Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is putting a lot of pressure on the opposition with calls for investigations on four top guns who ruled imperiously during ex-PM Najib Razak’s rule.
The investigation is to probe several alleged wrongdoings by the former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar, Dzulkifli Ahmad who resigned as chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after the general elections last year and former Electoral Commission chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah.
The investigation will look into an accusation of evidence concealment by Apandi the other three Tan Sri’s in the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigation.
In January 2016, Apandi had said a huge sum in Najib Razak’s personal bank account was a donation from Saudi royal family and not linked to the troubled state fund 1MDB.
The involvement of the Saudi royal family then is an unexpected twist in the scandal which saw mysterious funds transfer from 1MDB. Najib chaired the investment firm’s advisory board. Najib is facing a slew of court cases related to the 1MDB scandal.
Last year, ex-police chief Khalid showed his willingness to cooperate with any investigation on 1MDB launched by the new federal government, saying he was duty bound to cooperate on any issues prior to the 14th general election. He retired as IGP on Sept 4, 2017.
Last year, the new MACC chief, Mohd Shukri Abdull, labeled Dzulkifli as a “country traitor”. In March 2016, the MACC under Dzulkifli cleared Najib of the famous RM2.6 billion financial scandal.
Najib denies the money is from 1MDB after earlier denying the money was in his personal account and then, later saying that it was from Saudi Arabia. The MACC had then said that the funds were from Saudi Arabia but a new investigation shows the contrary, although we do not know if the investigation links the money to 1MDB.
Hashim, however, escaped a tribunal for misconduct as he resigned before the Agong’s consent to set up the tribunal into alleged misconduct by commissioners.
Attorney-general Tommy Thomas said earlier this month that six former commissioners face thirteen charges in connection with their roles in preparing the controversial re-delineation report. They also face charges for the manner in which the commission conducted the May 9, 2018 polls.
However, recent electoral defeats by Pakatan Harapan (PH) at the hands of the United Malay National Organisation (Umno) in alliance with the Islamists Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has galvanised the members of the former ruling party. They are calling on the government to dissolve parliament to face a match made in heaven for the Umno-PAS. They believe if there is a general elections now, the Umno-PA and -BN alliance will win with a big margin.
A member of Umno in the southern state of Johor has suggested the dissolution of the state assembly to pave the way for fresh state elections, citing a lack of credible assemblymen from PH to run the state.
Deputy Umno president Mohamad Hasan says the prime minister would rather see the parliament dissolved before he would keep his word to hand over the reins to Anwar Ibrahim, the PM-in-waiting.
With this belief imbued within Umno, the party has called for the fortification of ties with PAS, expecting a general election sooner rather than later.
Other Umno members are calling on Dr Mahathir to dissolve the parliament and face the Umno-PAS-BN alliance but the PM is weary of these theories.
Instead, he is working harder to bring the culprits who has damaged the country’s reputation to justice.
Dr Mahathir regularly reminds the country there is no one above the law under a PHÂ government. Dr Mahathir’s powerful message is for royals, politicians, government officials and ordinary citizens.