Jahabar is Guan Eng’s get-out-of-jail card
The deal between Kit Siang and Jahabar extends beyond The Malaysian Insight. It is a package deal that also involves keeping Guan Eng out of jail. With Mahathir failing to deliver his promise of solving Guan Eng’s corruption case problem, Kit Siang needs to reach the Attorney General through Jahabar, his brother-in-law.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Why does Lim Kit Siang need to commit RM40 million to fund Jahabar Sadiq’s The Malaysian Insight over the next five years? Even if they do need a news portal as a vehicle to face the next general election expected within the next 6-12 months or so, they do not need five years or RM40 million. Twelve months and RM6 million would be sufficient.
The point is this. The window for the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat to oust the Umno-led Barisan Nasional and march into Putrajaya was between 2008 and 2013. The Chinese Tsunami was triggered in 2008 and in 2013 the Malay and East Malaysian Tsunami was supposed to shake the entire political system (starting with the Sarawak state election in 2011 and followed by the rest of the country in 2013).
But that did not happen. The 2013 ouster of the Umno-led Barisan Nasional against the backdrop of the 2008 Chinese Tsunami did not happen. And after that the window closed, especially with the internal conflict in PKR (the Selangor Menteri Besar crisis), the internal conflict in DAP (the December 2012 party election followed by the September 2013 re-election) and the internal conflict in PAS (the breakup and creation of PAN) — plus the sacking of PAS from Pakatan Rakyat and the creation of Pakatan Harapan. So now that window has been sealed shut.
Of course, there are some who feel that Pakatan Harapan still has a chance because there is now a new equation to the formula — which is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his Pribumi. But then Mahathir was already working in the background in 2008 and it was because of him that the Chinese Tsunami happened. This time, however, Kit Siang is hoping that Mahathir can trigger the Malay Tsunami, which did not happen in 2013.
Jahabar and Kit Siang both agree that Malaysia should be turned into a secular state and that Sharia laws should be abolished
Basically, as Superman Hew said, Kit Siang is using Mahathir and is using Malays to screw Malays in the hope that there will be a Malay shift in the next general election to allow the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan to oust the Umno-led Barisan Nasional.
In short, if this time, in the next general election, Umno and Barisan Nasional cannot be ousted, for the third time, then they are never going to be ousted in the near future or for the next few decades. It has to be either this coming general election or else, as they say in baseball, three strikes and you are out.
So this means you need The Malaysian Insight for only the next 12 months or so. If within this time they cannot oust Umno and Barisan Nasional then it is never going to happen. So why do you need to run The Malaysian Insight for five years and spend RM40 million? If Kit Siang thinks if they cannot oust Umno and Barisan Nasional in the coming general election they can still try again, for the fourth time, in the 2022-2023 general election (which by then Mahathir may no longer be around or is too senile to be of any use even if he is still around), then Kit Siang is even more stupid than he looks.
Mahathir was supposed to keep Guan Eng out of jail but that does not seem possible any more
The point is, Kit Siang knows it is now or never, within these next few months. He knows if they cannot do it in the coming general election then it is never going to happen. Kit Siang knows ‘three strikes and you are out’. He also knows that the window which opened in 2008 closed in 2013. And he further knows that he needs The Malaysian Insight for just the next one year and if Umno and Barisan Nasional are still in power after that then he does not need The Malaysian Insight for five years and waste RM40 million.
But then this is not just about The Malaysian Insight or the next general election. This is also about trying to prevent his son, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, from going to jail. The RM40 million is not just to finance The Malaysian Insight. It is a ‘package deal’ that Kit Siang made with Jahabar Sadiq to get him to use to his brother-in-law, Mohamed Apandi Ali, the Attorney General, to keep Guan Eng out of jail.
Only Jahabar’s brother-in-law can keep Guan Eng out of jail
So the RM40 million is not just to finance The Malaysian Insight. It also includes the ‘fees’ for Jahabar to help keep Guan Eng out of jail because it appears like Mahathir cannot do what he promised after all — which is help keep Guan Eng out of jail.
So we shall see after the next 12 months. If Umno and Barisan Nasional are still in power and if Guan Eng is sent to jail, will The Malaysian Insight still exist or will Kit Siang pull the plug and not bother to go the full five years and waste RM40 million? An even bigger question is will Apandi dare get Guan Eng acquitted? The evidence against Guan Eng is air-tight and there is no way he can escape. The only way Guan Eng can escape would be if Apandi rigged his trial. But then with the spotlight now on him that may not be possible any longer.
MORE HERE:
The Malaysian Insight: proof of the pudding is in the eating
Jahabar Sadiq and the mystery of his funder
Phang’s false statement made it worse for Guan Eng
“I do not understand why my agreement to selling the house to CM has been blown up to such a big national issue when I have no business dealings with the state government,” said Phang. That, however, was proven false (READ MORE HERE).
READ MORE HERE: 20-year relationship of KLIDC boss and Phang
