A proposal is being put together for Prime Minister Najib Razak to approve – to get the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee to review the role and powers of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police force.
According to government sources, the proposal is not coming from the Pakatan Rakyat but from BN itself – mostly Umno. The reason – to get going and to be seen to get going with badly-needed reforms before the 13th General Election. National polls are mostly like to happen sometime in the latter half of 2011 after the Sarawak state elections.
According to the sources, Najib knows a rough ride is in store but reckons that he still has enough time to bounce back if he finally starts. Now.
Situation has worsened
When he took over from Abdullah Badawi in April last year, he had proposed a multitude of reforms, so much so, he was accused to plagiarizing Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s election manifesto.
But in the past months, the political situation in Malaysia has worsened, alarming civil society leaders who fear for the future of democracy and social equality in the country that has been governed largely by Umno for the past 53 years.
Most visible was a series of incidents in the past fortnight including the Home Ministry’s attempt to ban the newspapers and media of opposition parties PKR and DAP. And if not for the fear that a worse counter-reaction will be triggered, the ministry would have also banned Harakah, the hugely popular newspaper owned by the Islamist PAS.
The MACC also came in for its share of public brickbats after refusing at the last minute to go to London to record a statement from a private investigator, P Balasubramaniam, in connection with a murder and corruption probe that could implicate Najib, his wife Rosmah and their friend Razak Baginda.
Even the RMAF has disappointed. Just days ago, military intelligence officers were accused of torturing a former sergeant and trying to extort a false confession for the theft of two fighter-jet engines.
Closing an eye and tacit approval
But corruption and abuses of power are no strangers in Malaysian lifestyle and systems. Always just below the surface, the poison has been left unchecked to the extent that some culprits even deem themselves to have received tacit approval from past premiers such as Mahathir Mohamad and Badawi. Fairly or not, the pair has often been accused of having closed an eye and doing next to nothing to stop the abuses.
Even so, it is under Najib’s watch that a record number of government misdeeds have finally broken out into the open. The timing may have been coincidental, as after the Lingam Tape revelation that helped propel Pakatan to its stunning 2008 electoral success, Malaysians have been less hesitant to speak up.
The shocking police brutality that resulted in the deaths of Kugan Ananthan, Aminulrasyid and a host of others were also the proverbial straws that broke the camel’s back. So too was the suspicious death of Teoh Beng Hock after MACC interrogation, the scandalous losses and cash depletion at government-linked firms Sime Daby and Felda.
All these cases have bolstered the Pakatan’s battle cry for reform and the Najib administration knows it has its work cut out to repair its image, and more importantly, to revive voter confidence in Najib’s leadership. He is himself plagued by personal scandal.
Who to go after first
Indeed, the MACC and police have been glaring in their inaction against Umno-BN leaders accused of massive corruption such as Selangor’s Khir Toyo, Rafidah Aziz, Nor Mohamnd Yakcop, Musa Aman, Taib Mahmud, Muhyiddin Yassin and even Najib himself.
But what good is this latest PAC proposal? Even though, a core feature is to empower the MACC head with powers of prosecution without having to go through the Attorney-General, there are fears it will turn out to be another Najib smokescreen and public relations whitewash.
After all, Pakatan leaders had pushed hard for this check-and-balance when the MACC Bill was first tabled by Badawi in early 2009. Their protests were overruled, and pundits had then blamed crooked Umno leaders for lobbying against it so that they could protect themselves from future prosecution.
Why then is the Najib administration reviving plans to boost transparency in the two enforcement agencies?
“You have to give Najib a chance, he cannot do everything at one go. It has only been slightly over a year. He needs to get Umno to accept the changes. They don’t support him in everything, you know,” said the source.
“Even if he gets the green light, who should he prosecute first, Khir Toyo, Rafidah, himself? The list is so long. And one thing, even though the opposition has hurled so many accusations at him, what proof is there? The idea and focus now is to regain public confidence and the first step is to get the rules and framework right. Then when the government starts to go after the big fishes, people will believe he can do things.”
Fair enough, it sounds. Indeed the list of recalcitrant Umno-BN leaders is so extensive, it would be a headache even for the Pakatan to chase if they wrested the federal government.
Most Malaysians too understand that it takes time to effect change, but they worry that this is just another publicity ploy planned by Najib's minders. Sadly, he has relied too much on form rather substance in the past year. Public relations has become his trademark and it is hard for his countrymen to take him seriously.
This time, he will really have to exit if he lets them down again.
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