House arrest for Najib a stunning abuse of power
The whole move to clear a path for Najib to evade further prison-time also raises troubling questions about the inordinate influence that UMNO now exerts over the unity government.
Dennis Ignatius
[1] Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim astonished everyone by sneaking into his budget presentation a few lines about formulating new legislation to allow home detention as an alternative punishment for selected offences.[1]
[2] It sounds reasonable, and it may well be needed, but the manner in which it was done – inserting a few lines about house arrest in a budget speech but not mentioning it in parliament[2] – suggests that some other agenda is at play.
[3] But Malaysians are not easily fooled. It was immediately seen for what it is – a plan to mollycoddle a man who has been found guilty of high crimes against the nation[3] and whose trial for various other offences is still ongoing. It reeks of political opportunism, a blatant attempt to appease the Bossku crowd.
[4] That the prime minister has not moved to immediately quell speculation that disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak could be one of the prime beneficiaries of the proposed legislation has only served to heighten suspicions.
[5] In the relatively short time he has been in office, the prime minister has done many things which many have found troubling, but this goes beyond the pale. It undermines the sterling efforts of the previous Pakatan Harapan administration and former attorney-general Tommy Thomas and his team to bring to justice a man who has done so much harm to the nation. It’s a cynical manipulation of the justice system and of parliament, a callous disregard for the principles upon which our nation was founded.
[6] By signalling special treatment for Najib, the prime minister has also effectively undermined his own credibility as well as his commitment to fighting corruption and the abuse of power. It is sheer hypocrisy to go around posing as an anti-corruption crusader, giving lofty speeches about the evils of corruption and then conniving to allow one of our nation’s most corrupt politicians avoid completing his sentence in a prison where he belongs. This is morally wrong, a new low for Malaysia.
