Is Najib’s apology linked to new laws about ‘house arrest’?

 

A policeman on a kapcai motorcycle once waved me to the side of the road and insisted that I had crossed double white lines at a busy junction in the centre of Ipoh. I told him there were no white lines and that I had not broken any traffic laws.

He repeatedly said “Macam mana mau settle?”, but I stood my ground, and told him that I had done nothing wrong. When I asked for his serial number and name, he backed off.

His failure to issue me with an on-the-spot fine did not stop me from writing to the police chief complaining about the policeman’s false accusation.

That traffic cop had attempted to scare me into thinking I was guilty of a traffic violation. The delay meant I missed an appointment. He had caused much inconvenience. Worse, he tried to solicit a bribe. In my letter to the Perak police chief, I included photos of the road surface to show the absence of double white lines.

Many weeks later, the police chief replied and said sorry for the “overzealous” actions of the traffic policeman. He agreed that there were no road markings, and assured me that it would not happen again; but he ended his letter with “…and don’t (you) repeat the traffic violation”.

Former prime minister Najib Razak’s apology for 1MDB sounds just as hollow and insincere as that offered by the police chief.

How dare Najib apologise and yet claim to be innocent of the 1MDB scandal. More importantly, why is he apologising only now, six years after he was first charged with seven counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and embezzlement?

Many Malaysians claim that his two years in Kajang prison may have given him ample time to reflect on his misdeeds. But the answer is probably linked to the announcement about drafting new laws pertaining to house arrest, which was quietly sneaked in during Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s tabling of the 2025 budget.

Umno will have prompted the house arrest agenda as they have always wanted Najib pardoned and released. Did DAP and Amanah or any of the Borneo parties agree?

None of Najib’s family members believe him to be guilty. They claim he was not given a fair trial.

The misappropriation of 1MDB funds was not an overnight occurrence. It took years to develop and should have been nipped in the bud. Either Najib was complicit, or too trusting of his aides, or too daft to realise that he was being manipulated and conned, or it was all of the above.

The warning signs were there. Tampering with the audit. The missed payments for some of the US$11 billion which 1MDB owed to banks and bondholders. Then came the report by the Wall Street Journal about a paper trail of US$700 million from the fund to Najib’s personal bank accounts.

In his feeble apology, Najib denied the role he had played in 1MDB, claimed that he knew nothing about the swindle of money from the sovereign fund; although he said that he had mishandled the debacle, he claimed to have been duped.

He apportioned blame on his former trusted aide, Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, and Patrick Mahoney and Tarek Obaid, two executives from Petrosaudi.

He also said that once the irregularities of 1MDB had come under public scrutiny, he had initiated various investigations but in the end, was “inclined to believe the explanations by the board and management”.

So, did he ignore the conclusions and outcome of the investigations, but only accepted what the board and management wanted him to believe? If that were the case, what is the point of conducting the many investigations as they would be a waste of time and resources?

He also claimed to have become suspicious about the activities in 1MDB, and that his immediate concerns were its financial predicaments and the risk it posed to diplomatic and bilateral relations at the highest level. And yet he failed to act.

However, our understanding of the many previous reports of 1MDB was that Najib initiated a massive cover-up. Issues related to the 1MDB scandal were so sensitive that whistleblowers were threatened, websites were blocked, journalists were harassed by the police, a former attorney-general was removed from office and  a former deputy PM was sacked.

In 2016, two journalists of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation were detained by police in Sarawak then escorted to the airport and forced to leave Sarawak for daring to question Najib about the multiple corruption scandals linked to 1MDB.

Around the world, well established banks and financial bodies were forced to close down because many had broken their own money-laundering laws.

Najib failed to act fast enough and again, his poor and weak leadership led to our tarnished reputation and a massive loss of trust in our own government and banking and financial institutions.

Najib’s apology may have been borne out of necessity to placate the public and convince naïve politicians to rally behind him in his quest of a royal pardon and release.

If Najib were to be placed under house arrest, how would the nation react? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.