Saving the nation must come first

The Najib-Rosmah scandal is crippling the nation and we seriously need an above politics prescription.

FMT LETTERS

By J.D. Lovrenciear

Dr Mahathir Mohamad delivered the grand slam yesterday at the public forum, Bicara Negarawan: You Are Not Alone in Kuala Lumpur.

We cannot on carry on singing, “Let the old man shout for all we care”. It’s a mockery to defend Najib and Rosmah with counter arguments like, “He was no angel when he was the PM”.

All the key issues raised by civil society and Opposition political parties have been delivered in his trademark style in the presence of about a thousand citizens who care just as much about the nation.

It can only come from a courageous citizen who is truly passionate about the country and its future.

In any other country that preaches and walks the talk of democratic politics, the implicated candidate would have resigned or stepped aside until justice is done. This has not been the case in Malaysia and it truly puts the country’s well-being in precarious paralysis.

The former prime minister has clearly spelled out several key concerns. Any college student will agree that these are serious concerns and unbecoming of a leader in power.

In today’s climate who would hold five wedding receptions and in such grandiose fashion? It is straight out of fairy tales of kingdoms in bygone eras.

On top of that, Najib and Rosmah used the Prime Minister’s official residence , Seri Perdana, to host one of the four receptions held in Malaysia. We were also told that 300 of the Who’s Who in town flew to Kazakhstan where a three-day wedding celebration was also held.

One wonders, was the official jet also used for the trip?

Tun further took up every rakyat’s cry out: he rightly slammed that the GST must be abolished. If Najib’s administration continues to disregard this warning, come May 1st the rakyat will take to the streets to peacefully register their disagreement.

The mystery of 1MDB’s RM42 billion debt has not only been the clarion whistle from the Opposition block; Tun himself in no uncertain terms said it bluntly: 1MDB is a scam for as long as it is not explained, with acceptable justification.

If the rakyat clamor, they can be shut up by the top policeman of the nation. But now that the former leader of 22 years has expressed the same serious concerns about 1MDB, what should we do? Go out in the streets and carry Najib and Rosmah on our shoulders?

That is what the Umno Youth leader did, thinking foolishly that people will accept the spectacle as the answer to all the doubts.

Umno has again dug itself into a vulnerable gulley.

Although the Tun did not say anything about the Altantuya murder, the very mention of it was enough to get heads nodding and tongues wagging. Perhaps the top cop will now tweet and holler that one must face contempt of court?

Or will Rosmah and Najib be advised to sue Tun and all the people who support Tun’s concerns.

The buck must stop here. We need to think of the nation and not politics. To save the nation first supersedes any political agendas to keep a political party alive or to seize the moment to rise to power.

Tun must harness all right-minded leaders from all sides of the divide; he must galvanise all honourable and ethically anchored institutions and civil society to cleanse this nation of rot, greed, corruption and abuses.

Our priority is not to save Umno or strengthen BN or to pave the way for DAP,PKR and PAS to be the alternative government.

Right now, the fact that Umno-BN has failed to check and balance its chosen leader, all of us must rise to bridge and correct the serious mistakes.

Najib must do the right thing. All his supporters must do the right thing. We have gone too far into the filth of failed leadership. Any further sandiwara will only lead this nation to become the laughing stock in the global eyes.

It is no more an issue of Tun meddling in the governing of Malaysia; it is no more an issue of his track record of sacking others.

It is about cleansing this nation of all the scandals and suspicions as well as bringing justice to reign supreme.

The war on terror in Malaysia is not our immediate concern. The real scoundrels and robber-barons are the enemies we must fight with all our collaborative and patriotic will.

The race card and religious divisiveness are mere distractions. The cancer must be exterminated with one single motivation and that is to save this nation from greed, power-madness, extravagance, and the many scandals ringing the PM and his spouse.

If we fail then all of us including even our esteemed Rulers have to take blame for our inability to save this nation from so much shame and distress brought upon by the present government and its leaders.

All the money in the world – including even if 1MDB brought back the mysterious RM42 billion – cannot save our ‘maruah bangsa and Negara’.

J.D. Lovrenciear is an FMT reader