Seriously, what other options does Najib have?

Najib Abdul Razak has only two choices - either he sues Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which again is highly unlikely, or he should step down as the country’s disgraced prime minister.

There are not too many choices available for the scandal-plagued prime minister. The third choice will only lead to more exposès, especially by foreign journalists who will have no qualms to expose every scandal that comes to their knowledge.

I suspect after the Wall Street Journal broke the news, more international media channels are jumping onto the bandwagon to look for more earth shattering news, as if to demonise Najib and the country. It is sad, but unavoidable, if things continue the way it is going.

For example, another video clip has also appeared on YouTube on March 27 which came on 60 Minutes Australia, an hour-long investigative news channel on Nine Network every Sunday, titled ‘Dirty Secret’.

If anything, it would be hard for Najib to hang on to his office, although his apple-polishers may continue to speak up on his behalf. There is really nothing new, but most people will be able to find the news in the public domain. There is even enough for someone to create a movie with it.

Landscape is changing

After the damning report by ABC Four Corners reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu last night, all the pieces are now starting coming together for most ill-informed Malaysians as social media went abuzz within hours after the report appeared on the Australian TV channel at 8pm Australian time.

Even Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem can no longer claim ignorance about 1MDB, especially when Sarawakians even in the rural areas are now watching the ABC documentary. It has yet to be seen if they would vote for the opposition in order to express their displeasure.

From my assessment, the ABC Four Corners documentary is, in fact, the most comprehensive documentary to be produced by a foreign journalist about a Malaysian prime minister, covering both the vast amount of money that went into Najib’s personal accounts and the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006. It covers nearly every episode that can be related back to Najib.

To think that this has all happened within just 10 years clearly shows that, although Malaysians are generally passive and to some extent tolerant, things may not be the same now especially they are confronted with more exposès.

In fact, the political landscape has started shifting ground, since former Umno minister Zaid Ibrahim mooted the Citizens’ Declaration, featuring among others former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and politicians from both former members of the Barisan Nasional government and the opposition, as well as civil society.

To most Malaysians who have waited for change to happen, this is not only another signature campaign. It is historic in that Malaysians were willing to unite with one objective - to remove Najib from his office.

Even former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin could not imagine that he would one day sit beside DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang. And Dr Mahathir is being accused by Umno-linked bloggers that he is now a puppet-on-a-string under the control of the DAP’s Lim.

Honestly, how many people would believe that the man who is well-known for his Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ style of leadership, would now be a DAP stooge?

My reading into the news and social media is that many Malaysians have been rudely awakened by the jigsaw puzzles that Besser and Eroglu have managed to put together into one big picture, and they are now waiting for one opportune time to push for reforms.

Although Najib had the opportunity to explain his position to Besser, he simply blew it - and to make matters worse, both Besser and Eroglu were arrested, which was unprecedented. This happened at a time when Sarawak is due for its state elections.

Locals in Sarawak have informed me that they expect Adenan to win the state election, but with more seats now sliding towards the opposition. The immigration restrictions experienced by opposition leaders from the peninsula and a delay in the dissolution of the state assembly clearly show that Adenan does not have much confidence himself of a big win.

If Najib stayed on...

The other option of Najib remaining in office will only mean that Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) will see the people’s support eroding fast, and the coalition become increasingly isolated from mainstream Malaysians who want Najib to resign.

More people will begin to shun him. The people will lose confidence in the government that he is leading, unless he is able to prove beyond doubt that he was indeed innocent in both major allegations mentioned in ABC Four Corners. The ball is in Najib’s court, but will he play a good game?

Until this juncture, Najib has not been forthcoming with his own defence; instead, he merely outsourced it to some paid blogger and the same people within his party who appear to be defending the indefensible.

As the country’s economy takes the beating, the Damocles’ sword is hanging above Najib’s head. The Goods and Services Taxes (GST) has placed a huge millstone on every middle-income to low income earner, while prices of goods continue to go up.

While efforts are now being made to get the support of Umno grassroots, it is the citizens of this country that Najib will have difficulties trying to convince. Najib is not only Umno president, he is supposed to lead the country.

Hard to convince, because it is not only a case of willing-buyer-willing-seller involving perhaps, a few million ringgit, but according to WSJ, the amount that has been traced to Najib’s personal accounts is about US$1 billion, more than US$681 million, the amount originally reported by WSJ.

Even Dr Mahathir agreed that the amount far exceeded what a leader of the country could have in his personal accounts, and together with two other former Umno leaders, Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Anina Saadudin, they are testing the judiciary system to sue Najib for RM2.6 billion.

Najib’s younger brother Nazir Razak, who is also CIMB chairperson, said the 1MDB scandal should never be allowed to repeat itself. Nazir, too, urged that action be taken against those responsible. 1MDB’s president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy has also expressed how difficult it is to convince the people to believe in his story.

Now, what if Najib decides to stay on for another year, another five or even 10 years? My answer is simple - currently, the money trail involving 1MDB is being investigated in at least four countries from the United States of America to Switzerland and Hong Kong and also across the border to the island republic of Singapore.

It does not take much, but the moment any of these federal investigative bodies issue a warrant of arrest through Interpol, showing evidence in the wrong by any party, the whole country would know about it.

The man who created 1MDB, Najib himself and his associate, flamboyant Malaysian tycoon Low Taek Jho, would have to bear the consequences. That, I guess is what every Malaysian is looking forward to, to end the sad 1MDB episode in the history of this nation.

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008. -Mkini