like Najib & Rosmah could walk away free....
If Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is convicted of corruption, the Unity Government being led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will crumble and collapse. Zahid, who is the president of UMNO, the Malay nationalist party which agreed to form the federal government with Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan coalition after the Nov 2022 General Election that produced a hung Parliament, will withdraw his support.
Zahid had done it before, and he will be more than happy to do it again to save himself. When the previous backdoor regime of Muhyiddin had refused to drop corruption charges on Zahid and ex-PM Najib Razak, both UMNO leaders staged a rebellion. In July 2021, they led a faction of UMNO MPs to withdraw support for PM Muhyiddin, forcing him to resign a month later.
The UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition has 30 MPs, without which neither Pakatan Harapan (82 MPs) nor rival Perikatan Nasional (74 MPs) can form a government. So, UMNO is the kingmaker, and Zahid happens to be the chief of the kingmaker. Having struggled for 25 years before becoming the premier, Anwar has no plan to sacrifice everything just to send one man to jail.
It’s as simple as that. Either Zahid is freed, allowing him to continue leading the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and support the unity government, or rock the boat and allows opposition Perikatan Nasional to form a Taliban regime. The choice isn’t hard – choose either the racist bigot and religious extremist Perikatan Nasional or the moderate Pakatan Harapan.
You don’t need a rocket science to tell you that when the prosecution decided to drop all the charges against the UMNO president today, the decision was suspiciously “influenced by politics”. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to suggest “political interference” after Judge Colin Lawrence Sequerah (below) was forced to order a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
The judge arrived at his decision based on the grounds that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is still investigating the case after Mr Zahid’s legal team made representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers in December and January. Zahid’s defence team, led by senior lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, had argued that its client should be fully acquitted of all the charges.
The only consolation prize is that Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar applied for a DNAA, which means Mr Zahid can still face trial for the same charges in the future if the prosecution decides to reinstate them. With DNAA hanging around his neck, the Deputy Prime Minister can be expected to play safe and remains loyal to PM Anwar.
Even if PM Anwar had not personally interfered in the prosecution’s decision, the damage has been done. The perception is that the government – either the prime minister or UMNO – has pressured the Attorney-General’s Chambers to drop all the charges. It’s an insult to the people’s intelligence to say that Zahid’s DNAA was a court’s decision, as suggested by Home Minister Saifuddin.
But what’s the difference between Muhyiddin’s DNAA and Zahid’s DNAA? On August 15, the High Court acquitted ex-PM Muhyiddin of four abuse of power charges for using his position to receive bribes amounting to RM232.5 million after finding them defective and non-compliant of existing laws. Today, the High Court acquitted Zahid because the prosecution wanted to.
In both cases, the incompetent prosecution had screwed up, or deliberately refused to continue with the trials because of screws-up. It’s both puzzling and laughable for the Attorney-General’s Chambers to apply for DNAA now when the High Court already ruled on January 24, 2022 that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the Zahid.
It was definitely a waste of public fund and judiciary process when the prosecution had called a total of 99 witnesses and the High Court ruled that it had proven all of the elements of the Yayasan Akalbudi charges against Zahid. Heck, Zahid and his wife had even used over RM1.3 million in the funds to pay for his credit card charges for shopping at luxury stores like Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton and Hermes.
While Anwar administration might not have interfered with the independence of the judge’s latest decision, it can certainly influence the Attorney-General’s Chambers to drop the case. After all, the top lawyer’s employment is at the mercy of the prime minister. Interestingly, Zahid’s DNAA today came just one day before A.G. Idrus Harun’s contract ends on September 5.
Zahid’s acquittal will provide tonnes of bullets for the opposition to attack the government. Muhyiddin, president of Bersatu or Malaysian United Indigenous Party, can claim that Anwar, who has been screaming about anti-corruption till foaming at the mouth, is now a proven fake reformer. Not only Zahid was appointed as a deputy prime minister, he is being freed by Anwar for the sake of power.
The Perikatan Nasional chairman, therefore, can brag that the opposition is indeed clean and incorruptible. However, Muhyiddin and his minions should not overplay their hands. Under the previous illegitimate and un-elected Perikatan Nasional government, Zahid Hamidi too was acquitted of 40 charges of receiving bribes from a company to extend its foreign visa system (VLN).
Yes, exactly a year ago, High Court Judge Yazid Mustafa ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the UMNO president. Essentially, Zahid, facing a jaw-dropping 87 charges, saw 40 of the charges thrown away in September 2022 under Perikatan Nasional government, and another 47 charges dropped today under the Unity Government.
Hence, the unity government can also argue that the desperate Muhyiddin had purposely arranged for Zahid’s 40 charges to be thrown away at the last minute before the Nov 2022 General Election in anticipation of Perikatan Nasional needed Barisan Nasional support to form a government again. Why can Perikatan Nasional free Zahid, but not Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional?
Make no mistake – Zahid is as guilty as hell. But he is a very lucky man. Facing 47 charges involving multiple counts of criminal breach of trust (RM31 million), corruption (RM21 million) and money laundering (RM72 million) related to the misuse of funds at Yayasan Akalbudi, a charity he established under the pretext of eradicating poverty, PM Anwar needs him more than ever.
He was lucky when the incompetent A.G. Idrus Harun, a political appointee of Muhyiddin, did a lousy job with the initial 40 corruption charges. And he is lucky because thanks to the anti-hopping law, he controls the bloc of 30 Barisan Nasional MPs required to guarantee the stability of Anwar-led unity government. More importantly, he is lucky for being UMNO president.
The results of the recent six state elections that showed UMNO supporters have fled to Perikatan Nasional makes Zahid’s role as the glue between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan even more crucial. UMNO deputy president Mohamad Hasan’s dubious loyalty could see the party withdraws support for Anwar government if Zahid suddenly lost power.
Had Najib Razak refused to resign in 2018 after losing power for the first time in 60 years over widespread anger at the corruption and the multibillion-dollar scandal at the 1MDB state fund, he might not need to spend 12 years in prison. As the UMNO president, he would have the leverage to negotiate for his corruption charges to be dropped, or at least make them defective.
The vulnerability of Anwar government, thanks largely to relentless attacks by the opposition, could see Najib demanding his 1MDB case to be dropped, as leaked in an internal memo recently. The 12-page memo argued that the available evidence in the case was “grossly insufficient to prove a prima facie case for the six charges, let alone to secure a conviction beyond reasonable doubt”.
Similar to how Zahid could threaten Anwar and Pakatan Harapan’s power, Najib too could threaten Zahid’s grip in UMNO. At best, crooked Najib could force the UMNO president to pressure the prime minister to drop all his remaining charges. At worst, the crook could lobby for the corruption charges against his wife Rosmah to be dropped, as well as soliciting a royal pardon for himself.
High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan on Sept 1, 2022 delivered the guilty verdict on the 70-year-old Rosmah – 10 years’ jail on each of three corruption charges involving a RM1.25 billion hybrid solar project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. She was also fined RM970 million. The court, however, allowed a stay of execution pending an appeal in the Court of Appeal.
The burning question is whether Anwar, Zahid and Najib have struck some deals to form secret cooperation to counter the increasing influence of opposition Perikatan Nasional. Has desperado Anwar been ill-advised to free not only Zahid, but also Najib and his infamous wife in exchange for UMNO’s loyalty for the next 4 years till the 16th General Election?
Like it or not, it’s all about politics – never about fighting corruption, let alone about reforms. Idealists would protest vigorously over Zahid’s acquittal, even blaming Anwar government for freeing crooks. However, in reality, the country is plagued with religious bigotry and racial extremism. It definitely screams hypocrisy, but it’s a choice of the lesser of two evils – Zahid or Muhyiddin with Hadi thrown in. - FT
Zahid's DNAA - A bridge too
far even for DSAI?...
DSAI has so far led a charmed life. Those ten years in prison came in handy when he needed a sob story to tell. The sacking, the beating, the black eye, the sodomy charges, the promise not kept by Mahathir....all served their purpose in earning him sympathy from a rakyat desperate for heroes to rescue them from successive corrupt leaders and government.
We were prepared to overlook his early misdeeds as Minister of Education, and his crude attempt to use race and religion to shore up his political credentials in UMNO. We were willingly seduced by Reformasi. For some, the promises of the Madani government were too tantalizingly seductive to ignore: Sustainability, care and compassion, respect, innovation, prosperity, and trust. Huh! Cakap tak serupa bikin!
The promises he had not kept - and there have been many - the deals he had to make to be PM and to stay as PM, all this we tried to understand in the hope that in time, our belief and our trust in him will not be used or abused to serve other dark and troubling agendas.
But the release of Zahid Hamidi, from all the 47 charges that he faced, whether politically motivated or not, is, even for DSAI, a bridge too far, when the Green barbarians are already at the gate.
But there will still be believers. There will still be people who will give DSAI the benefit of the doubt. And to these people, I simply ask this: What more do you need to see DSAI do before you hold him responsible for what he has done in the past, and for what he continues to do today?
DSAI has done his sums. He thinks he can survive Zahid's DNAA and he is prepared to pay the price. Will the price he now has to pay for this folly be too much even for DSAI, Malaysia, and Malaysians, to pay? Will this be the tipping point that pushes our nation under the surging Green Barbarians already at the gates? We wait.- Hussein Hamid
Pakatan Harapan supporters are dissatisfied, facing a tough choice between Umno and Pakatan Harapan or Perikatan Nasional with PAS and Bersatu. The dreaded scenario materialized as Harapan, led by Anwar Ibrahim, struck a deal with Umno's Zahid Hamidi, resulting in his expected release. This situation is disheartening; continuing the trial might have been easier to accept.
Those who looked to Anwar as a savior did so because there were no better options. They hoped his past struggles would change him, but leopards don't change their spots. People are stuck with limited choices, aware that anything was better than the Bersatu-PAS combination with its extremist views, excluding not only non-Malays but also some Malays, depending on perspective. - Kamsiah Haidar
Let us not be carried away by Zahid's DNAA. After all it was a given and that could have been why he backed up Harapan while ditching the tempting Muafakat. And the cherry on the cake was madani PM celebrating it conferring DPM1 on him. It made the day for PMX. We tend to overlook that this is not the first time an allegedly corrupt politician gets off the hook or sits in position of power or corruption is consigned to the back burner. It is in our national DNA
And what is the point of making a big deal of Zahid as if we have anything better or other options to put our vote to? After all didn't the non-Malays keep the corrupt Umno/BN in power all through it's 60 years at the helm? Even in 1999 when many Umno Malays turned against Mahathir? Even than it was the matter of the lesser of two evils - the so called middle against the extreme. Umno/BN against PMIP, Umno/BN against Semangat 46/Gagasan Rakyat, Umno/BN against PAS. Only after the formation of Pakatan did the non-Malays finally move against the corrupt Umno/BN.
It is said one week is a long time in politics. Like how we got over (tolerate) RM41 million Sabah's Musa Aman, RM11 billion LCS scam, the elephant in the room Sarawak's Taib Mahmud and a host of other corruption scandals Zahid too will be tolerated as the lesser of two evils. Who knows what is in store of bossku? Will his release follow suit? As Mahathir says politics is the art of the possible and there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. Remember Harapan even laid out the red carpet for the recalcitrant? - Apa pun boleh
The inevitable, dreaded nightmare, finally happened.Harapan, specifically Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, made that deal with Umno, specifically its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.Probably, everybody knew what would happen, except of course for those who wanted to lie to themselves.Nevertheless, make no mistake about it, people knew what was on the table.
The stark truth in everyone’s mouth was that anything else was better than the Bersatu-PAS combo, extremist racial and religious fanatics.With them, there was simply no place for anybody other than themselves, not for non-Malays, which was obvious, or the Malays, and that depended on how you saw it.
You cannot withdraw a prima facie case, whatmore a very high-profile one without facing intense criticism and scrutinisation. And rightly so.That makes it just sickening. If the trial was allowed to carry on and the judge made a verdict of innocence, then it is probably a softer blow to the mental faculty.So, that leaves us where we are now. For those who banked on Anwar to be the saviour of the nation, they probably did it because there were no better alternatives. He was all that they got.
They did the same to Anwar, hoping that his bad experiences which included defeat and incarceration, would change him. Alas, people say a leopard will not change its spots.The people are put to ransom once more. They do not have much of a choice because yes, it is between the devil and the deep blue sea.- Man on the Silver Mountain
cheers.
Sumber asal: Its neither fighting corruption nor reforms,its politics stupid!!...
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