Will Tun Dr Mahathir Be Arrested After The Sarawak Polls?

Folks 1MDB is in really deep stuff. There was a report in the Malay Mail Online this morning that 1MDB is going to default on a US$50 million bond repayment tomorrow. Then about half an hour later the Malay Mail pulled the story. Malaysiakini has run a similar story.  

The Singapore Straits Times has come up with more negative news today about 1MDB's debts.

The IGP has said that the Police are investigating four different cases against Dr Mahathir.  

This morning I heard coffee shop talk that as a result of these four Police investigations, Tun Dr Mahathir may possibly face criminal charges. 

Well even if one of the FOUR investigations "sticks" then the Police may use it to charge Dr Mahathir with something. (Otherwise why investigate FOUR different reports?)

Prior to charging him the Police may even arrest Dr Mahathir. That is what they do under criminal charges.

If such a thing happens at all, that will be a very, very sad day indeed for Malaysia.  

The Sarawak Polls are around the corner, May 7th. My guess is nothing will happen until the Sarawak Polls are over with.

I dont know what the Police are investigating. 

Tun Dr Mahathir is merely exercising his right to speak as a citizen. 

And he had been speaking within the boundaries of the law.

Dr Mahathir has said that he wants to see Najib be gone. 

Dr Mahathir has never said that this should be achieved by any means other by following the law of the land. 

Tun Dr Mahathir has spoken of a vote of no confidence in Parliament. So have other people. 

The Speaker of the Parliament has said that he will not allow any such motion in Parliament. I think that is going against the normal process of parliamentary democracy. A vote of no confidence is a simple and straight forward act in Parliament and the State Legislatures.

Parliamentarians know for example that if the annual Budget is not passed in Parliament the Prime Minister and the government must resign immediately. It is a defacto "vote of no confidence" in the government. Even the Speaker has no choice. This is part of the parliamentary process.

So calling for a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister is not a crime or a wrong process. It is definitely not a threat to parliamentary democracy. In fact it is strengthens parliamentary democracy. There is a mechanism to remove a democratically unpopular government.

However a vote of no confidence is a serious threat to the Prime Minister's personal political future. And considering the deep sh*t he is involved in over this 1MDB matter it is also a serious threat to his personal welfare. 

The Prime Minister's personal political future and his personal welfare are not subject to any immunity,  legal or otherwise. 

In Malaysia we have even removed the legal immunity of the Raja-Raja Melayu. The Prime Minister cannot be higher in legal status than the Raja-Raja Melayu.

The other point that Dr Mahathir has spoken about is mirrored in the absolute fact that two government agencies Bank Negara and the MACC have submitted investigation papers reccomending to the Attorney General to begin criminal charges also related to and around the 1MDB matter.  Most certainly the Prime Minister will also be tainted in that process. 

The fact that the AG has point blank turned down both recommendations and that Bank Negara has voiced its disagreement with the AG (and the MACC too making some sort of public statements) has raised a huge amount of doubt and more questions in the peoples' minds, which includes Dr Mahathir of course. 

The Bar Council has gone beyond that and has said that action should be taken against the AG for NOT prosecuting these cases.

The removal of Ghani Patail  as AG, the firing of the Deputy Prime Minister, the shoddy transfer and even arrest of investigators over this 1MDB issue (with all their cases subsequently thrown out by the Courts), the jailing of people who made police reports against the prime minister, blocking off websites, arresting and then deporting foreign news crews all do not add up to make the prime minister look righteous at all.

Plus it must be understood that the prime minister appears righteous only through the jurisdiction of the police powers of the State over which he holds absolute control.  Outside of these, the prime minister does not appear righteous at all. 

And outside Malaysia, his name raises quite a stink.

The "government friendly" media and the alternative media (to whom the prime minister said he has paid money) also sing his righteousness. But since they are paid (according to the prime minister and according to some of the bloggers themselves) to say the things they say,  the righteousness is of course non existent.

In a democracy there is nothing illegal or criminal in anyone voicing their doubts and demanding that the Prime Minister should resign and go or that legal action should be taken against wrongdoings.  

That is what Dr Mahathir has clearly outlined about the Citizens Declaration or Deklarasi Rakyat which has now collected 500,000 signatures. The target is 1.0 million signatures by end of the year. I think they are going to far exceed this target. 

Even if 10 million people sign the Citizen's Declaration it cannot legally make the prime minister resign. But Dr Mahathir wants to collect all the signatures and present them to the Raja-Raja Melayu and implore them to intervene in the matter, according to the law and the Constitution.

Perhaps it is hoped that the Raja-Raja Melayu will convene a special Royal Commission to inquire about this whole 1MDB mess again.  If the Raja-Raja assent to this, it must be within the law and the Constitution.  

No one is going to ask the Raja-Raja Melayu to break the Law. Dont be stupid.

In fact that is what we have been seeing in this country. It is a credit to Dr Mahathir and our elders that they have  molded a law abiding citizenry.

In Thailand they have demonstrated and protested violently in the streets for much lesser wrongs, indiscretions and bungles by the leaders. The same goes for Indonesia, India, Greece and many countries. Brazil has just begun to impeach their president.

But NOT in Malaysia. Here when we are not happy with the prime minister,  our citizens (like Dr Mahathir)  collect signatures. That is certainly not breaking the law. And we dont even know how effective that will be. But that is our style. We obey the law.   The Raja-Raja Melayu can make up their own minds entirely. Let us not presume the Raja-Raja Melayu. 

But it will cause serious embarrassment for the government. There are no laws against causing embarrasment for you, me or the prime minister. However there are very embarrassing Laws of Embarrassment.  To put it briefly, they can be quite embarrassing.  Enough to make life horribly embarrassing for the prime minister.

How will Malaysians react if Tun Dr Mahathir is arrested? I think we will collect more signatures. As I said we are a law abiding country. 

The Organisation of Islamic Countries will react very negatively. Dr Mahathir is a very highly respected figure among the Islamic countries.

The countries of Africa will also react very negatively. Tun Dr Mahathir enjoys very high regard in Africa. 

The countries of ASEAN will also be shocked.   Singapore has frozen bank accounts relating to the 1MDB fiasco.  They know who the bad guys are. 

If Tun Dr Mahathir is arrested or charged in Court, I think the entire world will be shocked. 

So the Police are investigating FOUR cases against Dr Mahathir.  And then what?