Ariff Sabri: Government guilty until proven innocent

In the Court of Public Opinion, unlike a court of law, the onus is on the gov't to prove its innocence to the people or be deemed guilty.

KUALA LUMPUR: In view of the absence of solid evidence, conceded Raub MP Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, it can only be assumed that in the month of March 2013, RM2.6 billion was transferred into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal account at AmBank. “The huge fund was subsequently used to finance Barisan Nasional’s (BN) elections.”

The question then, he asked, is the status of seats won. “They were won using money.”

That’s how Umno won many of its seats anyway, he added. “Money was used to pay candidates, bribe voters and maybe grease the palms of officials. That would make the government of Najib a government funded by bribery.”

In the outlying polling stations where Opposition parties do not have the resources to oversee polling, he stressed, they have to depend on the officials placed there by the Election Commission (EC). “These people can be paid to count every vote as that cast for the BN.”

Morally this would make Najib’s government an illegitimate government, argued Ariff Sabri. “It also confirms that the Najib government is a corrupt government.”

Yet, with all the money, he pointed out, BN could not win the popular vote. “It won for other reasons.”

“This fact seemed to be lost on the cocky BN legislators. Already, they do not represent the majority of voters in Malaysia.”

The bottomline is that Najib cannot use the argument that because he was democratically elected, he can therefore be only removed through elections, said Ariff . “He forgets that the people always have the right of recall at any time. The President of the USA, for example, can be impeached and removed at any time even if his tenure subsists.”

The Court of the People representing the nation enjoys a higher level of rights, he reiterated, and has the moral right to demand the government proves its innocence, not dissimilar to the people’s right of recall. “The people have the overriding right to recall the government at any anytime and does not have to wait until the government which is accused of wrongful conduct, runs it full tenure.”

“Why must the government prove its innocence?” asked Ariff . “For that is what Najib represents, the government. The people demand it.”

Ariff goes on to say that the nature of the relationship between a government and its people cannot be viewed from a purely legalistic point of view. “The views of people like Salleh Said Keruak are not always illuminating. In fact, they are mostly misleading.”

“The nature of the relationship between the government and its people is founded on trust. Trust involves, as Fukuyama explained, means reciprocity.”

The people elect the government, place their belief in the government, obey the laws the government makes and expect as a matter of fact, in return, that it conducts itself rightfully and justly to justify the trust forged between them, he stressed. “Now, when the government does wrongful acts, these destroy the trust built. In order to regain the trust, the government must restore and make good by cleansing itself.”

“That’s the fundamental reason why in this case, Najib representing the government, must prove his innocence.”

If Najib is prosecuted as an individual where the conventional treatment of accused and prosecution was used, agreed Ariff, he will be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“The government stands before the Court of Public Opinion. It must prove itself innocent of wrongful conduct. It is now the people who demand the state prove its innocence.”