NAJIB GETS 11TH HOUR BOOST AS ZAHID 'JUMPS SHIP' FROM MUHYIDDIN CAMP

It looks like embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak, fighting for his political, has received an 11th hour boost from his colleague Home Minister Zahid Hamidi.

According to a political source, Zahid has 'jumped ship' from the Muhyiddin camp - a reference to the factions in the ruling Umno party that are gathering behind Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in a bid to get Najib to step down amid allegations of massive corruption and grand theft.

What was promised to Zahid for switching sides and what Zahid has promised in return is not known, but the source told Malaysia Chronicle he expects Najib and Zahid to begin arresting Opposition politicians next week in connection with the 1MDB financial debacle.

"We expect Opposition politicians like Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli to be taken in by the police. You can call it revenge arrests but it is much more insidious than that. The dragnet is to boost Najib's propaganda that the 1MDB scandal is just a conspiracy cooked up by the Opposition in cahoots with foreigners like Sarawak Report and Chinese tycoons like Tong Kooi Ong. But more urgent to Najib's survival, it is to intimidate the Big 4 into making sure their probe clears Najib of the scandal," the source said.

He was referring to the special task force formed to probe into the billions missing from the books of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which is controlled by Najib and owned by the Finance Ministry, of which Najib also heads. Najib has denied using 1MDB money for his personal gain but has not been able to deny that a staggering RM2.6 billion was funneled through various firms into his personal accounts at AmBank.

Will the Big 4 crack under pressure from Najib

The Big 4, or the 4 Tan Sris, or the 4 Stooges, as the special task force has been invariably called consists of Attorney General Gani Patail, Bank Negara governor Zeti Aziz, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Abu Kassim and Inspector General of Police Khalid Bakar.

The task force has in the past week begun arresting suspects in connection with the 1MDB probe. So far, 4 suspects have been taken in. At the same time, Zahid and the IGP have been accused of launching several 'retaliatory' measures by banning Rafizi and Tony - two of 1MDB's staunchest and most vocal critics - from travelling out of the country.

Among the Big 4, both the AG and the IGP have long track records of subservience to the powers that be. Khalid Bakar was appointed IGP under Najib's stewardship, Gani is due to retire next month.

The MACC is itself under the PM's jurisdiction and it is unlikely its chief Abu Kassim can withstand much pressure from the Najib camp.

As for Zeti, who has a strong international profile, she has vowed to investigate without fear or favor but already she has been criticized for not disclosing 1MDB's dubious transactions much earlier.

"It is up to Malaysians to show they won't tolerate the circus the Najib camp is creating. It is extremely damaging to the economy and public pressure must be applied to ensure the Big 4 won't back off from delivering an impartial probe," said the source.

"In particular, the IGP's actions must be watched for sabotage against the special task force of which he is ironically a member. If there are calls for the probe to move unimpeded, why is the IGP shouting conspiracy and delaying the process."

Fight intensifies

So far, apart from Zahid, Najib's cousin Hishammuddin Hussein, minister Shabery Cheek who is in charge of MCMC, deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan, Home minister Rahman Dahlan and ministers in the PM's Department Nancy Shukri and Shahidan Kassim are among those who have defended Najib.

Muhyiddin himself as taken care to maintain a very low profile. He has the backing of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, whom many believe has yet to reveal his strongest cards against Najib and his controversial wife Rosmah Mansor.

"The crackdown is Najib's version of Mahathir's 1987 Ops Lalang. He will try to create a climate of fear but this is 2015. How can he succeed? It is impossible - the people can read his game almost immediately via Twitter, WhatsApp and the social media. A crackdown can only help Najib to buy some time but it won't be able to save his downfall," said the source.

In a bid to show the Najib camp had the upper hand, Zahid had also suspended the popular The Edge daily and weekly business publications after the media group front-paged a story detailing how Najib's family friend Jho Low had, via 1MDB and Arab fund PetroSaudi, defrauded Malaysians of US$1.83 billion. The Edge is controlled by tycoon Tong Kooi Ong.

And just last night, Zahid also vowed to extradite Sarawak Report editor Clare Brown from the United Kingdom to face conspiracy charges in Kuala Lumpur. Zahid, who himself carries 'corruption baggage' and whose connections with international gambling kingpin Paul Phua are still being questioned, has been ridiculed for his threats against Clare.

However, Clare's whistle-blower website has been blocked by Malaysia's Internet regulator MCMC, whose chief was controversially appointed by Najib not long ago. The regulator has also threatened to close down any website that republishes Sarawak Report's content.

Final card

Despite public outrage, Najib's camp has insisted they were acting to defend 'national security' and to stop a conspiracy to overthrow the Malaysian government.

Indeed, Najib and his cohorts such as Zahid have a final card.

They are relying on the Malays - the country's main electorate and who form the core of Umno's membership - to help them to get past the 1MDB storm.

"Najib cannot climb down. If he does, jail is a certainty. He now counts on Umno's tolerance for corruption, grassroots' lack of interest in complex financial scandals, a siege mentality and fear of losing political power to the Chinese to stay ahead of Mahathir and Muhyiddin," said the source. - Malaysia Chronicle