NAJIB AND ANWAR ARE IN THE SAME BOAT?

Umar Mukhtar

What can be the mitigating factors for someone who may have lost 20,000 million ringgit of other people’s money entrusted with procedural conditions to him?

That he is the Party President and so we must cut him some slack? That if we ostracise him, the opposition will benefit? That he is just the Prime Minister and we can’t expect him to know everything, even though these things were directly under his charge as Minister of Finance? That we can afford this possible humongous loss?

Most people we talk to think these are not mitigating factors – irrespective, anti-Najib or Pro-Najib Malaysians. How could we agree that these excuses absolve the person when our beloved child would still get a tight slap if he stole the family car and wrecked it?

Almost all agree we should be fair to him because he has not been proven guilty of those accusations. How can we prove it? We must investigate first if there were any wrongdoings, and if he had the possibility of committing them. Then he first has to be charged in a court of law, tried, and only if he is found guilty by the judges can we take any action.

After all that’s what was accorded to Anwar Ibrahim. It took us six long years. Democratic Malaysia! Then why is it that many right-thinking apolitical Malaysians still think Anwar was treated unfairly? Because there is this Anglo-Saxon jargon commonly used called bad faith.

An example of bad faith in Anwar’s case could be that when the powers-that-be saw an opportunity to get rid of Anwar as a political force, they used all the powers bestowed in them to relentlessly pursue for a conviction that will incarcerate Anwar. Sodomy is sodomy, just as stealing is stealing, no matter by whom. But bad faith is hard to prove as long as all actions are within the law. But perceptions are real.

What has that got to do with Najib and 1MDB? A lot. Are the powers-that-be, which are bestowed by the Rakyat with the same powers, also pursuing 1MDB possible wrongdoings as relentlessly as they did in Anwar’s case? It is only the investigation stage. Not even a criminal investigation yet. Only an investigation of the status quo. Already there may have been bad faith. Perceptions are real.

For example, someone had made a police report implying that some hanky-panky may be happening in 1MDB. He had been hounded by whatever means available to these powers, it seems. Because the insinuation was that it could only have been stolen with help from the powers-that-be?

Then an elder statesman took up the matter. And all sort of dirt are piled up to attack the elder statesman, to destroy his credibility. For argument sake, let’s assume the dirt is true and the police report was lodged by a scumbag. Do these make the possible criminal acts in 1MDB not worth investigating?

Okay, a government agency, the Auditor General, has been asked to investigate. In the absence of a Terms of Reference known to all, for how long? Investigate what? That is not “relentlessness”. Almostlaissez faire. The Auditor General needs only to tell us that nothing is missing or something is missing. Is it that difficult? Check with the bank, cash is cash, IOU is IOU, papers that own assets for how much? Were procedures followed?

The Rakyat need to know. It’s their money. Can you tell us these first? Does that take more than a month? Only with that information can we decide if it is worth our time to pursue the matter. The Auditor General does not have the ability to do forensic auditing. We have not even come to that stage yet.

The PDRM has not done anything yet either, even though questionable happenings have been reported. Whose directives are they waiting for? The powers-that-be? The very connections they will be investigating? Or are they waiting for more horses to have bolted. Can we at least, as an interim measure, lock the barn door?

It is like asking your business operator to tell where the business money is and he replied, “It is being looked into.” For months! That is supposed to make you happy? What are they really waiting for? For the semen to have dried in Saiful’s asshole, so that it cannot be tendered as evidence? ‘Relentless’, ‘bad-faith’ seem to be the operating words.

The powers-that-be must not do just the perfunctory. It must be seen to be consistent. Let Anwar’s incarceration be not in vain. Fair-minded Rakyat demand it.

We are not wanting for anybody to go to jail. Just wanting to know where our money is and to further safeguard it. Not a vengeful request. But if that is the way the game is to be played, so be it. Maybe Anwar will get a cellmate.