Toppling Najib or the government?

Stephen NgPublished: Aug 1, 2015 9:15 AM | Updated: Aug 1, 2015 7:58 PM

COMMENT Since Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has openly accused Dr Mahathir Mohamad of masterminding the attempt at his downfall, the theory of conspiracy to topple the government has been parroted over and over again like a broken record.

COMMENT To urge Najib to resign has nothing to do with toppling the gov’t.

As we see it, this is nothing but a last-ditch attempt to derail the ongoing investigation into the 1MDB debacle. The people have also been asking how and why an amount equivalent to RM2.6 billion was funnelled into private accounts belonging to one Najib Abdul Razak (Dato’ Sri).

Sarawak Report had later exposed another RM2 million in cash which was banked into a private account belonging to one Rosmah Binti Mansor (Datin Sri) by a close associate, Roslan Sohari, who initially denied he ever knew the couple, but subsequently, his identity was exposed by Malaysiakini .

Both Najib and Rosmah have not denied the allegations against them. The evidences provided by the owner of Sarawak Report , Claire Rewcastle-Brown, have also not been debunked.

We were told that that the authorities knew about the bank transaction involving Rosmah’s account, yet action has not been taken against the parties concerned. Now, we are told that Najib’s critics are involved in a political conspiracy to topple the government.

Topple with what?

This is what is worrying the people. No one from either the opposition or civil society has the capacity to topple the government since we do not have access to weapons; neither do we control the police or the military. At best, we are just some ordinary citizens who watch with concern for our future and the future of our younger generations.

So, what is the fear that Najib or his men have of ordinary Malaysians whose only ‘weapon’ will be the ballot paper? The Bersih movement, for example, has held three major rallies, but at any point, did the movement succeed in toppling the government of the day?

Instead, we were all being fired upon by our government with chemical-laced water. Is this what ‘toppling the government’ is all about? I doubt if the on-coming Bersih 4 will see anything drastically different from previous rallies, except that more people will come forward to show their solidarity.

Whether the rally is on or not, it no longer matters as many more people are beginning to wake up to the grim reality of living in a country where its wealth is continuously being plundered.

Najib and the ruling coalition, in particular Umno, should stop having a siege mentality. Instead, the police should focus more of its energy on the militants who are a far bigger threat to national security than someone like former Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan or constitutional expert Aziz Bari.

Thankful for the exposes

For many years, Malaysians have talked about corruption and financial scandals, but in most cases, never has so much information leaked out to the Malaysian public as on 1MDB.

The Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), for example, involved RM12.5 billion. It was considered a mother of all scandals by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.

The case was set aside after former transport minister Ong Tee Keat was asked to hand over the investigation to former chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan. The next thing we heard about it was that the attorney-general decided not to appeal, despite the huge amount of money involved.

Now, 1MDB involves nearly three times the amount of PKFZ, yet the answers are not forthcoming from the prime minister himself. For this reason, people are turning their backs on Umno and Barisan Nasional and looking at various sources of news.

Najib cannot blame others when he apparently has some things to hide, as the Johor crown prince had cleverly put it. Even Najib’s own younger brother Nazir is talking about the ‘political dark times.’ Does that make Nazir also a betrayer of his own brother? I doubt so!

It has nothing to do with Malaysians working hand in glove, trying to topple the government. Even visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron is reported by The Telegraph to have urged Najib to clean up his own government. Does it make him to be another collaborator to the grand conspiracy to topple Najib?

What’s wrong with meeting Justo?

At one point, even inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar was harping on the opposition politician and media owner who had met with former PetroSaudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo.

All fingers were pointed at Tony Pua, but till today, neither Khalid nor his accusers are able to dispute Pua’s passport which showed that he had only been to Singapore once after The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ) report.

The Edge owner Tong Kooi Ong has given a sterling reply and stated how he had obtained the untampered information from Justo, without even paying a single sen.

However, what surprises me is that Khalid did not even mention who the opposition leader was and why it seemed as though there is a big issue involved when the person met with Justo ( photo ). Was there an attempt to also link that to the one big conspiracy to topple Najib and the government?

Khalid never mentioned about another man linked to Najib’s own party that had also met with Justo. Why aren’t the authorities also investigating into the reason why this man had met with Justo? Was he trying to make a counter-offer to Justo against what Tong had initially promised to pay? Is this something we have not been told?

Both international media and Sarawak Report have also been accused of lending a helping hand to this whole ‘conspiracy’ theory mooted by Najib and parroted again and again by others who are aligned to him.

Tell us the full story or resign graciously

The truth is that we want Najib to tell us what happened to the RM42 billion in 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion that allegedly went into his personal accounts.

Giving vague answers and avoiding the issues would not help. Even Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low, who promised he would ‘protect’ the task force, is nothing but laughable in the eyes of most Malaysians.

What transparency is Low talking about when the attorney-general was replaced overnight without even his knowledge? Low cannot think that Malaysians have such low IQ to believe him. Even Tee Keat could not carry on with his investigation into the PKFZ scandal, who does Low think he is?

Attempts to derail the investigation and the use of iron fist would only raise further suspicions about Najib’s integrity as the sitting prime minister who has nothing to hide.

Even attempts by the parliament speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia ( photo ) to call off the public account committee (PAC) investigation does not help Najib or his team. People are now asking if Pandikar is keeping to his word to bring reform to the August House, or was he complaining just because of the makeshift toilet?

My best of suggestions is for Najib to go on leave and allow the team to probe the 1MDB scandal, while at the same time, a royal commission of inquiry be put in place to get to the bottom of things.

If found to be in the wrong, Najib has to be a man like the brave Bugis warrior, and admit it. The country cannot go on the way it is now because of only one man. It is damaging to both Umno and the ruling coalition, besides also affecting the country’s international image.

If the WSJ had not exposed this, and the documents not provided by Justo to both The Edge and Sarawak Report , not many of us would have stepped up our urging to Najib to either tell us the truth, or step down graciously so that others can lead the country. We have Justo, WSJ and Sarawak Report to thank for their willingness to ‘go the extra mile’.

To urge Najib to resign graciously has nothing to do with toppling the government. Najib is not the entire government. Prime ministers can come and go, but life goes on. No one, including Dr Mahathir, can be prime minister for life.

In the past, civil society has always urged ministers who were involved in other scandals to resign. So, what’s so different with Najib? Without Najib, the government will still go on.

In fact, we cannot allow someone in such a senior position to remain at the helm of the government if he is incapable of telling the truth to the other lawmakers, as we would not like to be known to the international community as a rogue nation.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

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