UMNO CANNOT REMAIN IN DENIAL: MALAYSIA NEEDS A MUCH BETTER LEADER THAN NAJIB

Never before in the history of Umno, has it fissured so deep all because of haughtiness, self-centredness, untruthfulness, corruption and pitiable leadership. The people apparently are losing faith in this 74 year-old party.

To those who have been loyal to the National Front Coalition (BN) - formed in 1973 - are now seeking for alternatives. Nevertheless, some critics still insist that there is nothing wrong with the present elected government. The “delinquency” on the main involves only one person and that person has to leave the stage for Umno and BN to be voted in come the next general election. To them BN is still the best political platform for all Malaysians at the moment but let not one man make this boat go under.

To others, they remark Umno has rotten to the core. Some leaders or sycophants are sweating hard to “cover the elephant carcass with a palm leaf”. The carcass here smells of too many scandals that are afflicting some leaders and state-owned business entities under the ruling coalition. The people just cannot condone this anymore. They want a change of government at the federal level. If matters involving corruption and abuse of power were not resolved before long and the culprits punished, the next general election would see the demise of BN.

There are many serious national issues that will resonate with the electorate. Money may not buy the people’s votes at all time, as politicians cannot cash-handle all voters. The people’s anger has now come to reach the brim and it’s now squirting like hot volcanic lava.

Nation facing deficit-trust

Of late, the country perceptibly has been facing a deficit-trust all because of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB), SRC International, the RM2.6b and RM45m that went into a personal account, the MARA overseas’ property-buying scam, Tabung Haji buying over 1MDB land at an inflated price, birthday and wedding bashes, deluxe jets and many other monetary and administrative deviances.

Despite all this, the people are seeing the revel going on to pull to bits those who want to uphold truth and justice and to stop the truth from being bared. But the people are aware of these muddy manoeuvres as not many would anymore listen to sneaky propagandas over TV3 or read the Utusan Daily.

The cost of living has risen all because of the ad hoc measures taken to implement the GST and drop in value of the Malaysian currency. Prices of import goods have skyrocketed. Serious inflation has set in. There is unemployment and also many underpaid wage earners who cannot make ends meet in life.

Those receiving BR1M may not know the nation’s figures of lost that have run into millions and billions. Some are contented with the little money they receive in the form of a small bonus, one small pay increment, book vouchers and so forth. Blame them not as they are innocent people who have been lullabied by mendacious leaders. When the money they receive is all expended they will realise that their hardship remains.

To those who are aware of what’s going on in the country will see things from a different perspective. They want to see the country not mired in all the wrong doings. To save the country is their earnest wish and this can be done at the expense of one man. No leader is indispensable when it comes to the survival of a nation. An ineffective leader must leave the scene.

The nation inflicted by many scandals

Surveys have shown that majority of the people are thunderstruck by all the scams and scandals affecting the country. As alleged and reported by many sources upon investigation:

In the interest of transparency and accountability the people want all major economic issues to be resolved for the country to be financially sound. Presenting false information under the Control Exchange Act, as repetitively recommended by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the elusive characters and the key personnel in 1MDB ought to have been called by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Police and the Attorney-General (AG) and possibly charged for embezzlement and criminal breach of trust. This should include all the accessories to the crime too.

The Altantuya murder case is still shrouded in mystery and the deceased has not received any justice until now. This has depraved the image of the country.

1MDB has been a model of bad governance since the day it started. 1MDB is in debt of over RM42b. And this is guaranteed by the government. The taxpayers have to bear the debts in the “case of default”.

The people want to know what happened to the US$960 million loan from the Deutsche Bank consortium by 1MDB. This key question has never been answered. They know 1MDB borrowed US$960 million in late 2014 from Deutsche Bank but they do not know what actually happened to the funds.

The US$1 billion “investment” by 1MDB in 2009 is a ruse, it seems. And the so-called 1MDB-PetroSaudi International (PSI) “US$2.5 billion joint venture” appeared to be a scam as PSI injected no cash into the joint venture, resulting in the latter being abandoned months later.

Money diverted into other accounts

The people are aware that 1MDB redeemed US$1.22 billion in 2014, after the close of the financial year. That is US$2.18 billion. What happened then to the funds and why did 1MDB need to borrow RM 960 million from the government in early 2015?

The hasty signing in 2009 of 1MDB’s now-aborted deal with PSI had led to two board members resigning from the Finance Ministry-owned company, investigators have revealed.

Out of the US$1 billion remitted by 1MDB, US$700 million went to Good Star owned by an elusive character instead of the joint venture, as stipulated in Bank Negara’s approval letter dated Sept 29, 2009.

1MDB’S subsequent remittances of US$500 million in 2010 and US$300 million in 2011 appeared to be similarly duplicitous, as these also ended up in Good Star account. In July 2105 The Edge provided BNM all PSI documents and others in a hard-drive - seemingly was the “theft” evidence by PetroSaudi and an elusive character of US$1.83 billion dollars.

It was reported that two former 1MDB chairmen quit in protest after US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) that was meant for the 1MDB-PSI joint venture was diverted to another company without the board’s approval. The report said the board had directed that the money be returned to the JV Company “but no action was taken”.

The Edge Weekly reported that one Casey Tang, was on BNM wanted list but has now gone missing. He was a former executive director of 1MDB and was alleged to have worked with tycoon Low Taek Jho and top executives of PSI to get 1MDB to subscribe to US$500 million of murabaha notes. Allegedly, some US$260 million of this money from 1MDB was used by Low to buy UBG Bhd.

Suddenly, the PAC was stalled and PAC members were given promotion. The AG was asked to leave, honest civil servants were transferred out and some were asked to go on leave or retirement.

One man does not make a nation

The country’s reserves now have gone down to below 100 billion - a drop of almost 35 percent from 140 billion. The GDP growth according to analysts is around 3.5 percent and household debt has exceeded 85 percent. The country’s currency is now above RM4.0 to 1US dollar. Investors are leaving the country in droves, and all these tousled concerns are affecting the economy.

The Opposition is demanding that the RM2.6b and RM45m from SRC siphoned into a personal account be investigated swiftly by MACC and the Police.

This does not yet include all the corruptions, leakages, flow of illegally gained money to off-shore banks, wastages, luxurious living and spending, and so forth by those in power and their associates.

The alleged involvement of a young flamboyant billionaire and those in complicit in the 1MDB debacle has reached the rural electorate and has now become a politically sensitive issue. The Malay electorate too want to know what has happened to the TRX and Bandar Malaysia land which was originally slated for Bumiputera development.

If the laws of the country were broken, then the authorities should investigate the wrongdoers instead of castigating the whistle-blowers and the critics.

It would be boundless wealth for the nation if all these monies were retrieved or brought back to the country. The huge losses if repossessed could help build our economy and bring back the trust investors have in the country. One man does not make a nation. The people are those who make a nation. Only changes in Umno will see the party survive in the next general election.