‘Victory begets victory’ is an English expression that is widely used, yet little understood.
In the conviction of Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the already convicted and jailed Najib Abdul Razak, who was the sixth prime minister of Malaysia, the Malaysian judiciary is beginning to show that big wigs in the upper stratosphere of Malaysian politics can and do fall.
But how did this process begin? It started from the constant clamour for “Reforms” or “Reformasi”, which finally culminated in the People’s Power of May 9, 2018, where the 61-year reign of Umno/BN was finally snapped into two.
Although the “Sheraton Move” was a big setback between Feb 23 and Feb 29, 2020, that led to the reins of power going back to the newly-formed coalition that included Umno on March 1, 2020, the legal prosecution of most of the corruption cases continued, with the exception of several discharges not amounting to acquittals (DNAA).
It was the latter that had Malaysians and the world worried that the kleptocrats would get away. They are still trying, which is why the guilty verdict pronounced on Rosmah Mansor yesterday is important in every sense of the word.
Why? While there is an ongoing campaign by Umno, the political party of Najib, to seek a full Royal Pardon, the process is likely to be futile. The very nomination for a pardon of Najib's conviction has to come from the Malaysian Prime Minister's Clemency Commission, which Ismail Sabri, has yet to activate. Forget not the more court cases that Najib has yet to complete.
What more when Najib was given the fullest legal avenues to dispute the charges? Yet he was convicted, first by the High Court, then the Court of Appeals and finally by the Federal Court, with a total of nine judges in all, who at each process, have declared Najib to be guilty as charged.
Convicted of embezzling RM42 million from SRC, a subsidiary of the equally scandal-ridden 1MDB, for which Najib's involvement has finally begun again at the High Court, soon after his incarceration in the prison of Kajang, Selangor, on Aug 23, 2022. Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison with a fine of RM210 million.
Rosmah Mansor, who likes to be referred to as the First Lady, is now out on a bail of RM2 million - which was paid four years ago when she was first charged.
Yet, if Rosmah does not appeal, which of course she would, using the same legal tactics or playbook of her husband, she would otherwise have to serve 10 years in prison in all, and pay the RM970 million fine - or, in lieu, an additional custodial sentence.
Rosmah’s lawyer Jagjit Singh criticised the fine amount as being “too high”. “ To be sure, the fine imposed is unprecedented, the largest in Malaysian legal history,” Jagjit told reporters outside court. “Now our client has to come up with nearly RM1 billion, and she doesn’t have a source of income.”
With the guilty verdicts of both the husband and wife, Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan presided over Rosmah's case. Among others, the judge ruled that the wife of Najib did have a substantial influence on "her husband's decision", with some of the ministers in Umno and elsewhere who have been charged in the heydays of the 22 months of rule by the government of Pakatan Harapan before it cracked apart due to some Members of Parliament who leapt to support Perikatan Nasional (PN), could quiver in fear.
Several legal precedents have been made in the case of Najib, and now Rosmah Mansor. Per the dynamics and mechanics of the Anglo-Saxon laws as applied in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, all parties involved directly or indirectly in corruption would have to cast away the charges that they did not have any roles, whatsoever, in each of the cases of their superiors, spouses and even their subordinates, whether there is any form of conjugal, non-conjugal or family or non-family ties. This is the seismic shift in the legal verdict on Sept 1, 2022, against Rosmah Mansor, as it was against Najib on Aug 23, 2022.
However, if Malaysians are celebrating in joy, they must not. No matter how judicious the judiciary is, it is a human institution after all. All the right honourable judges and esteemed chief justice, can never always be around forever. Those judges who will come after their tenures and lives in this earthly realm may or may not be able to exercise the same courage.
Umno trying to re-dominate the judiciary
The signs of Umno trying to re-dominate the judiciary are already clear. Azalina Othman Said, a former deputy speaker of the Parliament, herself a lawyer, who is currently both a Member of Parliament in Malaysia and concurrently the Special Advisor to the current Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, is already asking Umno to put a lease on the future attorney-general, should Umno/BN come to power.
In fact, she should have been dismissed on the spot for her statements, which imply a scheme to create a deep state that goes back to the roots of Umno, and nothing but Umno, to the degree that even all the Royal institutions in Malaysia, will be completely undermined.
Thus, the legal verdicts against Najib and Rosmah can be rightly applauded, as the judiciary - for now - has worked. Malaysians of all stripes and colours would still have to root for a political coalition or electoral pact that guarantees an independent judiciary, come the next general election - GE15 - which has to be held before the September of 2023.
Barring this choice, the only way for Umno or anyone to spring themselves from corruption is by undermining all and sundry - that includes you reading this article - that they have been perjured and wronged. No, they have not. The reforms against all rounds of corruption must continue unabated with total vigour. The solution is an all-round rejection of the kleptocrats in GE15, more than anything else.
This is because the moment Barisan Nasional (BN) makes a comeback, they will indeed do what Azalina has said and written without retracting the plan. Be that as may, Ismail Sabri, the ninth prime minister of Malaysia and a trained lawyer, has stood his ground, against all pressure from Umno/BN, in not interfering in judiciary matters and should be rightly lauded. Truth, these days, is in the eye of the beholder. - Mkini
RAIS HUSSIN is the CEO of EMIR Research, an independent 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.
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