How he could work with PAS to overthrow
PMX once receives royal pardon...
Incarcerated Najib Razak was only 69 years old when he spent his first night as the Kajang Prison Complex’s newest inmate on August 23, 2022. He created history as the first former prime minister to be sent to jail after losing final appeal at the Federal Court. The crook was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million for stealing RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of 1MDB).
Mahathir Mohamad, the man responsible for toppling Najib administration in the May 2018 General Election, was aged 92 when he became the prime minister for the second time. Anwar Ibrahim was already 75 years old when he finally became the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia on November 24 last year. Even Muhyiddin Yassin became the first backdoor PM at the age of 73 in 2020.
Do you really think Najib will quietly go into retirement, or write some silly memoirs about RM2.6 billion donations from dubious Saudi royal family once he receives a royal pardon from King Sultan Abdullah? Nope, the first thing he will do is to spin how innocence he is based on the pardon received, and brags how it was the God’s will to free a good Muslim like him.
He will definitely twist how his sacrifice and perseverance, as well as his incredible fighting spirit in seek of justice has finally been rewarded. Pretending like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, the narcissist crook might even give some motivation talks to his supporters – the importance of believing in oneself and have faith, as well as to never lose hopes and all those craps.
Of course, Najib will express his gratitude to his family, especially his wife Rosmah Mansor – the Imelda Marcos of Malaysia convicted of corruption and sentenced to 10 years’ jail – for all the support tendered. His drama would include how much he missed his cat Kiki and grandkids, while jobless daughter Nooryana Najwa brought his favourite drink – Starbucks Caramel Macchiato.
Those are part of a publicity stunt to be prepared by his American PR firm to project himself as a victim of great injustice like Gandhi or Mandela. Didn’t Najib’s son shamelessly compare his crooked father’s imprisonment to that of Nelson Mandela, and said the ex-premier will rise like the South African anti-apartheid activist? Make no mistake – Najib has zero plans to quit politics.
Najib plans to make a comeback as the prime minister for the second time even if he has to serve his full 12-year sentence, what more if he gets an early pardon this year. Therefore, on top of his to-do-list is to get elected as a Member of Parliament once he walks out of jail, the same way Anwar contested in the Port Dickson by-election in Oct 2018 upon pardoned by the King.
He can contest in his stronghold – Pekan federal constituency – after seat-warmer MP Sheikh Mohmed Puzi bin Sheikh Ali resigns. Najib will be free to contest a parliamentary seat if he receives “full pardon” from the King, who happens to have a special relationship with the ex-PM. It would be a problem only if it’s a partial pardon or reduced sentencing.
Now, this is where all the game begins. Once he is elected as an MP, he can overthrow PM Anwar. Exactly how does Najib plan to become the 11th Prime Minister with only 30 MPs from his Barisan Nasional coalition? That’s easy – he can start “Sheraton Move 2.0” by working with opposition Perikatan Nasional, the same way Bersatu president Muhyiddin did it in 2020.
After just 22 months, the democratically-elected Pakatan Harapan government collapsed in Feb 2020 after traitor Muhyiddin plotted with defeated United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS – Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) to form a backdoor government. Back then, UMNO had agreed to let Muhyiddin becomes PM even though his party was the weakest.
Post-14th General Election, UMNO saw its seats reduced to 39 after 13 MPs defected to rival Bersatu (Malaysian United Indigenous Party). Bersatu won only 13 seats in the 2018 General Election, but doubled to 26 MPs after the UMNO mass defection. After the 15th General Election last year, religious extremist PAS saw its seats increased to 43 while racist bigot Bersatu captured 31.
UMNO, meanwhile, won only 26 seats (excluding MCA’s 2, MIC’s 1 and PBRS’ 1) in the 15th nationwide polls. Despite its worst performance in history, the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional has become the kingmaker after 2022- neither Pakatan Harapan (82 seats) nor Perikatan Nasional (74 seats) could form a new government in the 222-seat Parliament without its 30 seats.
So, why can’t the current 30-seat Barisan Nasional lead a new backdoor government today when 26-seat Bersatu managed to do it three years ago? They can easily cook another “Malay-Muslim government” bullshit to justify the betrayal. When UMNO withdraws the support for Anwar-led Unity Government, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) will follow.
Together, Barisan Nasional (30), Perikatan Nasional (74), Sarawak-based GPS (23) and Sabah-based GRS (6) will command 133 seats – more than the minimum 112-seat required to form a simple majority government. This is one of the reasons Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar is increasingly being bullied and blackmailed by UMNO to compromise, including the royal pardon for Najib.
But will UMNO switch sides en bloc to prevent triggering the anti-hopping law? Absolutely, because it appears Najib is the only charismatic leader the party is left with, at least that’s what his loyalists believed. Besides, party president Zahid Hamidi was the reason Barisan Nasional lost spectacularly last year. The thuggish Zahid is not a leader, but a follower who is more than happy to serve as Najib’s deputy.
It is not necessary for Najib to become UMNO president in order to return as prime minister. Ismail Sabri, one of the party’s vice presidents, was selected as the prime minister in August 2021 after Muhyiddin resigned because he had lost majority support in Parliament. The King shall appoint an MP whom he believes command the majority support of his peers as prime minister.
As long as Najib can show that he commands the confidence of a majority of MPs of the Dewan Rakyat (Lower House), the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) can appoint him. Because Zahid’s corruption and money laundering trial will probably take years before it concludes, chances are Najib can interfere with the judicial system to free him before even the Federal Court can send Zahid to jail.
Still, will PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang agree with Najib as the next prime minister? Crucially, will ex-PM Muhyiddin consent to his enemy becoming premier again? Did anyone notice Hadi has never criticized or attacked Najib since the day he lost power in May 2018 till today? In fact, after Najib was first convicted in July 2020, Hadi led some top PAS leaders to visit him late at night.
Yes, Najib’s best friend Hadi has so far refrained from mocking or insulting him, even after the crook was sent to jail. That’s because Hadi became multi-millionaire thanks to Najib, who bribed him with RM90 million to quit now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat. The snake oil salesman would be like a dog with two tails if PAS can return to power again, and receives easy cash without having to do any work.
Hadi and his minions, however, have targeted Zahid for his refusal to work with PAS and Bersatu against rival Pakatan Harapan. All the bad blood will be water under the bridge if Najib promises to make both Zahid and Hadi deputy prime ministers. Likewise, Sarawak GPS too will fall into line with the promise that their existing deputy prime minister is retained.
How about Muhyiddin? There are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends in politics, but only permanent interests. If Najib is pardoned and become the next prime minister, not only can he ordered the Attorney General to drop all his remaining 1MDB corruption charges (he did that previously with A.G. Apandi Ali), he can also help clear Muhyiddin.
Muhyiddin Yassin - I Love PM - Najib Razak
The Bersatu chief has been charged for corruption and money laundering in the RM600 billion Covid scandal during his short 17-month regime. His backdoor government is known by historians and students as an era of SOP U-turns, policy flip-flops, double standards, incompetence, hypocrisy, corruption, Coronavirus mishandling, economic mismanagement and of course – illegitimacy.
The last thing ex-premier Muhyiddin wants is to go to jail. He has little option but to suck up to Najib if that’s what it takes to save his arse. Even if he disagrees, he will suffer tremendous pressure from all the corrupt and power-hungry Napoleons in his own party to support Najib under the pretext of (*yawn*) Malay unity. Worse, his political party’s account has been frozen.
As PAS is itself facing potential internal rebellion, especially from Nik Mohamad Abduh’s faction who disagreed with Hadi’s strategic mistakes of choosing Bersatu over UMNO, the Islamist party might leave Perikatan Nasional. Najib is the best excuse Hadi could use to persuade Muhyiddin to regroup UMNO-PAS-Bersatu once again to fight Pakatan Harapan.
More importantly, both Muhyiddin and Hadi are desperate to return to power. After tasted blood, they can’t live without power and free flow of dirty money. Cash-strapped, they can’t buy votes or marry more wives, let alone upgrade their Mercedes. If Najib can lead UMNO again and his plan to steal more money includes sharing the loots with PAS and Bersatu, Hadi and Muhyiddin cannot find any reason not to support Najib.
Unlike Mahathir, who still had an ounce of dignity when he refused to work with crooked Najib when Muhyiddin formed the Perikatan Nasional backdoor regime, power-hungry Muhyiddin has no red line that he won’t cross. The shameless man does not need much convincing to work with Najib, despite whining and bitching that he will not work with crooks.
Najib had initially supported Muhyiddin as prime minister in 2020. It was only after his request for judicial meddling to drop all this corruption charges were ignored by PM Muhyiddin that Najib-Zahid withdrew their support, forcing Muhyiddin to reluctantly resign in August 2021. All of them are nothing but a bunch of crooks and pirates dressed as Malay defenders.
Therefore, its a dumb move to free Najib. If PM Anwar helps Najib, not only the president of the People’s Justice Party PKR will destroy his own party’s integrity, but his stupid decision will also self-destruct the Pakatan Harapan coalition. He might even end up as the shortest serving premier in the country, making turtle-egg Ismail Sabri looks like a genius. Mahathir will have the last laugh, telling all and sundry – “I told you so!!!” - FT
Meanwhile,UMNO has announced that they would appeal to the king to pardon Najib, sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for CBT by misappropriating a total of RM42 million. Should the king pardon? The final decision, of course rests upon the King who will decide as advised by the Prime Minister based upon a recommendation from the Pardons Board of the Federal Territories.
At the same time, two petitions related to the pardon for release of Najib have been launched on the change.org platform named as "Petition to Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Najib is Unworthy of Pardon" started by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) and "Free Najib Razak Through Royal Pardon" created by an individual, Ariff Lias.
Awani's survey showed that the first petition received the most number of signatures at 140,000 while "Free Najib Razak Through Royal Pardon" petition received only 13,000 signatures.The above surveys clearly show that the general public is not in favour of Najib being pardoned. - newwav/sinardaily
The King has finally spoken! All those trying to twist the arm of the King can finally
go and fly kite. Worst still he said that by right that convict ought to have his hands cut off.
Bila kita raya?...
Kementerian Pendidikan mengumumkan 19 April 2023 cuti khas tambahan bagi semua sekolah sempena sambutan Aidilfitri minggu depan. Maka bertambah kuatlah orang percaya raya akan disambut sehari awal daripada apa yang dicatat sebelum ini. Terdahulu, Kesatuan Perkhidmatan Perguruan menggesa KPM memberi cuti khas untuk guru pada 19 April kerana Aidilfitri dijangka jatuh pada 21 April.
Kalau ikut kalendar dan senarai cuti am rasmi, Aidilfitri jatuh pada 22 April tetapi sejak minggu lalu lagi kita sudah dengar orang tertanya-tanya bila sebenarnya hari raya, malah ada yang yakin 21 April tarikh Aidilfitri. Mengapa jadi kekalutan ini? Maaf jika ‘kalut’ kasar untuk digunakan. OK lah, paling tidak ‘kelam kabut’. Mengapa begini jadinya? Sebab apa yang berlaku raya tahun lalu. Tak perlu dihuraikan. Masih “fresh in our mind”.
Masa saya budak-budak dulu keputusan menetapkan tarikh Ramadan dan Syawal dibuat dengan tengok anak bulan. Dilakukan di beberapa tempat oleh pegawai agama dan ahli falak. Tempat paling “famous” Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson. Kalau nampak ertinya esok puasa atau raya. Tak nampak puasa atau raya hari berikutnya. Simple.
Tetapi waktu itu mungkin kerana sistem komunikasi belum canggih maka pengumuman anak bulan melalui radio (dan TV kemudian) dibuat lewat. Dalam 11 malam. Oleh itu, untuk tahu bila bermula Ramadan orang masjid kena tunggu selepas sembahyang isyak hingga lewat malam. Jika diumum keesokannya mula puasa, maka jemaah akan mendirikan tarawih di masjid bermula 11.30 malam. Lebih kurang macam itu.
Untuk menyambut hari raya pula, semua orang “excited” tunggu nampak atau tidak anak bulan Syawal. Jika diumumkan anak bulan kelihatan, maka ramai yang masuk “gear” untuk meneruskan persiapan. Di rumah saya di Kampung Bharu, masak rendang dan kacau dodol dimulakan selepas dapat pengumuman. Maknanya kerja beres hampir waktu Subuh 1 Syawal kerana emak saya “insist” semua hidangan mesti “freshly prepared”.
Jika anak bulan Syawal tidak kelihatan pun tak ada masalah. Puasa lah “one more day”. Pun begitu timbul juga kontroversi. Seingat saya ada kampung atau kawasan tertentu di Pantai Timur yang ikut kiraan sendiri yakni yang ditetapkan imam dan sebagainya. Penduduk setempat beraya pada tarikh lain daripada tarikh rasmi.
Ada juga pada satu tahun (tak ingat tahun apa), Singapura menyambut hari raya satu hari awal daripada Malaysia. Dikhabarkan ramai juga orang Johor yang turun ke Singapura untuk beraya dan pada malamnya pulang ke Johor untuk sambut Aidilfitri di Malaysia keesokkan hari.
Sekarang Mufti Perlis Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin menyuarakan ‘kebimbangan’ jika Thailand raya awal, orang Perlis akan seberang sempadan masuk melalui Padang Besar untuk beraya di sana. Beliau berseloroh sambil menekankan betapa penting semua negara rantau ini bersepakat menentukan tarikh 1 Syawal.
Pandangan peribadi saya, apa perlu pergi tengok anak bulan jika keyakinan penuh diletak pada kiraan? Sebab kalau pun tidak nampak tetap akan dianggap ‘nampak’ berdasarkan kiraan. Ini isu falak bukan isu agama. Apa pun, bermula tahun lalu menurut Asri, Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) menggunapakai kriteria baharu dalam kiraannya dan itulah yang digunakannya sekarang.
Untuk menghentikan kekeliruan dan kekalutan, kerajaan (pada lewat 1960-an atau awal 1970-an) memutuskan tarikh mulanya Ramadan dan menyambut Syawal ditentukan dengan kaedah kiraan dan keputusan mesti dipatuhi semua negara Asean kerana semua terletak pada zon yang sama.
Tidak lama kemudian Malaysia menggunakan kaedah berdasarkan rukyah dan hisab. Ertinya tengok anak bulan dan juga kiraan. Pada pemahaman saya, ini bermakna jika mengikut kiraan Ramadan atau Syawal akan jatuh pada waktu dan hari tertentu tetapi pasukan pegawai yang meneropong tidak nampak anak bulan, ia tetap dianggap ‘kelihatan’. Maka lazimnya dulu (sehingga tahun lalu) tarikh puasa dan hari raya yang diumumkan sama seperti dicatat pada kalendar.
Penceramah terkenal, Kazim Elias, pula berkata kaedah rukyah ini bukan pertama kali digunakan sebaliknya sudah berdekad lama. “Kenapa tahun ini orang riuh rendah sangat berhubung 1 Syawal, bezanya hanya satu hari. Kalau kita tak raya Jumaat kita tetap akan raya Sabtu,” katanya dipetik Harian Metro 9 April lalu.
Bagi saya, itu agak simplistik. Ia bukan sekadar ‘beraya’. Orang riuh rendah kerana membabitkan bermacam hal dan perancangan. Riuh rendah bukan timbul tahun ini sahaja. Ingat tahun lalu? Apa pun, kata Kazim, masyarakat usah kalut dan serahkan kepada autoriti agama. “Jangan pula kita marahkan autoriti agama kerana kita ada prosedur dan kriteria,” kata beliau.
Menurut saya, itulah yang dilakukan orang ramai iaitu menyerahkan kepada autoriti agama. Rata-rata orang tidak marah atau salahkan autoriti agama. Cuma keliru. “Tarikh yang ditetapkan dalam kalendar hanya tarikh anggaran dan keputusan akhir terletak pada pemegang mohor besar Raja-raja,” kata Timbalan Dekan (Jaringan) Fakulti Pengajian Islam di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Izhar Ariff Mohd Kassim
Baru-baru ini ada laporan mengatakan Aidilfitri di Emiriah Arab Bersatu akan disambut pada Jumaat 21 April berdasarkan kiraan pusat astronominya. Ia tular dan mungkin ini antara penyebab tercetus persoalan bila raya di Malaysia.
Kata Rektor Akademi Falak Malaysia, Shahrin Ahmad, setiap negara berbeza penentuan serta kriteria kenampakan anak bulan “dan kita tidak boleh menyamakan setiap negara itu mempunyai kaedah yang sama.”
Benar. Namun dalam konteks Malaysia dan kekeliruan yang timbul sekarang, saya setuju dengan gesaan Asri supaya Jakim menyemak semula kriteria yang mereka gunakan kerana kriteria mereka, kata beliau, menimbulkan kekeliruan tahun lalu dan tahun ini. Saya tidak mengakhiri artikel ini dengan ucapan Selamat Hari Raya. Masih terlalu awal untuk diucapkan. - Mohsin Abdullah
cheers.
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