Another 'irritation' for Najib?

by Mohsin Abdullah

FZGRAPHICS

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  As if Najib did not have enough thorns in his side, PI Bala has returned to Malaysia to add to the PM's woes.

The Writest Thing

Mohsin Abdullah likes rojak. And nasi campur. And durians. Perhaps that’s why he writes about this, that and everything else. Pretty much rojak and nasi campur. As for his writings, well, they can be like durians. Aromatic and delicious to some people, smelly and off-putting to others. 

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NOW that Bala is back home, the question is, will he be a "thorn" to the prime minister, his wife or BN even?

That is to put it mildly. Very mildly in fact. Bala is of course P Balasubramaniam (or PI Bala, as he is popularly known), the private investigator who many believe knows an awful lot of things about the Altantuya Shaaribu murder.

 

And his "damaging" statutory declaration (SD) against Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the subsequent SD "clearing" the PM continue to be talked about until now.

 

Upon returning from Chennai, India, where he had stayed in exile (some say self-imposed, others say enforced), he promised to hold a press conference anytime soon to give a detailed account on the SDs.

 

And he will sort of bring his case to the rakyat. Direct, on Wednesday, Feb 27, when Bala is scheduled to speak at a forum in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Surely there will be more – ceramahs and what not, nationwide. Bala has after all said he will campaign for Pakatan Rakyat.

 

The Altantuya murder will feature prominently in his ceramah. That is a given. That will not be good for the PM and BN with election approaching fast. That is the general perception.

 

Then there's Deepak Jaikishan. The businessman has been talking and has not stop talking – throwing allegations against Najib, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and the PM's brother as well.

 

There's no need for specifics as we know what he has said especially on Bala's SD. In particular, the second SD where Bala retracted the "Najib aspect".

 

Najib has not responded to Deepak – save for a Jan 17 denial and a shot and curt "Deepak is not credible" remark. Which incidentally, prompted the carpet man to sue the PM for defamation recently.

 

Deepak too has said he will bring his story to the rakyat. He was scheduled to talk at a ceramah at the old PAS headquarters in Taman Melewar last week.

 

Somehow he did not turn up although the ceramah went on as planned. But definitely, other ceramah for him will be set for him, if not already.

 

Bala has confirmed Deepak's story that the businessman met him asking him to come up with SD number two. So with Bala in the country, will Deepak speak on the same stage as the private investigator? A collaboration?

 

Both have said they are not go looking for each other but Bala did say he is ok with a "collaboration" if Deepak "comes" to him. That can be damaging to the PM. Will it not? "Deepak and Bala won't hurt.

 

Their credibility is questionable. Won't have traction," said a member of a think tank linked closely to the PM's Office. He alleged "both looking for money".

 

But he went on to say this: "More worrying is Raja Ropiaah. That requires some urgent attention."

 

Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah is the Selangor Umno Wanita chief whom Deepak accused of "stealing" land worth millions of ringgit from his company and reselling a portion of it to a third party.

 

And Deepak had also alleged that a member of Najib's family had taken a "commission" worth millions for Najib's "role in getting the land" owned by the Defence Ministry privatised to Raja Ropiaah in 2005.

 

"Umno Selangor should ask Raja Ropiaah to resign immediately. Otherwise Umno will face the same problem like the Zakaria Deros episode. Hurt other candidates," said the think tank member.

 

Selangor Umno leader Datuk Zakaria Deros was state assemblyman for Pelabuhan Kelang and also Klang municipal councillor.

 

He was embroiled in controversy, had a run-in with the law for not submitting building plans for his mansion dubbed "palace" by detractors as the mansion has 16 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, swimming pool – just to name some features.

 

According to reports, Zakaria was also found not to have paid the assessment for a property for 12 years and his family had operated an illegal satay restaurant on government reserve land.

 

He was not picked as the BN candidate for the 2008 election when the coalition lost Selangor. Zakaria passed away a few days after the March 8, 2008 election. Back to Bala and Deepak.

 

Copies of Deepak's "book" (The Black Rose), despite not mentioning names of personalities, are being snapped up like hot cakes at Pakatan's ceramah sites.

 

The "book" is said to have a storyline resembling what Deepak has been talking about against the PM and wife It can be downloaded for free but obviously some enterprising folks are registering good sales for it.

 

Which goes to say the Deepak story can attract attention. Question is will the readers believe the content?

 

As for Bala, chances are his forum engagement tomorrow will be a crowd puller. What more with a poser like 'Who Killed Altantuya?'