NAJIB PLAYS RUSSIAN ROULETTE

Let us see whether Najib wins this game of Russian roulette, a great risk he is taking with not just one but three bullets in the chamber. Guan Eng has asked Najib to act like a gladiator in an arena. Najib is doing better than that. Instead of acting like a Roman gladiator, he is acting like the Bugis warrior that he claims to be, which if he wins even his enemies are going to tabik him.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Penang Chief Minister and DAP leader Lim Guan Eng today dared Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to accept Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s challenge to a debate. Guan Eng said Najib should face Dr Mahathir like a gladiator in an arena.

“Go and face Mahathir like a gladiator in an arena and then let the people decide. We can see the cut and thrust of the debate. Don’t do it in a simulation type of environment. Go into a real-life environment. Battle it out man-to-man with Dr Mahathir.”

Actually, many would also like to see Guan Eng debate his critics as well. For example, the following letter (see below) has been circulating the Internet and many Malays would like to know what is the Penang government’s policy on housing for the Malays.

Perkasa, which has a copy of the letter, has raised its unhappiness about what it calls the plight of the Malays in Penang and Dr Mahathir has responded to this by asking Guan Eng to resign. Maybe Guan Eng would like to debate Ibrahim Ali about what Perkasa calls the Penang government’s racist policies.

Anyway, after witnessing quite a number of debates between both sides of the political divide (and even the debates recently held in the UK in the run-up to the general election this month), I am not in the least impressed.

Rarely do debates reveal the truth if that is what you hope to achieve. For example, say we hold a debate between a religionist (or theist) and an atheist. The theist will argue that God exists and he or she will quote verses from the ‘Holy Books’ to support his or her argument (without proving that the so-called ‘Holy Books’ are authentic and not fakes).

The theist will then use the famous watch argument. You are walking in a field and you accidently kick something and you bend down to pick it up and discover that it is a watch. The watch is so intricate and fine that it could not have created itself. Hence someone must have created it. So this proves that there is a creator. Therefore God exists.

Students of philosophy of religion would probably be very familiar with this watch argument or creator theory.

Does that argument or theory prove that God exists? To the theist it does. To the atheist it does not. And the atheist will argue that theories do not prove the existence of God and the onus is on those who say that God exists to prove His existence and since they cannot do that then it must be assumed that God does not exist.

So who won the debate? Both sides will claim that he or she did. And does this debate prove one way or another that God does or does not exist? It does not prove anything. It just proves that both sides are good at arguing things that lack evidence to give the impression that he or she is right and the other side is wrong.

There would be only one way to win this debate or argument regarding 1MDB. And that would be, as the Americans would say: show me the money. The issue is simple. One side is saying the money is all gone and the other side is saying the money is still there.

So what is there to debate? The side that is saying the money is all gone should just show the papers or documents that proves this, while the other side that says the money is still there should do the same — show the papers or documents that proves the money is still there.

End of ‘debate’!

Today, the Parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has started its investigation into the affairs of 1MDB. They are going to look at the evidence and interview various people involved with 1MDB. It is going to be a thorough investigation because Umno’s future may depend on it.

There are those who think that Najib is playing a very dangerous game of Russian roulette because most of the members of the PAC, its Chairman included, are opposed to the Prime Minister. Some think that Najib is not only playing Russian roulette but is doing so with three bullets in the chamber.

I suppose Najib does not really have much choice. If he does not address the issue of 1MDB to everyone’s satisfaction he is dead anyway. He is not going to enjoy Christmas as the Prime Minister. He may be out by next month, as those in Dr Mahathir’s circle say.

I would put Najib’s chances of surviving the PAC investigation at less than 50:50. The fact that a few of the Umno members of the PAC have been holding ‘pre-council’ meetings does not look good for Najib. It is like a panel of judges about to hear your case that involves the death sentence, and all who are against you, holding a ‘pre-trial’ before your trial to discuss what to do with you.

Najib is putting his fate and future in the hands of his enemies. He is telling his enemies to investigate him and prove him innocent or guilty. If they find him guilty no one is going to be shocked or surprised. However, if they find him innocent, and those that find him innocent are technically his enemies, Najib’s critics are going to have to shut up and leave him alone.

Let us see whether Najib wins this game of Russian roulette, a great risk he is taking with not just one but three bullets in the chamber. Guan Eng has asked Najib to act like a gladiator in an arena. Najib is doing better than that. Instead of acting like a Roman gladiator, he is acting like the Bugis warrior that he claims to be, which if he wins even his enemies are going to tabik him.