Why the marriage of convenience with Mahathir will not work

By MT Webmaster Last updated Mar 15, 2016

So, 2006 compared to 2016, history repeating itself, but not quite 100%. The 1% difference is that the Prime Minister in 2006 was scared while the Prime Minister in 2016 is not. The Prime Minister in 2006 feared Dr Mahathir and the Special Branch and the MACC that was working for him while the Prime Minister in 2016 does not fear Dr Mahathir and the Special Branch and the MACC that is working for him.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

We have been down this road before, ten years ago to be precise. It was on the 24th of June 2006 that the ‘movement’ to oust Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was launched.

Under the patronage of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, bloggers and NGOs from both sides of the political divide united. Even politicians from Umno, PAS, DAP and PKR attended the launch at the Kelab Century Paradise on that 24th of June 2006.

That 24th June 2006 movement had only one objective in mind: to topple the Prime Minister. What happens after that is not important. Once we successfully topple the Prime Minister we can go back to being enemies again. And whom we want as the new Prime Minister once Tun Abdullah is toppled need not be discussed. We will sort that out later and maybe even fight it out after Tun Abdullah is ousted.

Some wanted Najib Tun Razak as the new Prime Minister. Some wanted Anwar Ibrahim. Some wanted Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Some wanted Muhyiddin Yassin. In short, there was no unanimous choice for the new Prime Minster to replace Tun Abdullah once he is ousted.

So, in anticipation of Tun Abdullah’s eventual exit, we started preparing ‘our candidate’ to take over. Dr Mahathir initially wanted Najib but some of us wanted Tengku Razaleigh. We did not think that Anwar and Muhyiddin had a chance so it was narrowed down to just Najib and Tengku Razaleigh.

It was actually a tie between Najib and Tengku Razaleigh and Dr Mahathir seemed (later) to favour Tengku Razaleigh more than Najib. At least this was the signal that Dr Mahathir sent us. But then, after the March 2008 general election, Dr Mahathir did a u-turn. He suddenly favoured Najib over Tengku Razaleigh.

Or maybe Dr Mahathir wanted Najib all along and just pretended he favoured Tengku Razaleigh over Najib to get us pro-Razaleigh people to support him and work with him. This is what a Machiavellian politician would do and Dr Mahathir is certainly Machiavellian.

And this was when Tengku Razaleigh’s boys came out with the plan to directly implicate Najib in Altantuya’s murder by alleging that Rosmah Mansor was at the scene of Altantuya’s murder so that Najib could be disqualified from the race and Tengku Razaleigh could become Prime Minister ‘tanpa tanding’.

Anyway, the long and short of it all is that I was ‘elected’ to become ‘the mouse to bell the cat’ that would sign that Statutory Declaration alleging that Rosmah was at the scene of the crime the night Altantuya was murdered. Najib, however, still became Prime Minister in spite of that while I ended up in jail. But then you have all heard this story before so no need to dwell on it any further.

That was ten years ago. And what has changed since ten years ago? Dr Mahathir is still heading the movement to topple the Prime Minister and he is still using the bloggers from both sides of the political divide, NGOs, Umno dissidents, opposition politicians, the Special Branch, the MACC, and so on, to do it, just like how he did it in 2006.

Okay, maybe one thing has changed since ten years ago. Ten years ago I was in that movement to topple the Prime Minister and today I am not. So that is one difference.

Oh, I forgot, there is a second difference. Ten years ago, Dr Mahathir got the Special Branch and the MACC to join the movement to oust the Prime Minister. And the Special Branch and the MACC threatened the Prime Minister with arrest if he did not resign.

This time around Dr Mahathir also got the Special Branch and the MACC to join the movement to oust the Prime Minister. But Najib did not succumb to threats and blackmail like Tun Abdullah did ten years ago. Unlike Tun Abdullah, Najib refused to resign and fought back.

And this was why Dr Mahathir resorted to that very desperate Citizens’ Declaration stunt last Friday. He knows that time is running out. Najib was supposed to have been ousted in July last year. Then it was shifted to October and then to December. But until today Najib is still Prime Minister.

In July, Muhyiddin was ousted as the Deputy Prime Minister. In January, Mukhriz, his son, was ousted as the Kedah Menteri Besar. Last month, Muhyiddin was ousted as the Umno Deputy President. And by or before June this year, Muhyiddin and Mukhriz are going to be sacked from the party while Dr Mahathir himself is no longer an Umno member.

So Dr Mahathir has only three more months to go before it is GAME OVER. But Najib is not going to resign like what Tun Abdullah did. And this is because Najib does not fear threats and blackmail like Tun Abdullah does.

In 2008, the senior officers in the Special Branch ‘advised’ Tun Abdullah that if he did not resign then he was going to get arrested and will be sent to jail for his crimes involving many scandals.

Amongst these scandals were the Iraqi Oil-for-Food program (under his sister-in-law’s name), the abuse of Terengganu’s RM1 billion a year Wang Ehsan (by Patrick Lim a.k.a. Patrick Badawi and Wan Farid Wan Salleh), the illegal export of nuclear centrifuges by Scomi to Libya (by his son Kamal), the conflict of interest involving the ECM Libra shares (by his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin), and so on.

So Tun Abdullah resigned to avoid these matters being brought to court and his and his family’s crimes were all forgiven and forgotten. Najib, however, instead of resigning under threats and blackmail, axed those in the Special Branch who ‘advised’ him to resign, at the same time when he axed a number of other people in late-July 2015.

And that was the reason for last Friday’s launch of the Citizens’ Declaration. As they say, a drowning man clutches at straw and that drowning man was clutching at straw last Friday. And the two news items below explain why Najib is still going to be Prime Minister for some time to come. And if you cannot understand why then go away and don’t come back to Malaysia Today.

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For now, Najib’s fate in the hands of 222 MPs, says ex-A-G

(The Malaysian Insider) – Despite the signing of the “Citizens’ Declaration” calling for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s removal, it is the 222 members of Parliament who can decide the prime minister’s fate, says former attorney-general (A-G) Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman.

He said those who signed the declaration were merely stating their personal desire to see Najib removed, which in itself was not against any law, but that was as far as they could go at the moment.

The real power to remove Najib, he said, rested on the 222 MPs – 135 from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and 87 opposition.

He said there Najib can be removed either by a no-confidence vote when Parliament is in session, or by making a representation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong when Dewan Rakyat is not in session.

Alternatively, the prime minister steps down from office on his own volition, he adds.

“These are the three legally permissible means to remove Najib,” Abu Talib, the A-G between 1980 and 1993, told The Malaysian Insider.

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Citizens’ Declaration is about PM’s ouster, not pact with Dr M

Ramkarpal Singh justifies Pakatan Harapan’s involvement in Citizens’ Declaration after vowing never to work with Mahathir Mohamad due to the many atrocities he committed while in office.

(Free Malaysia Today) – Ramkarpal Singh of DAP has justified the decision by members of the Opposition to work with Dr Mahathir Mohamad via the Citizens’ Declaration, as long as all members strive towards a common goal – to see Prime Minister Najib Razak out of office via democratic means.

In a statement today, the Bukit Gelugor MP attempted to clarify an assertion he made in April last year that working with Mahathir to “Save Malaysia” would be an unimaginable disaster waiting to happen, considering the “many atrocities” the former premier committed while in office and the “infamous judicial crisis in 1988″ that he was responsible for.

“The position is, however, different in the case of the said Citizens’ Declaration as same does not imply a working relationship between the Opposition and Dr Mahathir but rather, a recognition of one of the objectives of the Opposition, namely the democratic ouster of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak due to his many shortcomings and failures,” he said.

“In other words, the question of working with Dr Mahathir does not arise as the purpose of the said Citizens’ Declaration is merely to formally recognise the fact that Najib has to go, a view which is commonly shared by the Opposition and Dr Mahathir.”

Ramkarpal said the Declaration ought to be supported as it demanded for Najib’s removal via “non-violent and legally permissible means.”

“It has, and always will be the position of the Opposition that not only Najib has to go but the entire Barisan Nasional government as well (preferably by way of a no-confidence motion in Parliament now if not through the ballot box in the next General Election) since the BN has failed the Rakyat and advocates a system which is corrupt, outdated and oppressive.

He added that only a change in government would allow for necessary reforms to be made, specifically in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, all of which were the long-term goals of the Opposition since day one.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK