The Najib Conundrum: Sack pun salah, tak sack pun salah!

I beg your pardon, I was laughing out loud all night and morning reading some people's analyses on the outcome of yesterday's Umno Supreme Council meeting that I forgot to pen my own thoughts on the non-sacking of Muhyiddin Yassin, Shafie Afdal, Mukhriz Mahathir and several others from the party. The same people who said it would be cowardly for Najib Razak to sack Abang Din are now saying that the PM and Umno President had not the cojones to do it.

Lol!

Okay, okay.

Actually, I did make it known to the blogger Annie before yesterday's meeting that I agreed with what she had written in her Sept 5 posting Removing Muhyiddin:

Logically, Najib should remove Muhyiddin and replaces him with someone else as his deputy.
I can't see how they can work together now.
It will be too difficult for Najib to have Muhyiddin, who openly questions his decisions as prime minister and Umno president to continue being his right hand man over the next two and a half years before the next general election.

But, then again, didn't they say that politics is the art of the possible (or was it politics is the art of the impossible?). What we see as logical may not be so for the master politician. As Ben Okri once told us, "The magician and the politician have much in common; they both have to draw our attention away from what they are really doing".

What Annie was suggesting, effectively, was that for the sake of unity, Najib should do the illogical thing, i.e. to NOT sack Muhyiddin. And Najib did just that. And yes, the Umno grassroots are making their doas and thanking the Lord for the wisdom of their leader in this very trying times.

Actually, I did also convey to some who cared to listen, that sacking Muhyiddin wouldn't have been the worst thing Najib could have done. If Muhyiddin and the others had announced their resignation en masse yesterday, that would have been the worst thing that could happen to Najib.

But Muhyiddin did not quit. Was it because he had not the cojones to resign and stand up for what he was purported to be represent? Of was it because he, too, wants the party - and the Malays - to not disintegrate as a result of his disagreement with how his President deals with certain issues?

In any case, I think all of us were focusing too much on the outcome of the meeting that we forgot the essence of that meeting itself. I'm not sure if Raja Petra Kamaruddin, from his cafe in faraway England, has got it right but that's something for Abang Din (and Tony Pua, too, because he was mentioned in the story) to confirm or deny:

MUHYIDDIN ADMITS THERE IS A CONSPIRACY

What The Star did not report, however, is that Muhyiddin informed the Umno Supreme Council that he is aware of the conspiracy to topple Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak but he is not involved in the conspiracy or is part of it.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Many expected Umno Deputy President and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and a couple of other Umno leaders to get sacked today. At least that was the rumour that had been flying around and what the media had been playing up over the last few days.

This was what The Star reported:

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal retain their positions in Umno, putting to rest speculation that they would be shown the door following their removal from the Cabinet two months ago.

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said both deputy president Muhyiddin and vice-president Shafie expressed their full commitment to the party and he appreciated their presence at the Supreme Council meeting Wednesday.

“The meeting took place in a pleasant setting and everyone showed a spirit of camaraderie. Both have also expressed their loyalty to the party and ensure its win in the next general election,” he told a press conference after chairing the meeting.

Najib also said the four-hour meeting also touched on issues pertaining to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which the Government was doing its best to settle.

“We have requested six months for the 1MDB rationalisation plan to take place, in order for it to reduce its debts. So far we have received encouraging offers, but I cannot mention the details as it is still in the process of due diligence. Once this is done, we will make an official announcement,” he said.

What The Star did not report, however, is that Muhyiddin informed the Umno Supreme Council that he is aware of the conspiracy to topple Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak but he is not involved in the conspiracy or is part of it.

In one sweep Muhyiddin confirmed what was being denied these last few months — that there is a conspiracy to topple the Prime Minister. And this conspiracy involves a few agencies, or key people from a few agencies, such as MACC, AGC, BNM, PDRM, and so on.

Meanwhile, the IGP announced that PDRM has launched an investigation into this allegation of a conspiracy to topple the government. Hence this is being treated not just as a conspiracy to topple the Prime Minister but a conspiracy to topple the whole government.

What is interesting is that while Muhyiddin admitted that he is aware of the conspiracy, he did not explain why he kept quiet and did not bring it to the attention of the Prime Minister considering that the number two should be covering the number one’s back.

It is like a security guard at the bank telling the police that he was aware that a robbery was going to take place but he is not involved in the robbery — he just did nothing to stop the robbery.

What was the reason Muhyiddin kept his mouth shut? Did they threaten him that if he revealed the conspiracy then he, too, would be brought down? Or was he promised that if the conspiracy succeeds then he would become the beneficiary by taking over the job of Prime Minister?

Anyway, if they do go ahead with the plan to table a vote of no confidence against Najib in Parliament next month the answer to those questions would be revealed. If Muhyiddin refuses to join the vote then he is definitely not involved in or is part of that conspiracy. If, however, he joins the no confidence vote, then he is definitely with the anti-Najib group.

The Wall Street Journal has just published another story regarding 1MDB based on information that came from the PAC. That can only mean someone in the PAC sold that information to Wall Street Journal for a sum of money that has not been determined yet.

Of course, top of the list of suspects is DAP’s Tony Pua. No doubt it is still just a suspicion and the police are calling him in again to record his statement. But in Malaysia you are considered guilty until and unless you can prove your innocence. Even the Prime Minister is subjected to this standard of Malaysian justice.

So until and unless Tony Pua can prove that it was not him who sold the confidential PAC information to Wall Street Journal then we have to assume that he is the scoundrel who is using his position in the PAC to make money. That is how the Malaysian justice system works, even for Prime Ministers.