Political Crisis

In recent times, Malaysians have observed some political turmoils that have severely paralysed the ruling coalition and partially fractured the ruling party. It all begins with the controversial 1MDB that has collected a significant amount of debt with a huge portion of money went unaccounted for. It arose suspicions in several political leaders and ex Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir. The controversy went aflame when Sarawak Report and an international respected newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, reported than some billions of money were mysteriously transferred into Najib's account in a very discreet way.

Najib has so far not denied receiving the money. He simply pledged that he would not use those money for personal gain. A reasonable minded person who has a decent literary qualification could easily tell that denying using the money for personal gains do not indicate or in other way eliminate the truth that he does receive the money. He might not use it for personal gain, true, but he might siphon them off for his wife or his children. Who knows? He's beating around the bush, instead of firing down all attacks.

Almost one month is gone, and yet Najib still refuses to initiate legal proceedings to WSJ which he vehemently claimed is in cathoot with the Opposition to slander him. The truth is, if you wish to clear your name, the best thing to do, naturally, is to file a legal suit. And yet he has not done that. What has he done? He removes people who disagree with him, including his long time partner Muhyiddin, simply because they could not go in agreement with him.

Media that exposes the allegation, which he so far denies but shows no proof that they are bogus, are attacked and shut down. The Edge which made 1MDB its theme has been slapped with a three month suspension with reasons people find mind-boggling. Apparently no one is able to fathom how our ministers' brain work because their reasoning makes no sense and is downright preposterous. Sarawak Report website has been blocked in Malaysia on grounds that it may threaten national security as its reports are unverified, controversial and likely to upset societal harmony.

In that case, what about Utusan Malaysia? Utusan has continuously libelled any races that is not Malay, with Chinese frequently taking the biggest blow. No one could forget its brazen front page "Apa lagi Cina mahu?" after GE13, and its insulting Ultraman cartoon when Japanese was hit by the deadly earthquake that caused a nuclear meltdown. How many times have Utusan been sued, and how many trials have they lost? Its columnist, Awang Selamat, frequently publishes columns that only raise eyebrows instead of giving inspirations. How can a newspaper like this be allowed to publish, but one which speaks for the people get suspended?

Anyone who is in disagreement with Najib naturally got cast away, and he unashamedly reshuffle the Cabinet by replacing Minister who openly criticise him and replacing the places with people who vociferously stand by him. This is Najib's problem - he thinks he rules the country, and he thinks he could control the people working under him. While it is true, he fails to remember one thing - he is elected by the people. And the people now are dissatisfied with him, incandescent with rage over his leadership especially when the economy is now fragile, with our ringgit the worst performing currency in Southeast Asia, dropping to almost a 17 year low with US dollars.

Najib may play with our politics all he wants. From my point of view, instead of criticising his action, we should also analyse why he does what he does: it's simple - he knows he is losing control, he knows he will soon lose everything he knows hold power over and he knows his followers are beginning to wake up and realise he has been betraying the country when he in fact was entrusted to rule it. The people no longer trust him. The people are angry. And when you know your position is beginning to go, you got desperate, you resort to stupid measures and you begin to make hasty and bold decisions that will not sit well with majority of people but you still do it because you are busy keeping your a*s on your seat. He knows he is timed, he knows he won't last.

GE14 will be interesting, but at the same time we will observe tight and fierce competition, with much more dirty tactics and frauds to watch out for. For the two years before that, expect abuse of power, expect wide clampdown on social media which do not side with it or in favour of the Opposition, and expect more chaos. A desperate political parties will do whatever that is necessary for its selfish gain - and whatever including the unimaginable, and expect them to tool with religion and race, because these two are the biggest weapons that could cause immediate obedience, as the consequences of politicising these two are earth shattering.