SHAKEN MAHATHIR CONFESSES GUILT TO CLARE BROWN

The irony about this whole thing is when Mahathir first met Clare in 2015 it was to plan how to put Najib in jail. This time it is to discuss how to keep Mahathir out of jail. How the table has turned and the hunter has become the hunted. And Mahathir knows that not being convicted is not an option. The only option is how to make sure that his jail term is spent under house arrest.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

While most Malaysians were eating rendang and ketupat last weekend, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in London with his entire family, grandchildren included. Malaysia was getting too hot (metaphorically-speaking) so Mahathir needed to cool down a bit. Unfortunately, though, UK was experiencing a heatwave (literally-speaking) and this month was the hottest June in 40 years.

For the first time in a very long time Mahathir took a commercial flight to the UK and did not fly in his private jet because it is imperative he creates an impression he is not rich: so how could he have stolen RM30 billion of Bank Negara’s or the Rakyat’s money?

Anyway, Mahathir’s trip to the UK was more than just the need to get away from the heat in Malaysia or to cool down. It was also to meet Clare Rewcastle Brown of Sarawak Report. Mahathir suspects that the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Bank Negara Malaysia’s US$10 billion forex losses is not going to turn out well for him.

And this is why Lim Kit Siang wants the investigation and subsequent report by the Special Task Force to be made public. Kit Siang and Mahathir have discussed this — in this matter Kit Siang and Mahathir are like Siamese Twins so if one dies the other dies as well. Kit Siang needs to know what is going to happen so that he can figure out what they need to do to save Mahathir (which means saving Kit Siang and Pakatan Harapan as well).

Mahathir knows he has committed a crime and he also knows that this time he is not going to escape that easily like in the many cases before this. He cannot say he has forgotten the details, or that nothing has been proven, or that there is no evidence of any crime, or that losing money is ‘normal’ in business, etc., like how he had responded many times in the past.

This time there is evidence. Bank Negara did lose US$10 billion and there are documents and testimonies of ex-Bank Negara senior officers to prove this. So there is no doubt about that. And what is even more disturbing is that not all the US$10 billion was lost gambling. Some of it was syphoned out and disguised as forex losses.

READ MORE HERE: Mahathir and Daim lied about the forex losses

Then there are the Cabinet papers that prove the Cabinet was informed that the loss was just RM5.7 billion when actually it was RM30 billion. On top of that, they told the Cabinet that the loss was only ‘deferred expenditure’ and ‘unrealised losses’.  Although the Cabinet papers are classified, the RCI has the power to obtain any document or file that it needs even how highly classified they may be.

So that is the second crime they committed.

Mahathir met Clare to discuss their strategy in ensuring that Mahathir does not get sent to jail and at worst suffers house arrest

Further to that, they lied to Parliament. In 1993 they told Parliament that the story about Bank Negara losing a lot of money gambling on the forex market is a lie and mere opposition propaganda. In 1994 they told Parliament that Bank Negara had, indeed, lost some money gambling on the forex market but it was just a small loss and a paper loss on top of that. So no money was actually paid out.

And that constitutes the third crime.

One crime in itself is a very serious crime but all three combined means they are going to throw the book at Mahathir and probably sentence him to 44 years in jail like what happened to ex-Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt (whose 38 underlings received jail sentences of between 20 years to more than 100 years per person).

READ MORE HERE: Mahathir’s money-laundering operation

Mahathir knows he has lost and the hunter is now the hunted so it is a matter of time for the axe to fall

And this is what troubles Mahathir. He swore that he was going all out to topple Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and is not going to rest until Najib has been kicked out. This was a fight to the death with only one person walking away and the other carried away in a coffin. That is what Mahathir declared so that is what is going to happen.

Of course, when Mahathir said that in early 2015 he thought that Najib would be history by July — and then October and then December. But that is more than two years ago and even Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan have grudgingly admitted that Najib has become stronger since two years ago rather than weaker.

Mahathir made his bed so he must now lie in it. And this has frightened Mahathir. Mahathir’s son, Mokhzani, spoke to one of Najib’s Boffin Boys to ask whether they are serious about putting the old man in jail. Mokhzani said the family has been discussing this and is very worried. They feel Mahathir has gone beyond the point of no return and there is no longer any turning back. But they do not want Mahathir to end up in jail as the old man would never be able to endure that and would probably die.

Mahathir spent Hari Raya in the UK with his entire family in what may be his last Hari Raya as a free man

Mahathir knows that this time he is going to meet his end. The writings are already on the wall. The long arm of the law is creeping up on him and his last tango is inevitable. There is no longer any question of if but when. And Mahathir knows he will not be the only victim. In such a situation your entire family takes the fall together with you.

And this is what Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Ali is most concerned about. Her husband is already about to expire so the end is not long in coming anyway. It is merely the manner of his departure. But her children and grandchildren still have a long way to go and they are more dear to her than her own life. So while Siti Hasmah can endure the fate that is about to befall her husband, she just cannot reconcile to the reality that her entire family is going to go down with the ship.

Well, that is what happens when you play with fire: you get burned. Siti Hasmah should have checked her husband at the early stage and before Mahathir crossed the Rubicon. Once your cross the Rubicon you either win or die. Those are the only two options open to you.

Mokhzani spoke to one of Najib’s Boffin Boys to ask whether they are going to send Mahathir to jail and revealed that the family is very worried

That was why Mahathir came out with his blog posting yesterday saying that Najib is going to arrest the opposition leaders just before the next general election. Mahathir is expecting the general election around the first quarter of next year, after the RCI completes its investigation and report regarding Bank Negara’s US$10 billion forex loss.

Mahathir already knows what that report is going to say. So he knows he is a dead man walking. Hence he wants to preempt his imminent arrest by saying that Najib is going to arrest the opposition leaders before the next general election. Then, when they do arrest him, he can say he had already warned that this was going to happen months ago and that his arrest is politically-motivated.

Mahathir will do what Anwar Ibrahim did and is still doing. Anwar claims he is a victim of political persecution and has been declared a Prisoner of Conscience by the west. Mahathir, too, will say he is a victim of political persecution and he hopes the west will also declare him a Prisoner of Conscience.

And that was why he spent Hari Raya in London. He wanted to discuss with Clare how Sarawak Report can help play up this issue. If it came from the west then it would carry more weight because white people are noble, sincere, honest, not self-interested, do not do things for money, etc.

Furthermore, Sarawak Report has been very successful in convincing naïve Malaysians that Najib stole RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money. So, if Sarawak Report can do that, then it can do anything: such as convince Malaysians that Mahathir did not steal RM30 billion of Bank Negara’s money and that the allegation is a lie and that he is a victim of political persecution.

This is what would be called ‘mission impossible’ and Mahathir wants Clare to take on this assignment. And to ‘clear his name’, Mahathir is prepared to spend RM50 million, which is cheap to stay out of jail.

Siti Hasmah’s main concern is: what is going to happen to their children once Mahathir is stuffed in jail?

Mahathir’s blog posting yesterday was actually Clare’s idea. She told Mahathir he must start talking about the so-called arrests of opposition leaders before the next general election — and he must say this not once but many times — so that by next year when they do arrest him most people will say it was expected, it is politically-motivated, and Mahathir had already warned them long ago it was going to happen.

The next thing is, even if Mahathir is charged, and found guilty, he has to make sure he stays out of jail and at worst suffer house arrest. So Mahathir has to start playing up his health issue. So, when they do finally find him guilty, he would be seen as too sick to be put in jail and if they do send him to jail he will die. So, on compassionate grounds, he has to just be put under house arrest.

The irony about this whole thing is when Mahathir first met Clare in 2015 it was to plan how to put Najib in jail. This time it is to discuss how to keep Mahathir out of jail. How the table has turned and the hunter has become the hunted. And Mahathir knows that not being convicted is not an option. The only option is how to make sure that his jail term is spent under house arrest.

Clare told Mahathir that they do have one last option. Considering the hundreds of millions that Mahathir has in the UK, he can apply to remain in the UK as an ‘investor’. Malaysia and the UK do not have any extradition treaty. Hence Malaysia cannot touch Mahathir and he can spend the rest of his days in ‘exile’ in the UK and enjoy his money and time with his family.