Will Hisham and Najib part company?

It looks like the Defence Minister is moving closer to Mahathir's position.

COMMENT

Speculation is rife that Hishammuddin Hussein and Najib Abdul Razak, first cousins on their mothers’ side, are no longer on the same page in the Cabinet. This is not only with reference to the 1MDB scandal, which hangs like the carcass of the proverbial albatross around the Prime Minister’s neck, but a host of other issues which have bogged down his administration.

Former premier Mahathir Mohamad has said that Najib is no leader and not fit to be Prime Minister. Either a leadership must be effective, as in Mahathir’s case for 22 years, or the followers must be effective to make up for the leader’s failings.

Hishammuddin, who is Defence Minister and an Umno vice-president, seems to be agreeing now with Mahathir.

Along with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Hishammuddin was absent from the Cabinet meeting last Friday, during which Najib issued an ultimatum that those who were not with him on the 1MDB Roadmap – read by critics as the Save Najib Roadmap – should leave the Cabinet. Najib didn’t have an “otherwise” hint in his ultimatum, i.e. the rebels who refuse to quit would alternatively be sacked or left out in an imminent Cabinet reshuffle.

Najib didn’t mention sackings or a Cabinet reshuffle because that would split the Cabinet, the government, and Umno right down the middle. He doesn’t seem to realize that his quit demand would have the same effect.

Hishammuddin, and others too, are unlikely to take Najib’s ultimatum lying down. When push comes to shove, the reading on the way forward is clear. It does look like the cousins are on the verge of parting company.

Hishammuddin made his position clear yesterday in a Twitter message, the contents of which have reportedly been dismissed by Najib. The Prime Minister was left wondering why Hishammuddin didn’t discuss the contents of the tweet with him first instead of going public with his stand on the matter. It has been speculated that he rejected the demands in the tweet but didn’t go any further.

The tweet calls for a rationalisation plan and governance and accountability as musts in getting out of the scandal created by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a company wholly owned by Ministry of Finance and touted as a strategic investment and development company. “There must be transparency in both,” tweeted Hishammuddin.

He’s likely to win widespread public support for the position he has taken. Muhyiddin had the same response when he briefed four Umno divisions in Janda Baik not so long ago on 1MDB and demanded that the entire board be sacked and the police called in.

The issue is clear. While the Cabinet is bound by the convention of collective responsibility, i.e. swim or sink together, the fact remains that Najib has kept his colleagues in the dark on 1MDB and perhaps other matters as well.

The proof of this lies in Clause 17 in 1MDB’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, which states that the company must have the “written approval” of the Prime Minister only on any deals made by it, additions to the board or removals from it. The result: Najib saw no reason to keep his Cabinet colleagues in the loop on 1MDB.

Najib himself admitted as much to the media when he revealed that he had a heart-to-heart talk with Muhyiddin, before an Umno Supreme Council meeting, and promised to keep him in the loop in future.

Even before his tweet, Hishammuddin had outlined his position on 1MDB. Early last month, he called for a forensic audit of 1MDB by an independent international audit firm. Hishammuddin had then said that the independent forensic audit should be done on all 1MDB transactions since its inception.

He urged the Federal Government to speed up its current investigations and not merely wait for the Auditor-General to complete its work.

“In this context, I urge the Auditor-General to quickly prepare its report and present it to the Public Accounts Committee,” he said in a statement. “I propose that the 1MDB board appoint another international independent audit firm to check, verify and publicly declare all the firm’s assets and liabilities, as well as the status of its investment portfolio and current cash flow situation.”

Hishammuddin said he shared the concerns that had been raised on various allegations surrounding 1MDB, including its sale of land in the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) financial district to Tabung Haji. He said the pilgrims fund should ensure that all its deals are above board and its integrity protected.