Anwar has broken faith
with the people of Malaysia...
Malaysians are outraged and rightly so. While the government hides behind the Pardons Board, feigns surprise and sheepishly asks Malaysians to respect the process, the people know that they’ve been played, betrayed and disrespected yet again. Our deepest hopes for a better nation have been sacrificed on the altar of one man’s personal political ambitions.
The people understand what the politicians can’t or won’t see – that the decision of the Pardons Board to half Najib’s sentence and reduce his fine has dealt a serious body blow to Malaysia’s justice system. And it has destroyed what’s left of public confidence in the government and its institutions. Malaysia is now a darker, more cynical, less hopeful place because of it.
Remember that Najib was actually sentenced to a total of 72 years imprisonment for his crimes which included 7 counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power; concurrent sentencing reduced it to 12. Now, with time off for good behaviour, he could be out in a couple of years. If the Prime Minister cannot see how egregious that is, he’s not fit to lead our nation.
It is staggering too that a man who is still facing 4 counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering would even merit consideration by the Pardons Board. What has Najib – who has never acknowledged his guilt – done to deserve such favour? To offer leniency to a man with no remorse, with no regard for his criminality and offering no restitution for the billions that went missing under his watch is not just a perversion of the rule of law, it’s downright immoral.
Only the most obtuse will accept the government’s narrative that the normal process was followed. It stinks and they know it; that’s why they were so sneaky about informing the public. The Prime Minister can pretend all he wants that he’s not involved but his fingerprints are all over this. It’s politics at its worst. Not for no reason did UMNO express gratitude to him for his efforts to expedite the hearing and have Najib’s sentence halved .[“Umno leader thanks PM, Zahid for Najib’s ‘early’ pardon hearing” |FMT |03 February 2024]
The courts did their job without fear or favour; the politicians could not find the courage or the conviction to do the same. One prime minister (Najib) brought shame upon the nation with the 1MDB scandal; another prime minister (Anwar) has disgraced us all by putting politics before justice. We are now left with the bitter truth that there is no sense of fair play in our nation, no equal treatment before the law, at least as far as this government is concerned.
At the end of the day, this whole affair should also tell us something about the man we elected to the highest office in the land amidst so much hope. There’s no running away from the terrible truth now that he is far from the sincere and dedicated reformer he claims to be. And that is putting it mildly.
One thing is certain: after this, he will never be able to look Malaysians in the eye again and talk about how sincere he is about fighting corruption or about how committed he is to reform. The DNAA for Zahid Hamidi (47 charges dropped without explanation) was bad enough; the deal given to Najib has broken the camel’s back. If he can’t or won’t stand up for justice he can’t be trusted with our hopes for a better Malaysia.
The DAP too deserves our contempt. Shame on Anthony Loke for parroting the discredited narrative that the government was not involved in any way. That he wants cool heads to prevail at a time when crooks are comforted and justice is mocked tells us just how compromised the DAP has now become.
It’s time to say enough is enough and let the chips fall where they may. It’s time to accept that the system is too corrupt, too compromised to be salvaged. There are simply not enough honest men and women left in our political system to make a difference. It matters not who you elect, the results are always the same. - Dennis Ignatius
What lies ahead for Najib...
The official communique from UMNO is they respect the decision of YDPA and will continue with effort to seek for Najib's release. If it is any consolation, Shad wrote below: In accordance with the Board’s order, Najib can be released from custody on Aug 23, 2028. However, there are several variable and unpredictable factors.
First, there is no bar to repeated acts of clemency. In due course of time, he may receive another remission to hasten his release.
Second, under Section 43 of the Prisons Regulations 2000, a prisoner sentenced to a term of imprisonment exceeding one month may be granted remission of one-third of his sentence for good behaviour. However, this is subject to the terms of an order of the Pardons Board, and that order is to release him on Aug 23, 2028. So, the one-third remission rule cannot apply to Najib.
Third, under Section 46A of the Prisons Act, there are complicated rules about parole. A prisoner may be released to serve any part of his sentence outside the prison pursuant to a Parole Order.
Fourth, as there is no bar to repeated acts of clemency, Najib could be gifted with another act of clemency and given a full pardon, which would wipe away the conviction and all disabilities.
UMNO must be more serious to push for RCI against Tommy Thomas and judicial reform. It is also the basis for DPP's withdrawal of Zahid's Yayasan Akal Budi case. There is a plan to get a petition for a million signature. The last effort done had no UMNO support and managed slightly more than 700,000 signatures online. The basis and narrative for the petition must be legally sound, highlight extraordinary circumstances acceptable to YDPA and get public buy-in.
A piece of advice to UMNO:
Sometimes one need mass media and hype to achieve the desired outcome from the masses such as getting votes during political campaign. Most of the time, to achieve the task or objective involving few decision makers is not to be noisy. Learn methods of complex selling from supersalesman or policy lobby of Washington and UN.
PR at times is useful to swing public opinion and indirectly pressure the few decision makers. But not all the time and still its about the few decision makers. PR effort done in cocophonic fashion, too many heros, stubborn prima donna, too much emotional housewives' tales and absence of clear takeaways will only result in poor public buy-in and a disastrous failure ensue.The result speaks for itself. - Thick as brick
Masa DS Anwar diberi pengampunan dulu, ia adalah keputusan YDP Agong nafas tu, Sultan Muhammad V secara sendiri. Lembaga Pengampunan masih belum ada lagi pada masa tersebut.
Sebab itu ada yang cabar pengampunan tersebut di mahkamah tapi gagal kerana mahkamah berpendapat YDP Agong berhak berikan pengampunan walaupun tanpa Lembaga Pengampunan.
Masa Najib pulak, Lembaga Pengampunan bersidang beberapa kali sebelum YDP Agong buat keputusan. Itu beza antara 2 kes tersebut. Sebab tu surat pun lain. Bukan sebab dah diubahsuai.
Kes pengampunan DS Anwar juga merupakan bukti yang YDP Agong tak perlu mendapatkan nasihat dari Lembaga Pengampunan dalam membuat keputusan. Ia kuasa mutlak baginda. - Raja Gelap II
Nasib baik Tony bukan di Siam,
kalu dak dah lama kena cekop...
Ong Kian Ming ingatkan DAP peranan Tony Pua dalam pendedahan skandal 1MDB. Bukan setakat DAP, kami pendukung PH semua ingat apa yang Tony lakukan untuk mendedahkan skandal tersebut. Untuk itu, kita ucapkan terima kasih kepada Tony. Tetapi biar sebesar mana pun peranan Tony waktu itu, tak bererti dia boleh sewenangnya mempertikai YDP Agong. Keputusan pengampunan adalah kuasa YDP Agong.
Bila dia mempersendakan keputusan pengampunan itu, bererti dia mempersendakan YDP Agong. Sebagai orang yang pernah jadi MP dan faham perlembagaan, itu sesuatu yang tak boleh diterima. YDP Agong berhak memberikan pengampunan yang difikirkan sesuai selepas membuat pertimbangan yang sewajarnya. Kita boleh setuju atau tak setuju tapi tak boleh pertikaikan secara terbuka.
Perbuatan ini jika tidak dibendung, akan mengundang lebih banyak perbuatan biadab terhadap YDP Agong. Maka itu tindakan PDRM memanggil Tony adalah tepat. Tony dah dewasa. Pernah jadi MP. Dia sepatutnya arif akan kesan dari perbuatannya. Maka tiada keperluan untuk membelanya. Biar saja dia bela dirinya sendiri. - Raja Gelap II
cheers.
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