I AM NO MORON, SAYS KADIR JASIN

Mahathir, as usual, refused to listen to advice and wanted it done his way. But his way was not workable and was wrought with danger of leaks. But it has to be his way or no way. So Kadir had not choice but to comply. And as Kadir had warned, the press conference had to be aborted due to a pre-emptive strike of Khairul’s police report.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s media coordinator, Kadir Jasin, is upset that he has been called a moron. This was triggered by the blunder on 26th July 2016 when two press conferences were supposed to have been held back-to-back, one in Malaysia at 10.00pm followed by another in Jakarta two hours later at midnight Malaysian time.

In the Malaysian press conference, outgoing Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Abu Kassim Mohamed, former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, and former Bank Negara governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, were supposed to respond to the 20th July 2016 announcement by the US Justice Department and the US Attorney General regarding the planned confiscation of about US$ 1 billion in assets said to be owned by 1MDB.

The plan was for the three Tan Sri to hold their press conference during Abu Kassim’s farewell dinner. Someone would video-record this event and then rush the recording to all the main media agencies. At 11.00pm, the media would carry this news and then, an hour later, Mahathir would also hold his press conference with the international media in Jakarta to respond to the press conference of the three Tan Sri.

It was supposed to have been military-like precision. 10.00pm, 11.00pm and midnight — and the deed would be done. But then it is not as easy and straightforward as Mahathir thinks. Mahathir asked Tun Daim Zainuddin to handle this and to not tell anyone else about the plan. But then Daim would not know where to start so he gave the job to Kadir, who has more experience in such matters and has better contacts with the media.

Kadir said it was an impossible deadline. You need at least a day ahead to coordinate things with the media. You also need to tell them what the issue is all about and book the news slot. You cannot just deliver a ‘mystery’ video a few minutes before 11.00pm and expect the media to include it in the 11.00pm news.

Kadir suggested that the three Tan Sri do their press conference first at 10.00pm and Mahathir follows up with his press conference the following day. That would be ample time to get everything done right. But Mahathir would hear none of that. He wanted his 10.00pm-11.00pm-midnight timetable strictly adhered to.

Basically, Mahathir wanted everything done the same evening just hours apart as he felt that would achieve the most impact. Somehow Mahathir felt that this way it would look more genuine and less scripted or fabricated. Mahathir was a bit paranoid about the credibility of those two press conferences if done a day apart.

So Kadir had no choice but to pre-book the 11.00pm 26th July 2016 news slot. And to do that you need to arrange it a day earlier. You can’t do that an hour before or just as the 10.00pm press conference was underway. And you also need to inform the media what the press conference was going to be about to interest them. Or else they will wait for the recording first before deciding whether it was news worthy enough to carry in the 11.00pm news.

These are the intricacies that Kadir knows but which Mahathir does not. And Kadir knew that his plan was workable while Mahathir’s was not. Hence he resents being called a moron for allegedly messing everything up when the real reason for the mess is that Mahathir would not listen to advice from people who know the business better.

To be able to comply with Mahathir’s tight deadline, Kadir had no choice but to pre-book the 11.00pm news slot one day ahead. And this means there would no longer be any secrets because the agenda of the press conference also needs to be revealed to interest the media. If not they would not give you that news slot.

Had Mahathir listened to Kadir then the fiasco would not have occurred. Now, with the early warning, the cat was let out of the bag. And Kadir suspected this would happen and he had warned Daim about it. Based on Kadir’s plan, even if the whole thing was leaked the damage would not have been too great and it would not have jeopardised the press conference.

Once word spread that a press conference was going to be held the evening of 26th July, and once it was revealed that it was regarding the 20th July announcement by the US, it was not that difficult and it did not take long for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s Boffin Boys to triangulate things and smell the danger and figure out what was going on.

Meanwhile Abu Kassim and Zeti were caught in the middle. When Khairul Azwan Harun made that police report against the three Tan Sri around lunchtime the same day of that planned press conference, Gani’s first reaction when the press asked for his comment is that this was just political grandstanding.

When the press asked Abu Kassim and Zeti they said they would not respond to any questions unless they first seek legal counsel. That was exactly a week ago on 26th July 2016.

It is now a week since they obtained legal counsel but they have still not said anything. So what did their counsel advice them, to sue Khairul or just remain silent and say nothing?

My deep throat tells me that Abu Kassim met his counsel at least eight times while Zeti met hers no less than five times. After seven days and so many meetings surely they would have come to some sort of decision by now.

These allegations are serious. We are talking about espionage and treason. And yet they choose to remain silent and not respond to the allegations or even sue Khairul. And is this not precisely what they are accusing Najib of doing?

From the looks of it they do not intend to sue because by doing so a lot is going to be revealed in court. Hence to sue would mean they would be digging their own graves. They would need to prove that Khairul lied and that would be impossible if you are guilty as hell and did do what you have been alleged to have done.

Never forget the adage that when you dig the grave of your adversary you run the risk of falling into that grave yourself. Another adage is that the master may forget the trap but the trap never forgets the master. And the question would be on whose side are we seeing divine intervention?