Goebbels means genius. Goebbels means Triple-A rating. Goebbels means no morons. Goebbels means their counters are far better than your propaganda. Sigh…why did Mahathir not mention my name in his blog posting? Even if he had called me ‘Little Goebbels’ that also cukup.