PM Najib and Sharizat in a win-win done deal...

So the word is out and from the lady herself. Women's minister Shahrizat Jalil's remark that it was up to Prime Minister Najib Razak to decide on the fate of her Senatorship when it expires next month says it all.

Pundits say this is the sappy Umno script that both leaders can be expected to follow, dripping with sentimentality and without any consideration for the rest of the country, which might prefer to live without the culture of corruption promulgated and exemplified best by Najib and Shahrizat in the RM250million NFC cattle breeding debacle.

Obviously, Najib will not extend the Senatorship, which means Shahrizat will lose her Cabinet position. Najib will of course thank her for services and contribution to the country, but apologetically point out the public pressure and how he has no choice but to take into consideration the interest of their Umno party, with the 13th general election looming.

Shahrizat will then step aside 'gracefully', in a great show of 'obedience' to Najib, despite having fought like a tigress to negotiate exit terms for herself and family. 

Whether or not she gives up her Wanita chief post is probably still under negotiations, and at the very latest, she can expect to be ousted when Umno holds its party election later this year.
 
The plus point of such a script is that it is firstly typically Umno and so will easily understood by its members. Secondly, it allows Najib to come off as the hero when actually, it was his camp which caused stink when its bid to replace Shahrizat with FT Minister Raja Nong Chik as the contestant for the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat in GE-13 went out of control.

For Shahrizat, she gets to 'save face'. She does not get to suffer the disgrace of being sacked and though she may be seething at Najib and Nong Chik for pulling the stunt against her, she would still have managed to wangle together an exit deal satisfactory to herself and family.

Notice, there is no mention of corruption charges or CBT prosecution. Najib already intimated as much when he said it was not incumbent on the Attorney General to prosecute despite police recommendation to charge Shahrizat's husband, Salleh Ismail, for criminal breach of trust. 

The Shahrizats were awarded the NFC project and given a RM250million government soft loan to develop it. But they have been accused of spending a large chunk of the loan on personal items like condominiums, a supermarket, expensive overseas holidays, million-ringgit discounts for family-controlled firms and so on.

The NFC scandal that has shocked the Malaysian public, who could not believe the bare-faced lies told by Shahrizat's family to deflect public outrage over their alleged abuse of power and criminal breach of trust.

The most recent was following the revelation by PKR's Rafizi Ramli, who exposed the Shahrizats' investment in a luxury supermarket at the soon-to-be-opened Rochester Mall in Singapore. 

The Shahrizats have channeled large amounts to Singapore, purchasing two plush condos at the hyper-expensive Marina Bay area nearby to the casino, investing in restaurants and the supermarket.

Salleh Ismail, the NFC chief, insisted this was in line with good management foresight and vision as there was plentiful beef to sell, why not to rich Singapore. Salleh was immediately denounced for the idiocy of his remarks. 

Firstly, critics said the Auditor-General has pointed that among the weaknesses in the NFC project was its lack of livestock and that it was lagging behind set targets to breed enough cows to be able to supply 40% of Malaysia's own demand. 

Secondly, to seal Salleh's lie, it was further revealed that NFC did not even have any permit to export beef to Singapore.

Don't think the Singaporeans do not know. They surf the Net. They know of the cows and condos minister whose family cannot explain the accusations that they are ripping off their own country and bringing the money over to Singapore," said Tian.

Indeed, foreigners are also looking at how Najib, the PM and Umno president, is handling the case. It is disappointing to see him upholding such free-for-all corruption, with the NFC a classroom example of how national funds can be leveraged to siphon investments over to Singapore.- Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle


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