KUALA LUMPUR - The mercury in Malaysia's ruling party Umno is rising, with speculation swirling its president Prime Minister Najib Razak is poised to order the arrest of deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin.
The speculation comes despite a denial from the newly-appointed deputy prime minister and home minister Zahid Hamidi.
"I have received a lot of calls from concerned people asking whether it is true that the former deputy prime minister was to be arrested. I assured them he is not. This rumour is totally nonsense. I have called the attorney-general and the inspector-general of police to verify the allegation, and they answered in the negative.
“I then called (Muhyiddin) personally at 2am (yesterday) to assure him and his wife that the police were not coming after them,” said Zahid in an interview with The Star published today.
Muhyiddin, left, and his successor Zahid
But reigniting the concerns is a statement from newly-appointed Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali that 'charge sheets' for arresting Najib over grand-scale corruption were fake.
The charge sheets, published by whistle-blower website Sarawak Report, were allegedly prepared by Gani Patail, who was sacked earlier this week along with Muhyiddin, whom Najib had stripped of his deputy prime minister's post.
Sedition Act if Najib fails to get enough numbers to sack Muhyiddin from Umno?
Apandi, who the night before professed zero knowledge of the 'fake' charge sheets, changed his tune this morning. He warned the 'forgery' was proof of a conspiracy to topple Najib, sending alarms bells down the Umno grapevine.
"Najib may have already sacked Muhyiddin as the deputy prime minister but this does not neutralize Muhyiddin's power against him. You can see the support and sympathy for Muhyiddin is growing by the day and this is scary for Najib. He has to sack Muhyiddin from Umno if he wants to cut off an internal Umno rebellion against himself. By hook or by crook, Najib will find some excuse to suspend or terminate Muhyiddin's party membership and after that his status as the deputy party president - even though elected - automatically becomes void," a Umno watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.
"The thing is, does Najib have enough numbers in Umno to pull this off. Many say the Umno supreme council is split and Najib might fail; otherwise he would not have cancelled the emergency meeting fixed for today. But now, with the Apandi accusation blowing so hot there is concern Najib might be use this to get the supreme council on his side against Muhyiddin.
"If Najib still can't get the numbers, then don't be shocked if Muhyiddin is arrested under the Sedition Act for conspiring with foreigners like Sarawak Report and members of the Opposition to topple the Najib government. The 'fake' charge sheets used as their justification.
"If Najib does this, then God save Malaysia - the act of desperation will create turmoil all over, in Umno, the Opposition, the people, the economy, the markets. Everyone will suffer."
Related Story: Click to read on charge sheets BOMBSHELL: 'Proof' Najib was to be arrested splashed online, Gani's charge sheets leaked
Mountain of evidence against Najib
Indeed, Malaysia is still in shock and Umno split down the line since Najib announced the shock sackings of Gani Patail as Attorney General and Muhyiddin Yassin as deputy Prime Minister on Tuesday.
The suddenness bolstered already swirling speculation that Najib was due to be arrested this week after a high-level special task force probing him and his 1MDB financial debacle had allegedly found a mountain of incriminating evidence.
Hence the bold move to replace Gani with someone who would toe Najib's line.
“The alleged charge sheets are not in and never reached the Attorney-General's Chambers. Furthermore, the format of the sheets is not correct or written by our Chambers,” Apandi said in a statement today.
“These alleged charge papers therefore indicate that there is a conspiracy to topple a serving prime minister by criminalising him, and that the methods include doctoring and criminal leakage.”
Pic New AG Mohamad Apandi Ali, sacked AG Gani Patail: Apandi said it would not have been possible for the charge sheets to be prepared as the special task force investigating 1MDB had yet to conclude its probe.
Private conversation
Muhyiddin and another minister Shafie Apdal, who was also sacked, have been vocal critics of the way Najib handled state-owned fund 1MDB, which faces winding-down after racking up a massive RM42 billion in debt.
Najib had failed to answer with conviction a series of corruption accusations from various sources including the Wall Street Journal, Sarawak Report, Opposition politicians as well as from members of his own Umno party such as ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad. The most recent allegation was a shock revelation by the Wall Street Journal that RM2.6 bil of 1MDB-linked money had been funneled into Najib's personal bank accounts.
On the night of his sacking, Muhyiddin was caught on video telling some of guests that Najib had admitted to him to the RM2.6 bil accusation.
Muhyiddin's private conversation with Kedah chief minister Mukhriz Mahathir and former deputy minister Kadir Sheikh Fadzir was secretly recorded and uploaded onto You Tube. The clip has gone viral.
"I asked him (Najib) from whom? He did not mention the name, from somewhere in the Middle East. How much?... Hard to count, he said 'a lot, a lot'.
"Then I asked why was it transferred to your accounts?... Why did it enter Najib Razak's accounts? How much money? US$700 million.
"If you multiply that by three point something...2.6 billion goes into his personal account. He said this, he admitted," Muhyiddin said in the leaked video.
The video ends abruptly after Muhyiddin says, "so I said why did you put into your personal account".
The video is still riveting Umno members, shocked at the audacity of their president if Muhyiddin's claim is indeed true.
"Whether it was deliberately leaked and uploaded is moot. As far as Najib is concerned, Muhyiddin is not giving up and he is posing a real danger because he does have the propensity to rally a real revolt. This video is very dangerous for Najib. It is the signal for him to act for his own survival. So watch out for the fireworks from now on," said the Umno watcher.
Does any authority dare to investigate Najib now
There is tremendous public pressure on the authorities to investigate Muhyiddin's video claim against Najib, but so far none have dared to initiate any move. The IGP has insisted he doesn't have the power to do so and only the special task force formed to probe into the 1MDB debacle could do so.
The special task force consists of the Attorney General, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Inspector General of Police. However, since Muhyiddin's sacking and the clear hostility shown by Najib towards any investigation against himself, it is unclear if the task force is still carrying on with their probe or if they would dare reveal their true findings.
Najib has also indirectly dismantled the Parliamentary Accounts Committee probe on 1MDB by appointing four of its members to join his Cabinet. This took place on the same day as the Muhyiddin and AG sackings, prompting public outrage at the PAC members for their unprincipled conduct.
"You say Malaysia is now under Najib law. Everything will be twisted and the police will arrest anyone that he wants arrested - guilty or not. And the irony is that all these people will charged for threatening democracy when the one turning Malaysia into a dictatorship is Najib.
"Of course, the markets will react, the people will react. At this point in time, Najib cannot see he is fallible but he has already signed his own political death warrant. A major rebellion against him from within Umno itself and from other citizens has begun and is gathering steam. He won't last long," said the Umno watcher. - Malaysia Chronicle
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