Why is Mahathir so sure he is going to jail?

Mahathir knows that they have been lying to the country for the last 25 years. And now the RCI is going to uncover the truth and the investigation will, without a doubt, show that a crime has indeed been committed and that some of that so-called forex losses were bogus losses and were actually money siphoned out and disguised as ‘normal’ forex losses. This is the reason why Mahathir knows he might face jail. But he is trying to make it appear like his jail sentence is for political reasons and because he is an opposition leader and not because he had committed a crime when he was the Prime Minister.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“Tangkap lah!” Mahathir tells Najib

(Malaysiakini) – Dr Mahathir Mohamad has scoffed at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s claim that the former prime minister is afraid of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the foreign exchange market (forex) scandal.

“On Aidilfitri, I wished Selamat Hari Raya to Najib, but he is always trying to find ways to arrest me. That’s okay, he has the power. Tangkap lah! (Arrest me),” Mahathir said at a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Hari Raya open house in Melaka.

First, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is going to arrest many opposition leaders and put them in jail just before the next general election or GE14. A few days later Mahathir said Najib plans to arrest him and put him in jail and will use the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigation into the US$10 billion Bank Negara forex scandal as the excuse to jail him. Now Mahathir dares Najib to arrest him.

Very early in the day Mahathir is trying to paint the picture that whatever is about to befall him is for purely political reasons and because he is an opposition leader who is a threat to Najib, Umno and Barisan Nasional. What gives Mahathir the impression he is an opposition leader and/or a threat? He is not a Member of Parliament and is the mere Chairman of a party that holds only one seat in Parliament and which may no longer own that seat in the next general election. And Mahathir’s crime has nothing to do with politics but is the crime of robbing US$10 billion of Bank Negara’s money.

Mahathir is pretending he is so powerful and that Najib is so scared of him, which is why they are going to arrest him, whereas they are going to arrest him because he is a common criminal 

This is Mahathir’s game of deception to paint himself larger than life and inform the world that he is facing jail because of his high-up status in the opposition whereas he is practically of no status and his predicament is because he had committed a crime when he was in power. Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail can claim the status of opposition leader but not Mahathir. Mahathir just imagines himself the opposition leader when even the opposition does not think so and is just using him because he is attacking Najib.

Mahathir should not be worried about whether Najib is going to arrest him. He should be more worried about whether Pakatan Harapan is going to arrest him if they come to power. Does Mahathir think he is going to be spared jail if Pakatan Harapan takes over? Mahathir is too dangerous to be allowed to roam free, and if Pakatan Harapan comes to power, and if he is still alive at that time, they will certainly put him ‘safely’ in jail.

Mahathir is a nuisance and a dangerous person. He has attacked all the Prime Ministers (and Deputy Prime Ministers) since the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and worked towards ousting them from office. Whoever becomes Pakatan Harapan’s Prime Minister (and if Mukhriz is not appointed the Deputy Prime Minister) do you think Mahathir will leave the Prime Minister alone? Mahathir will attack Pakatan Harapan’s Prime Minister because he did not make Mukhriz his deputy.

Even if Mukhriz were made the Deputy Prime Minister, Mahathir would still attack the Prime Minister and try to oust him so that Mukhriz can take over as Prime Minister. So the only safe thing that Pakatan Harapan can do would be to send Mahathir to jail. Anyway, DAP and PKR (and those PAS people now in PAN) have already promised the people back in 1999 that the first thing they would do if the opposition comes to power will be to send Mahathir to jail.

Mahathir should be more worried about Kit Siang putting him in jail if Pakatan Harapan comes to power

And DAP, PKR and PAN have never said Mahathir has been forgiven for his crimes and has been given amnesty. Anyway, amnesty is normally given to those who hand back what they stole from the country and Mahathir has not done this. In fact, he denies he has stolen anything from the country and is still keeping those billions he has stolen.

Actually, if Najib wants to arrest Mahathir he could have done it by now. And it would have happened two years ago back in 2015 when Najib made his move against the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign) conspirators and finished them off.

Mahathir actually thought he was going to get arrested two years ago back in July 2015. So he sent feelers to find out from Najib’s people whether the Prime Minister was planning to arrest him. Hence Mahathir is not really as brave as he pretends. He was actually worried that he would be arrested. And those close to Mahathir said the entire family was worried that Mahathir might face jail and they were looking for ways to get the old man to tone down his attacks on Najib.

But then why was Mahathir worried about getting arrested that he needed to send his minions to find out from the Prime Minister’s Boffin Boys whether he was going to be arrested? Well, that is because this is what Mahathir would have done had you done to him what he did to Najib. Mahathir would not have hesitated to have you arrested; so this is what he thought Najib would do to him.

Mahathir is Mahathir and Najib is Najib. But Mahathir was measuring Najib according to his standards. And this is Mahathir’s mistake. Mahathir was figuring out what he would have done and made all his moves based on what he thought Najib would do had he been in Najib’s shoes. But Najib did not do what Mahathir would have done. Najib did things differently to what Mahathir would have done. And this is why Mahathir does not have control of the ball.

Mahathir said he has already investigated Anwar and does not need a court to convince him about Anwar’s guilt and left the court little choice but to put Anwar in jail

The problem is, when Mahathir said Najib planned to arrest him that’s because Mahathir would decide who should be arrested when he was in power for 22 years. Najib, however, does not do that. Prime Ministers do not arrest people like what Mahathir used to do when he was Prime Minister. The Attorney-General decides if a crime has been committed and whether that person should be put on trial. The police decide if a person has committed a crime and, therefore, should be arrested. The judiciary decides if there is enough evidence of a crime being committed and hence whether the person on trial should be convicted and sentenced to jail.

There is a process that needs to be followed to arrest, charge, try, convict and sentence a person and this is not the Prime Minister’s job. Mahathir, however, when he wanted to get rid of Anwar Ibrahim, held a press conference and, live on TV, said he has personally interviewed Anwar’s ‘victims’ one by one and does not need a court to convince him that Anwar is guilty of sodomy and many other sex crimes.

After making that live ‘confession’ on TV, what else can the IGP, AG, Chief Justice, etc., do? If they find Anwar not guilty then they will be telling the world that Mahathir lied. So, to protect Mahathir’s back, they were forced to make sure that Anwar goes to jail for the crimes that Mahathir says he committed or else Mahathir would look like a bloody fool and a liar to boot.

And the judge was ordered to make sure that Anwar gets sent to jail to the extent that, in his judgement, he said even though the witness had lied that does not mean the witness cannot be believed and he finds Anwar guilty because Anwar failed to prove his innocence.

Even a first-year law student will laugh at this court decision. But then what can they do? Mahathir has already told the whole world live on TV that Anwar is guilty of sodomy and many other sex crimes and who in his or her right mind is going to contradict this and say that Mahathir lied? And the only way to prove that Mahathir did not lie is to put Anwar in jail. Of course, the Federal Court later freed Anwar on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove Anwar’s guilt although the court believes Anwar is guilty.

So that was how Mahathir did things. Mahathir put people in jail. So Mahathir thought Najib will also do the same to him. And that is why Mahathir said Najib is going to arrest many opposition leaders and put them in jail just before the next general election, then said Najib plans to arrest him and put him in jail due to the US$10 billion Bank Negara forex scandal, and now dares Najib to arrest him.

Mahathir thinks Najib is going to put him in jail the way he (Mahathir) put Anwar in jail

Why, in the first place, does Mahathir think he deserves to go to jail for the US$10 billion Bank Negara forex losses? Is he saying that Bank Negara did suffer a loss of US$10 billion after all, which would be worth RM99 billion today? But was not Parliament and the Cabinet told this loss did not happen? And if the US$10 billion losses were, as Mahathir said, “normal in the course of doing business”, then no crime has been committed so why would Mahathir get sent to jail?

Yes, good questions indeed. Mahathir knows that they have been lying to the country for the last 25 years. And now the RCI is going to uncover the truth and the investigation will, without a doubt, show that a crime has indeed been committed and that some of that so-called forex losses were bogus losses and were actually money siphoned out and disguised as ‘normal’ forex losses.

This is the reason why Mahathir knows he might face jail. But he is trying to make it appear like his jail sentence is for political reasons and because he is an opposition leader and not because he had committed a crime when he was the Prime Minister.

Worse than jail, what if the Malaysian government sends this evidence to the United States Department of Justice and they hold a press conference (like they are so fond of doing) saying that they are going to confiscate Mahathir’s properties plus that of his family and friends in the United States (because all that came from money stolen from Bank Negara). Mahathir also has a string of expensive properties in London, a huge ranch in Argentina, etc., which the Malaysian government can freeze, plus Mahathir and his family own almost 500 companies which the government can also go for.

Actually this will be worse than going to jail. If Mahathir and his family lose all their wealth it would be far worse than death. Maybe sending Mahathir to jail without touching any of his property is a more humane fate after all. However, if I were Najib (and of course I am not), I would not bother sending a man about to die to jail. I will make sure that while he is still alive he gets to see his business and political dynasty crumble before his very eyes. Mahathir will then wish he got jail instead or died long ago before he could see his lifetime’s work disappear into thin air.

Yes, Mahathir’s favourite phrase: disappear into thin air.

Mahathir thinks he is Mandela and not a common criminal