After Najib's verdict, fight against corruption just beginning

There are two forms of guilt. One in the court of law, the other in the court of public opinion. The highest court of the land, the Federal Court, has reinforced former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s guilty verdict, as what has been delivered by two lower courts, finally closing the SRC International case.

Justice has finally been served to Najib, who has been attempting to evade conviction since the day he lost the reins of office as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia on May 9, 2018.

That said, “Desire, desires, desires”. Najib longs to return to power to liberate himself from the 12-year jail term and fine of RM210 million over the SRC case, with four other cases still pending not including his wife Rosmah Mansor’s, which will come to a head next month.

In the fight to end corruption, which brought down Sri Lanka, the court of public opinion must know that those found guilty of graft will undoubtedly spend their vast, ill-gotten, and hidden wealth to conduct a sustained but stealthy public relations campaign to maintain their innocence.

The scholar Muhammad Kamal Hassan hit the nail on the nail when writing on corruption and hypocrisy, that those in the thick of it, like Najib, will continue to claim to be victims of political persecution.

To a degree, some Malaysians and non-Malaysians will fall for the bait set by Najib and those who follow him and believe that they were innocent of the crimes for which they have been charged or found guilty. In that case, this long, drawn-out courtroom drama will not give Malaysia a clean slate to begin anew.

Already preparing for revival

The wheels of justice must not only work but must also be seen to work. Only then, will endemic corruption in Malaysia be addressed and the true meaning of freedom, independence, and rule of law be restored.

The fact that Najib was willing to take the sumpah laknat mere days before his guilty verdict was handed down was a testament to the extent to which he and his henchmen in and outside of Umno were willing to go to abuse the tenet of Islamic laws.

In Islamic jurisprudence, there are no precedents where a person could take an oath to disclaim one’s guilt. This is why in Islamic Law, all due diligence must be performed to ensure that the person is not wrongly accused, or fitnah (malicious libel).

In order to retain his family’s seat of power in Pahang, Najib has long begun to hone his son to succeed him as Pekan MP in the event that he is stripped of all eligibility.

This, again, is an attempt to retain his grip on the establishment, no matter how tenuous it can be, to use his son’s potential position in the parliamentary system to make various tactical manoeuvres that can cleanse his guilt and that of others who had been associated and to stay within an earshot of getting a Royal Pardon one day.

The royal institutions of Malaysia are the “guardians” of the sanctity of Islam to say the least, but neither Najib nor Umno are beneath using God for their own gains, nor would they shy away from manipulating all levers of power to absolve themselves.

Thus the royal institutions of Malaysia, including the army, police, and the Islamic institutions that come under the chain of command of the Malay rulers should be forewarned of the upcoming shenanigans of Umno.

Therein comes again the importance of the court of public opinion, both in Malaysia and abroad. No one, especially any permanent members of the United Nations Security Council or Asean member states should be manipulated by Najib or his hired guns into believing he is not as guilty as sin.

The grave consequences of corruption

One must bear in mind that Najib, his wife Rosmah, and others have been given the fullest leeway since day one, with some witnesses still at large.

As things stand, Najib should not be spared the derision that comes with a guilty verdict either. Corruption is the cancer of the nation, a remark oft quoted by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. All students and civil servants in Malaysia should be warned of the heinous crime of corruption and its grave consequences, in this temporal world and the eternal hereafter.

Corruption is not something to be fiddled with. It can consume a whole nation and the whole world. Malaysians who fought for reforms, especially the likes of Pakatan Harapan, have reason to rejoice. But a wounded animal is the most dangerous when he is cornered.

Whether Najib and his collaborators will all be in prison, the key is that the likes of them have tasted power for some 61 years prior to their fall. They will find a way to strike back in the years to come.

The style of their politics will not favour reforms as advocated by Harapan. Rather, they will adopt a heinous and adversarial style of politics and electioneering to defend themselves - even when they are clearly in contravention of laws and moral decency.

For now, this guilty verdict is just the tip of a very large iceberg. This is just the beginning as the fight against corruption is a very long and arduous journey, particularly when corruption has become a way of life here. - Mkini

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RAIS HUSSIN is president and CEO at Emir Research, a think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.