Najib's grand ISA plan lands him in deeper trouble at Umno

It has been nearly a week and Prime Minister Najib Razak's gradiose plans about 'liberating' the Malaysian people from oppressive detention laws have been exposed to be a fake, an attempt to regain media favour after a series of ill-judged decisions.

On Monday, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim dropped a bombshell. While Najib was grandstanding and declaring a new dawn of democracy for the nation, he was also holding private meetings with Umno warlords to assure them that new laws would be enacted that would just s "tough".

The Internal Security Act and several other Emergency laws that Najib proposed to repeal last Thursday are oppressive because they allow the federal government to detain poltical rivals, even on manifestly trumped-up charges, for indefinite periods of time without trial. These laws are important to Umno leaders because it allows them to retain their grip on power. The laws have been abused since their creation, especially by former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

'Domino' effect stymied

On Tuesday, a plan to hype up Najib's repeals into a regional benchmark triggering a 'domino effect' throughout Southeast Asia fell flat. Hardly anyone bothered to take notice despite a concerted release of news stories pointing tio the 'wisdom and far-sightedness 'of the Najib move.

Why? Pundits say the failure showed Najib's credibility had already dropped to zero with his own countrymen. It made little impact on the rest of the region because they probably know him too. His scandals, although not all are sexual' have made him a Berlusconi rather than a Kennedy. Fresh in the minds of many is the shocking revelation that had used RM55 million of his countrymen's money to pay for expensive propaganda to glorify himself and his policies, screened on international channels like CNN, CNBC and BBC.

It was a good thing that not many BN leaders rushed out to praise him, although a few did do so. Because later Tuesday night, around 8pm, an opposition politician, the deputy president of arch rival party PAS was arrested for making a comment on a matter that happened 61 years ago.

Mat Sabu, who house was attacked with Molotov cocktails by unknown assailants early on Tuesday, was told in the afternoon he would be charged for commenting on the 1950 Bukit Kepong incident, where communists had attacked a police station and killied many officers. That Tuesday night, Sabu was arrested.

No doubt he was released on bail, but the events surrounding his poltically-motivated persecution confirm that Najib was as usual taking through his hat and trying to steal some thunder from his own political rivals when he pledged the ISA repeal plan would make Malaysia the "best democracy" in the world.

"How can a comment made on a historical event which happened 61 years ago be punished as a criminal act? Charging Mat Sabu on these grounds is a gross abuse of police and prosecutorial powers, carried out at the behest of the BN government," N Surendran, a prominent human rights lawyer, said in a statement.

"It is also in breach of Mat Sabu's rights to freedom of speech under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution. By bringing this charge, the Attorney General has made himself look ridiculous and inept. The charge is bizzare and scales the heights of legal nonsense."

Badawi should have saved his breath

Mewnhile, Najib's predecessor Abdullah Badawi has advised Najib to be steadfast if he was clear about the reforms he wanted to institute. Badawi said that he too had clear ideas about what path he wanted to take Malaysia but in the end, he was not forceful enough and had to bow to the hardliners in their Umno party.

"Perhaps when I was in office I should have been more forceful about it considering the resistance I was facing," Badawi said in a statement issued here Tuesday night.

Badawi, who was ousted by Najib in 2009, was not offering kindly advise but rather rebutting snide comments from Nazri Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department. Nazri had said that Abdullah faced opposition to his reform plans because he had not clearly indicated what he wanted to do.

“During his (Abdullah’s) time, there was some opposition then as he made no clear indication what he wanted to do but when Najib became prime minister, he made it clear that his intention was to review the ISA,” Nazri had said earlier on Tuesday.

“This could mean amendments, abolish or to repeal the ISA. He more or less alerted various groups and the government of his intention, and this helped to prevent obstacles by BN members themselves,” Nazri added.

It looks like Badawi should saved his breath. Pundits say Najib has no intention at all of pushing through any clear reform agenda. Just the Parliamentary Select Committee, the ISA and Emergency Ordinance repeal plan is designed to create transient feel-good sentiment for his administration. He is actually two-timing his nation and the international community.

"In private sessions Najib has given Umno hardliners assurance that the replacement laws will still be tough," Anwar had told reporters on Monday.

Did niot ask Umno or BN for permission

It may seem unbelievably bold but that is exactly what he did by employing UK's FBC Media to churn positive news to glorify him and it is worth noting that FBC is now being probed by UK regulators for taking money to passing off propaganda as real news to be broadcast by CNN, CNBC, BBC and the like.

Another give-away by Nazri is his comment that Najib "more or less" told various groups of hintentions. Yet, Umno insiders are not hesitant reveal that Najib bypassed the party's supreme council in annoucning the decision.

"Obviously they are sore about it and not happy with him at all. Najib kept it very close to his chest. Only his top advisers knew what he would annonce. Even the Home Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, who is his own cousin was not informed," PKR strategies director Razfizi Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Why so secretive? Because he knew he would probably run into objections from the Umno warlords. Then, why was he so keen to rush it? Maybe because he knows this could be his last chance to create a legacy for himself. Anyway, the plan has bombed, it failed to trigger strong response because of his credibility problem. Najib is now in deeper trouble at Umno than before."

Najib's main rival for the Umno presidency is Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin, who is believed to have secured Mahathir's backing. Badawi's faction, now led by son-in-law Khairy Jamaluiddin, is also eyeing the top job.

On September 30, French lawyers probing alleged kickbacks paid by French arms firm DCN to several Malaysian officials, including Najib, are due to reveal further details that could finally incriminate Najib and tie him to the Altantuya murder case.

Najib is widely expected to call for November snap polls. He had hoped to scratch out a decent enough mandate from the people to justify Umno keeping him on as president. But it looks like he may have stepped on his own foot once again.

- Malaysia Chronicle