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Friday, June 5, 2015

UMNO SHAKES: 'Kurang ajar' IGP stops Dr M from speaking as Najib pulls a 'NO SHOW' at 1MDB tell-all

UMNO SHAKES: 'Kurang ajar' IGP stops Dr M from speaking as Najib pulls a 'NO SHOW' at 1MDB tell-all
UPDATE3 In a shock move that is bound to create deep reverberations across Umno, police today barred former party president and ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad from speaking at a forum on Prime Minister Najib Razak's debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)
"I have never seen anything like this before. This will create shock waves and anger in Umno and the Malay community," an political watcher attending the 'Nothing To Hide' forum held at the Putra World Trade Centre told Malaysia Chronicle.
"It is 'kurang ajar' (a very rude and rash move) by the police and bad strategy by Najib and his advisers. Already they are perceived as the bad guys, and now to stop Dr M - they are confirming their own guilt and Najib will be called 'bacul' (coward) all over Umno. Like him or hate him, Dr M is revered by many Malays and I can tell you now, many in Umno who bet on Najib beating Dr M because he managed to secure support from Sarawak BN and Adenan Satem will wish they hadn't, especially guys like Zahid Hamidi.
'Bacul' Najib vs Mahathir 'hero': Power equation will shift again
Indeed pandemonium erupted briefly as the confused crowd got angry by the police action on Mahathir, who has clawed back a lot of popularity from the public after championing the 1MDB issue.
Known for his iron-hand and despotic rule, Mahathir certainly got a dose of his own medicine this morning when his was barred from making a speech that would surely have been very critical of the government and mocking of Najib's capabilities.
According to the Malay Mail, Mahathir's supporters had insisted they allow him to speak, which later led to a commotion at the entrance of all as his followers pushed through the blockade to get the veteran leader in.
Immediately after he was allowed on stage, Dr Mahathir spoke to the audience and explained why he had attended today’s forum.
“This is not about Najib and me, this is about all of us. About the thing that belongs to all of us,” the country’s longest-serving prime minister said, referring to the 1MDB scandal.
But half way through, police immediately came up the stage and told Dr Mahathir to stop. Some media reported that they switched off his microphone.
Crowd warns 'kurang ajar' Umno officials and cops
At this point the crowd responded angrily, hurling shouts towards the police and warned them against hurting Dr Mahathir.
It is understood that Umno officials aligned to Najib also instructed the microphone that Dr Mahathir was speaking with be switched off. The IGP too has admitted he gave the order to gag Dr Mahathir.
“Yes, I gave the directive,” Khalid said when asked at a press conference held at the national police headquarters in Bukit Aman later in day.
“We stopped (it) because once the event has been shut down, it means everything is over,” he added.
Speaking at a press conference immediately after, Dr Mahathir jokingly said he was told to stop talking because the audience was too noisy.
“You all are too noisy, so he told me to stop la” he said. Mahathir also said that he did not disobey the police when he was told to stop.
“I stopped when I was told because I am an obedient citizen,” Dr Mahathir said smilingly.
Najib had failed to show up and is expected to cite as his excuse a 'cancel' order issued by Inspector General of Police Khalid Bakar on Twitter at around 8.55am, just minutes after Dr Mahathir had turned up for the event. Najib's aide had confirmed to ChannelnewsAsia that Najib will not be attending the dialogue.
Zahid, an Umno vice president is also Home Minister in charge of the police. He had shocked many in Umno by demanding the resignations of Cabinet ministers who did not agree with Najib on how to salvage the dbt-riddled 1MDB.
Zahid's call came just ahead of Najib's Sarawak visit on Thursday, triggering speculation he was positioning himself to take over Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's post.
Muhyiddin, the Umno deputy president, is under pressure to resign after he called for the entire board of 1MDB directors - which is headed by Najib - to resign and police called in to investigate suspected corruption and embezzlement.
Najib had expected 'easy passage' with rehearsed script but Dr M threw a spanner in the works
1MDB is a sovereign wealth fund created and advised by Najib, who is also Finance Minister. 1MDB is in the spotlight after racking up a massive RM42 billion in debt, of which RM28 billion are purportedly missing and over which Mahathir has been grilling Najib and demanding he steps down to make way for Muhyiddin.
Najib had been scheduled to attend the high-cost glitzy forum organised by the Malaysian Volunteer Lawyers Association with some 1,500 representatives from NGOs and civil society groups expected to turn up and get his side of the story on 1MDB and other issues related to his administration and leadership.
According to Mohd Ariff Sabri, the Opposition MP for Raub who was a former Umno chieftain, it was to be another staged and rehearsed event where the questions and answers had already been prepared.
Not surprisingly then, Najib may have expected an easy passage, hoping to emerge from the forum politically stronger after the discussion.
However, Dr Mahathir who was also invited by organisers but who had been expected to decline, sprung an 11th hour surprise.
Mahathir, who has been Najib’s biggest critic over the 1MDB fiasco, indicated just a day ahead of the forum he would most likely attend the forum, potentially setting up a face-off between the two leaders after months of trading barbs through the media.
This prompted Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to issue an order on Twitter for the forum to be shut down in the interest of public order.
Point of no return for Najib: 'Nothing to Hide' turns into 'Najib in Hiding' forum
Najib's no-show may mark his point of no return in the slide down from power. The fiasco has created enormous negative repercussions for his prestige and the social media buzz has been fierce.
"Where's your "pahlawan" ds najib that you told yesterday boss #Nothing2Hide #nothingface", posted Twitter user Izzatur Farhana going by the handle @Yana_ghazali, referring to Najib's frequent boasts of his Bugis warrior blood that forbade him to retreat or step down as PM.
Indeed, in one fell swoop, Najib's 'Nothing to Hide' forum has been turned into a 'Najib Hiding' farce that could prove fatal to his political career.
"The last-minute 'tweet' cancellation of the 1MDB 'Nothing2Hide' forum featuring the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had nothing to do with order, security and national harmony, or even police capability to maintain order and security in an indoor forum in the very sanctum of UMNO headquarters, but have everything to do with providing the Prime Minister with an excuse for not turning up," wrote Opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang in a blistering statement.
"Najib has only himself and the IGP to blame if even more Malaysians are now convinced that the Prime Minister has a lot to hide with his last-minute decision to be absent at the 1MDB 'Nothing2Hide' forum after all the huge publicity about his 'tell-all' session this morning. - Malaysia Chronicle

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