BOMBSHELL! Umno 'deceived' into voting for Najib's cronies, RE-ELECTION demanded

KUALA LUMPUR - For almost a month now, former city CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with Prime Minister Najib Razak and Attorney-General Gani Patail.

Mat Zain has mystified many in the political arena with his recent revelations of a hush-hush pow-wow with former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that had been brokered by senior Umno lawyer Shafee Abdullah.

The former police chief has also alleged that US agents were working in the AG's office with Najib's knowledge, and that the AG had been negligent in handling the Pulau Batu Puteh ownership tussle against Singapore.

And now, even before the dust has settled on those accusations, which incidentally are deafening due to Najib and Gani's persistent silence and refusal to clear the air, Mat Zain has dropped his latest bombshell.

Najib hid key information from Umno members?

And the explosion is devastating. The former police chief has accused Najib of deceiving Umno members and wants the party election held last month to be declared null and void.

According to Mat Zain, he had sent Najib a copy of a 31-page statutory declaration on October 9 that contained 'sensitive' information about many of the senior Umno leaders vying for office.

However, Najib kept the information to himself, and this may have helped his allies win key posts in the Umno top decision-making body - the supreme council.

"And by concealing the content of the SD, Najib could be said to have deprived the members of their rights in choosing the right candidates in the party polls," The Malaysian Insider reported Mat Zain as saying.

"The Registrar of Societies must show that it has a backbone and is able to take action against any political party which has violated the laws or party constitution."

Mat Zain zoomed in on the AG again, accusing him of protecting Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

“There were Umno supreme council candidates who are known to have been protected by Abdul Gani when allegations of wrongdoings were raised against them. There is a strong possibility that Umno members would not have voted in these candidates," Mat Zain.

"Umno supreme council candidates, especially those from Sabah, would not have fared well either as Abdul Gani is from Sabah and has family ties with Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

"Musa himself has been accused of being protected by Abdul Gani on several occasions when he was accused of corruption and abuse of power. I believe that if Najib had told the assembly about my SD, the outcome of the polls would have been very different."

Incorrigible chain of corruption

When Mat Zain first divulged Mahathir had asked to meet him, many believed that his rambling and convoluted attack against the AG was a red herring.

They believe the main target was Najib, although they agreed that Gani should also be ordered to come clean on the accusations put forth by Mat Zain.

"Mat Zain's revelations has been confusing in that there so many guilty parties so to speak. But this is the Umno-BN misgovernance and chain of corruption that we have warned against. It looks like we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. What does Mat Zain really want? Or should we say, what does Mahathir really want?" Opposition MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

The Umno election was held on October 19, all the 'president's men' had won. Najib, the Umno president, and deputy Muhyiddin Yassin had retained their posts without any challenges made.

The hotly-contested vice-president posts were swept by incumbents Hishammuddin Hussein, Zahid Hamidi and Shafie Apdal - all regarded as being loyal to the Najib camp.

Mahathir's youngest son Mukhriz failed in his bid to win one of the 3 VP posts and few of his allies managed to get into the supreme council.

A re-election in Umno would obviously give Mukhriz and his allies another shot at key party posts. However, despite his startling revelations, few doubt Mat Zain would be able to accumulate sufficient momentum to really dislodge Najib & Co.

"I doubt Umno will vote out corrupt politicians no matter how strong the evidence. Corruption is their raison d'etre actually," said Tian.

"But even so, we would urge the government to investigate Mat Zain's claims against Najib and Gani impartially. These are very serious allegation involving possible treason as far as Pulau Batu Puteh and the US agents are concerned. As for Najib's part in so far as the Umno election is concerned, if true, that would be gross abuse of power and the MACC should be called in."

A crocodile's pit but ultimately there must have been a perpetrator

Pulau Batu Puteh is a rocky islet claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore. The dispute was settled by the International Court of Justice in 2007, which ruled.

Mat Zain has alleged that Abdul Gani had deliberately lost the case, and that a substantial amount of money had been deposited into a bank account in Hong Kong. He has demanded that Najib order a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Gani's role in Batu Puteh.

It must be noted that Mat Zain is given 'face' by many of the media who report his allegations, and as he has also divulged, even Mahathir has asked to meet hm. This is due to the fact that he had access to extremely sensitive and confidential information while in the police force.

Sad to say, Najib - who perhaps stands to lose most in the event of any neutral public inquiry - is unlikely to pay any heed to Mat Zain.

In fact, some in Umno believe that it was Najib's supporters who had sabotaged the Pulau Batu Puteh case so as to tarnish Abdullah Badawi, Najib's immediate predecessor.

Their motive - to help Najib oust Badawi and take over as prime minister in 2009.

Malaysia Chronicle