One of the rather ridiculous things about Malaysian politics is that many prominent politicians have made the pardon of a convict and a criminal responsible for the loss of billions of ringgit from state development company 1MDB the centrepiece of their campaign.
They are trying to spin the tall, untrue story that former prime minister and prime mover of 1MDB Najib Abdul Razak was selectively prosecuted by the former Pakatan Harapan government and unfairly convicted even though there has been a unanimous decision by the Federal Court for one series of offences.
And there are multiple charges against Najib in ongoing court cases which are currently being heard and which involve billions of ringgit in monies received and laundered, some of it through our own banking system.
That they can actually contemplate such a thing is beyond comprehension for most ordinary, reasonable people but that they can, not only do something like this but make it one of the key points in campaigning for the elections, show how much they are out of touch with reality and how desperate they are.
That also reflects self-interest and provides an avenue for them to possibly escape charges against them for various corruption and money-laundering charges if they are able to come to power and control the apparatus for charging and prosecution in the country.
Top of the list of these people is Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, current Umno president and former deputy prime minister under Najib until Umno lost the elections to Harapan in the last general elections held in May 2018. Zahid had pushed successfully for early elections.
Infamous speech
In an infamous speech at the MIC general assembly recently, Zahid said it was vital that Umno won the elections by a huge margin but for all the wrong reasons - the survival of the leaders of Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.
He said pointedly: "Candidates from MIC, Umno, MCA and PBRS have to win in a dominant fashion. It's now or never. This election is the mother of all general elections. If we fail, our fate will be worse than the last election.
"Right now, only I will be charged, Tok Mat (Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan), you are on the waiting list, Vicky (MIC president SA Vigneswaran) don't laugh, you are also included. What more (MIC deputy president M) Saravanan?
"(MCA president Wee) Ka Siong? They won't forget you. You will be charged as well. (Defence minister) Hisham (Hishammuddin Hussein), don’t smile. To avoid this, we have to win in a dominant manner, my brothers and sisters."
The Malaysiakini article has a link to the video of Zahid’s speech saying these things, making it impossible for him to deny it, but it did not stop him from saying that his opponents were spinning his speech. Wee weakly said Zahid was only joking.
It is not so surprising that many are supporting him, for many have become corrupt and are mere thieves interested in propagating patronage, corruption and even outright theft of public money to line their own pockets.
They are not interested in helping Malays, Chinese, Indians and other Malaysians but in enriching themselves by using race, religion and language to drive a wedge between us to consolidate their hold on the rakyat and the electorate.
There is even a movement among Umno to keep the Pekan seat for Najib and for him to get the seat after a pardon is approved. Yes, pretty dangerous stuff if they are not checked in time.
Lest we forget
A reminder on what Najib has done is necessary lest we forget. 1MDB was a company set up by him and under his direct control for 1MDB was under the control of the finance minister, Najib. It was wholly owned by the Finance Minister Inc to hold assets for the government.
1MDB was a state development company supposed to bring in strategic investments for the country but nothing of note transpired. Instead, some US$4.5 billion obtained via bonds arranged primarily by Goldman Sachs was stolen through fraudulent transactions, according to the US Department of Justice which had access to the transactions and which tracked the movements of funds.
1MDB’s memorandum and articles of association required that the finance minister be informed of all 1MDB transactions of note and therefore Najib must have been aware of them, especially since many news reports have been written about them from 2013 onwards. The transactions could not have been made without Najib’s tacit approval.
For his role in all this, Najib must be charged. Billions in assets were recovered from him and his wife Rosmah Mansor and the only thing he had to offer in defence was that they were gifts. What business does he and his wife have getting gifts like this running into billions of ringgit? Were they declared in the first place?
Jho Low, Najib’s accomplice in all this, even gave a gift of a single diamond necklace worth some RM110 million (US$27 million) to Rosmah, according to numerous reports and we are supposed to believe the ludicrous notion that poor Najib was wrongly and selectively persecuted.
Anyone who wants a pardon for Najib must be insane, irrational or personally interested in a pardon for him for their own gain, explicit or implicit. How else can anyone justify the looting of billions and loss of tens of billions from state-owned 1MDB otherwise?
If looting from state coffers was considered a treasonable offence, and in some countries, it is because they endanger the financial health of the country, then Najib and his co-offenders ought to have been charged for treason as well.
The evidence indicates that Najib needs to be charged for a lot more offences than he already has been and it is the change to an Umno-led government which has put a brake on further investigations.
Just imagine what will happen if these people who want Najib to be pardoned come into power. This country will go to the dogs. Patronage, corruption and outright theft of billions will just be swept into the ocean and the same bunch will loot, rape and pillage this country to their hearts’ content.
The only way to prevent this is not to pardon those who want to pardon Najib at the polls. As Malaysians, we must stop this or face the destruction of our country. Do not vote for anyone or any party which wants a pardon for Najib. Deny them power.
That will send a strong message to all politicians to stay on the straight and narrow or be hauled into court to face the consequences. A pardon for Najib? What utter nonsense! Vote against those who want it. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM is a former editor for online and print news publications, head of equity research, and an independent writer and analyst. He wrote the first book on 1MDB.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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