When the prime minister criticised those who took him to task for accepting Najib Abdul Razak’s apology with no acknowledgement of guilt, he used a term which I have not known him to use before, “father of the nation”, when referring to himself.
“When someone tenders an apology, don’t tell me I should reject it? What sort of behaviour is this? I’m the prime minister… ‘father of the nation’… when someone apologises, what else should I say? So, I just said I welcome it,” Berita Harian reported Anwar Ibrahim as saying two days ago.
That hits at the heart of the leadership crisis the country faces today, the origins of which go back to the formation of Umno in 1946 and was demonstrated from the time of independence in 1957, over and over again.
This is the feudal and patriarchal attitude that has shaped Malaysia’s policies over the years, with one man’s vision for the nation at each change of leadership overtaking everything else in the belief that the “father” knows best what the nation needs.
In one fell swoop, that continuing Umno legacy renders all our ideas as Malaysians for the progress of the country, unity, economy, and 101 other things meaningless in the eyes of those at the apex who believe they know everything when they have nothing much else but political cunning.
Every leader of our country had his roots in Umno and, therefore, will carry that lineage to his grave no matter what he went through and what he has experienced since. Power is his prerogative, and he will wield it any way he wants to keep it.
Everything is centred around maintaining that power, and all else is relegated to second place, with this overwhelming, consuming desire to stay in power no matter what. Even if it means putting the biggest thief the country and the world has ever known in the comfort of his own home to serve out his sentence.
Fooling no one
It’s been outlined many times what these measures he is taking are and the signs that point to them. For readers who want to know what they are, I refer to my previous article titled “Why Najib remains culpable for 1MDB despite apology.”
The thing is, these leaders of the Umno-mould don’t seem to realise what is staring them in their face - that the public is no longer deceived by such tomfoolery. They can see what is happening, they opened their eyes a long time ago.
Anwar is cosying up to an Umno whose leadership under Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, already tainted with corruption charges, wants a pardon, failing which a house arrest, for Najib for purely selfish reasons. Because many of them are tainted already.
That the Malays rejected both Umno and PKR, with the main gainer being PAS in alliance with Bersatu, should be a sufficient indication that they are not going to win this game. The public is tired of the back-bending for Najib.
If, for some reason, this sinister scheme to get Najib under house arrest or, worse, a pardon succeeds, the self-proclaimed “father of the nation” needs to think about the consequences for the country.
What kind of precedent are we setting when a person responsible for the biggest heist and financial damage the country has ever seen, probably the largest in the world, gets to spend his time in the luxury of his own palatial home?
Would that not encourage a whole lot of people to engage in corruption of the vilest kind when their own top leaders got away with it, Najib with a house arrest/pardon and Zahid with his DNAA (discharge not amounting to an acquittal)?
Does that not imply that not only is justice scuttled through an extrajudicial process sanctioned, aided, and abetted by the government, but the entire process of prosecution and bringing criminals before the court is jettisoned in the name of political expediency?
And why does Anwar perpetuate the fallacy that “If it involves the court, then let the court decide? If it’s about the Pardons Board, then it will be the Agong”?
The Pardons Board recommends to the Agong. There is a legal opinion that the Agong does not have complete discretion. Here is one titled: “Is the King’s power to grant a pardon, ‘personal’ and ‘absolute’?”
Giving Umno everything, getting nothing back
The thing is, if Anwar takes this most perfidious of routes because he thinks it will get him Malay support, he is wrong.
Just look at the last two general election results, the Malays rejected Umno - twice. In the last elections, they got a mere 26 seats, excluding other BN partners. That’s a pathetic result and Umno’s worst-ever performance.
When this Madani coalition continues to give Umno everything it wants, including a house arrest or pardon for a person who facilitated the crime of the century, the Malay population will be driven into the arms of PAS.
Even the non-Malays will wonder if they should continue to support Pakatan Harapan anymore.
And he should not be taken up by shallow arguments that others were responsible and some have plundered even more than that. Take them all to court by all means and have them prosecuted, but don’t let this giant of a fish leap out of the net and into the arms of comfort in a luxury house where all and sundry can visit him.
The efforts of forgiveness by the father of this prodigal son demonstrate extreme prejudice, which will only bring grief to the rest of his huge family of 34 million people.
We don’t need a father, we need a leader who has the courage of his oft-stated convictions to do what is right by the majority of Malaysians. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM is terribly appalled by all the machinations made entirely for the benefit of one crook.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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