Najib facing pressure to resign as UMNO rebel group 'meets'

Aug 4: A series of scandals and mishandlings have resulted in yet another movement within UMNO seeking to oust its current president, in the same way Abdullah Badawi was forced to resign following BN's poor performance in the 2008 elections.

At the centre of this latest rebellion, said to be spearheaded by several senior party warlords, is the deep disenchantment with not only prime minister Najib Razak but also his wife Rosmah Mansor, described BN's greatest liability in the coming general elections.

Revealing this at a press conference today, PAS secretary general Mustafa Ali said this development was the reason why pro-UMNO quarters had created a diversion, spreading a rumour claiming PAS's Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat met UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh in a bid to have Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim replaced.

Dismissing the rumour as a non-issue because "there was no such meeting", Mustafa said reliable sources had informed him that opposition against Najib within UMNO was reaching boiling point, and was aimed at removing Najib before the next general election, widely expected to be called early next year.

“At this time, I am not interested to disclose who they are in the movement but it is a strong movement by UMNO warlords themselves,” he added.

Mustafa (right) said Najib was aware of this development but chose to stay put in spite of a series of scandals linked to him including the murder of Mongolian agent Altantuya Shariibuu, the purchase of the Scorpene submarines, as well as the recent handling of the massive Bersih rally on July 9.

Former UMNO members behind coup plan?

Mustafa's claim comes in the wake of a blog posting by well-known political commentator Mohd Sayuti Omar, saying that Penawar, an association grouping former UMNO MPs, had held a meeting recently to demand Najib's ouster.

The meeting, said to be held several days ago, was chaired by Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin, the former minister of Rural and Regional Development in Abdullah Badawi’s cabinet, who also served as Dr Mahathir Mohamad political secretary and was said to have played a major role in the campaign against then deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

According to Sayuti, the group will meet again today.

"It is expected a statement will be issued after the meeting. It is very likely that Penawar will explain what has transpired and deny that the association was asking Najib to step down," he wrote.

Muhyiddin's role

Earlier, several PAS leaders said Najib's deputy Muhyiddin Yasin (left) was leading the call for his ouster.

"If Muhyiddin had once told (former prime minister) Pak Lah to step down as prime minister during the UMNO Supreme Council meeting, it is possible that he will do it again now against Najib,” said PAS vice president Salahuddin Ayub.

Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad meanwhile claimed the emergence of an alliance between Mahathir, Muhyiddin and Mahathir’s son Mukhriz Mahathir.

“Will Muhyiddin, Mukhriz and Mahathir plot to bring down Najib to ensure that UMNO continues to hold Federal power? Will this 3-M faction gain the support of the Chinese and Indians whom Najib had tried to win over?" he wrote in news portal The Malaysian Insider.

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‘PM clueless on overseas voting processes’

MOV says that the Election Regulations 2002 prevent nearly one million Malaysians overseas from voting.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been criticised by an overseas movement for his apparent ignorance over voter and voting registration processes for Malaysians abroad.

MyOverseasVote (MOV) said that Najib was asked during the 5th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday as to how Malaysians studying and working abroad could cast their votes.

He reportedly answered that he would look into the practicalities of allowing overseas voting and the necessity of amending the Federal Constitution to allow for this. He also assured the summit that his administration is committed to and will undertake electoral reform.

In a statement today, MOV expressed disappointment that Najib appeared to be in the dark about overseas voting and referred to Article 119 of the constitution.

The article provides that every Malaysian citizen has the right to vote so long as he is at least 21 years old and registered either as a voter resident in a constituency or as an “Absent Voter”.

MOV also pointed out that pursuant to the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003, all absent voters are entitled to receive postal ballots when an election is called.

“Unfortunately the regulations governing the registration of absent voters currently discriminate between citizens on the grounds of their occupation and employment,” MOV said.

The Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2002 allowed only three categories of Malaysian citizens to register as absent voters.

The three are:

• serving members of a Malaysian, Commonwealth or foreign military and their spouses,

• civil servants serving outside Peninsular or East Malaysia and their spouses, and

• full-time students studying outside Peninsular or East Malaysia and their spouses.

“It thereby excludes nearly a million Malaysians stationed overseas who work in the private sector or who are retired,” MOV stated.

“The prime minister should explain why a Malaysian serving with a foreign military is entitled to vote as an absent voter but not a Malaysian who works overseas for a Malaysian or multinational company.”

MOV further referred to its recent survey findings that Malaysian embassies, high commissions and consulates worldwide are regularly turning away students on spurious and false grounds when they try to register to vote.

Passing the buck
Meanwhile Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman met with Malaysians in Melbourne on Monday and agreed that “every Malaysian overseas has the right to” vote but added  that “it’s not easy to implement”.

MOV however reminded Anifah that a system already exists to enable students, civil servants and the armed forces who are overseas to vote with a postal vote.

When asked about the progress of appointing assistant registrars at overseas missions as suggested by the Election Commission (EC) in January, Anifah had said that the EC had to brief his ministry first.

“Believe me, we are working on it but these things take time,” he reportedly said. “And not everything that works overseas can work in Malaysia. We cannot compare mature democracies to our situation here.”

“For those who want to vote, we must put in the effort to allow people to vote. Perhaps a solution we can consider is to set up voting centres at the consulates for people to vote, but we can’t set one up in remote areas”.

But an unconvinced MOV concluded, “The problem with overseas voting lay solely in the nonsensical and discriminatory regulations that have been drawn up by the EC and the government, coupled with the latter’s failure even to comply with its ow existing regulations”.

Taken from Free Malaysia Today

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'Lonely planet' Najib Razak shunned as Umno warlords huddle for a successor

These days, Najib Razak is a lonely soul in the UMNO circles. The warlord are all busy drawing lines of engagement and none have included him in their plans. Not the ones that matter anyway. Sadly, Najib may only be left with wife Rosmah Mansor as his companion. Even his cousin Hishamuddin seems to have deserted him.

The 58-year old Najib may well make it into the Malaysian Book of Records as being the premier with the shortest term in office and on top of that, the only Prime Minister who has yet to receive the people’s mandate via a general election.

"He is now in a very weakened state, weaker even than Abdullah Badawi towards the end. There aren't many successors, only his deputy Muhyiddin and very likely Tengku Razaleigh," PAS leader Dzulkefly Ahmad told Malaysia Chronicle.

He was reffering to Muhyiddin Yassin, the UMNO No.2 and also the Deputy Prime Minister. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had challenged Najib in 2009 UMNO party polls, but lost, albeit with dignity. Ku Li is expected to make one last charge.

But what has led to Najib's sudden and violent downspiral. A check around will yield responses such as too much double-speak, pie-in-the-sky economic programmes, fear of the UMNO right-wing, not enough gumption to lead and strike new frontiers. His mishandling of the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections was the catalyst, and against the backdrop of a non-moving economy, Najib looks set to make an exit by 2012 at the latest.

Stagflation and not enough gumption

One of the strongest complaints has been the slow pace of Najib's various economic plans, which have pushed Malaysia into a lethal situation of low growth and high inflation. The Consumer Price Index, which hit a two-year peak of three per cent in March, has continued to rise - hitting 3.5 per cent in June as the government increased fuel, electricity and sugar prices to prevent the subsidy bill from doubling to RM21 billion.

“Najib is proving to be the lamest prime minister in Malaysia’s history... a weak leader with no political conviction and neither political will nor political courage when he refused to defend his 1 Malaysia policy as defined in the Government Transformation Plan policy document,” said Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

Pua was referring to Najib refusal to answer directly the question posed at the Malaysian Student Leaders Summit.

A student had asked Najib whether he was prepared to state that he was Malaysian first and what he thought of his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin’s infamous remark of being “Malay first and Malaysian second.”

Najib did not answer the question directed at him, insisting instead that “1 Malaysia is our guiding philosophy. It does not matter what you say, just as long as you follow.”

With a leader so unwilling to defend his own “1Malaysia” slogan, what more can we expect if he was to defend free and fair elections?

Trying to play Good Guy again

Pundits are now confident that the GE-13 will be held before the end of this year, which means it could be as early as October or November before the UMNO General Assembly and after the 2012 budget presentation. Elections have to happen soon and this was a fact Muhyiddin Yassin was not shy about when he told BN lawmakers to get ready.

With his credibility in tatters and his popularity rating hitting an all-time low, Najib is now trying to soften his stance. He wants to play 'good guy' again and continues to try and charm voters back into his camp. One such move was releasing the six PSM members held under the Emergency Ordinance in the runup to the controversial and landmark July 9 Bersih rally for free and fair elections.

“It was his greatest failure of leadership as Prime Minister leaving his credibility in tatters — which is why his claim yesterday that the release of the PSM6 under the Emergency Ordinance was in accordance with the rule of law was met with nation-wide derision. Najib cannot be more wrong if he thinks that he had restored his credibility with the release of the PSM6 yesterday,” said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang in a statement on Saturday.

Kit Siang also listed down four acts that Najib needed to perform in order to restore his credibility, i.e. make Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar tender a public apology to the six PSM members; repeal the EO as well as all oppressive laws; lift the ban on Bersih 2.0 and end the government’s persecution of people wearing yellow T-shirts; and set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry on free and fair elections.

In addition to that, Kit Siang also told Najib to take “firm action” against Utusan Malaysia for carrying out “insidious and seditious” articles to incite ethnic hatred and religious tensions in the country.

Currying favour 

Indeed, Najib's inability to control the racist overtones of Malay rights group Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia has shattered his once proud 1Malaysia slogan, and eroded support from the Chinese and Indians.

The Chinese have deserted him en masse and he is now left to curry favour with the Indian community. The Indians have always been a strong supporter of the ruling coalition but forsook it in Election 2008 after the government cracked down on the November 2007 Hindraf rally, where 30,000 Indians marched for better economic, educational and social opportunities.

Over the weekend, Najib announced Palanivel’s appointment, bringing the Cabinet to 30 ministers despite earlier promises not to repeat his predecessor's bloated Cabinet of 32 ministers. “There must be an understanding. Can you all deliver for Barisan Nasional? You can deliver and we will deliver,” Najib told delegates at the 65th MIC general assembly.

But as experts have pointed out these are just remedial steps to give the MIC more power to help the Indian community. But it may not translate automatically into more votes, analysts said.

Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian said Palanivel’s elevation to a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department would add to the promise of MIC but stressed that much depended on how the first-term party president used his new position. “It’s a double-edged sword. If Palanivel’s given a post that takes time for him to deliver, it may end up backfiring.”

Too many expensive trips

So maybe Najib is really his own greatest enemy, always opting for the short-cuts and half-measures that do not require too much of his efforts and keep him away from his non-stop overseas trips.

A politician who had everyone fooled with his early sweet talk. But as they say, you can fool some people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time. Small wonder that many now see him as UMNO's and BN’s greatest liability going into GE-13.

Soon, and like the 5th prime minister Abdullah Badawi, Najib may be toppled by the very same people who once helped him to oust his predecessor. And after only three years in office. That then is Najib’s legacy as prime minister of Malaysia.

- Malaysia Chronicle

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'Najib is now on shaky ground as Muhyiddin plots again'

Aug 1: Following the Bersih fiasco, Najib Razak’s position as prime minister and UMNO president is on shaky ground, according to two PAS leaders.

They pointed out that several contradictory statements made by his administration gave the strongest signal that Najib was increasingly seen as a liability for UMNO and Barisan Nasional.

“Most significant is how Najib is left on his own to absorb all the negative impact following his administration’s mishandling of Bersih 2.0,” said Kubang Kerian member of parliament Salahuddin Ayub (left).

Describing Najib's performance in the run-up and aftermath of the massive July 9 rally by Bersih as "most unfortunate", the PAS vice president said the prime minister could have made things easier for himself if he had only "taken the simple way out" by agreeing to Bersih's eight demands on electoral reforms.

“He could have easily solved the matter because Bersih 2.0’s demands are only eight, not eight hundred or eight thousand,” added Salahuddin.

Deliberate mishandling

Salahuddin said it would not come as a surprise if it was true that the "mishandling" of the Bersih rally was a deliberate act by UMNO to accelerate Najib's ouster.

“This is aggravated by the attitude of his wife (Rosmah Mansor), a far cry from the wives of the previous prime ministers," said Salahuddin, adding that the recent revelation about a RM24 million diamond ring imported into the country by Rosmah had clearly left many within UMNO's ranks disappointed. Rosmah last week refused to entertain questions over the report, dismissing it as slander.

According to Salahuddin, the call for Najib's ouster could emanate from none other than his own deputy, Muhyiddin Yasin (pic, top right, with Najib).

"If Muhyiddin had once told (former prime minister) Pak Lah to step down as prime minister during the UMNO Supreme Council meeting, it is possible that he will do it again now against Najib,” he said.

He said worried about such a prospect, Najib was now forced to go on a state by state tour.

'Najib in Mahathir 2003's situation'

Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, writing in The Malaysian Insider, described Najib as the biggest liability to his own party in the coming 13th general election, and compared him to Dr Mahathir Mohamad's situation in 2003.

“History will repeat. Tun (Mahathir) was forcefully sidelined by UMNO to save the Malay party, because he had become the biggest liability... The strategy proved to work. Pak Lah won big in the 11th general election in April 2004, in fact it was the biggest victory in UMNO’s history,” wrote the PAS central committee member.

Dzulkefly (right) said UMNO was currenly at its weakest point and this could prompt an alliance among Mahathir, Muhyiddin and Mahathir’s son Mukhriz Mahathir, into doing something 'drastic'.

“Will Muhyiddin, Mukhriz and Mahathir plot to bring down Najib to ensure that UMNO continues to hold Federal power? Will this 3-M faction gain the support of the Chinese and Indians whom Najib had tried to win over?" he asked.

Dzulkefly continued to pose several other questions.

"Can UMNO rule with the support of Malays who are now divided? Will they be supported by Amanah launched by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah?" he asked, referring to the newly-launched movement by UMNO's Gua Musang MP which among others sought to encourage greater unity among races.

 Taken from Harakah

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The Jekyll and Hyde in Najib: 10 arrested for wearing yellow to greet him

A group of 10 youths who wanted to hand over a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Razak regarding the Bersih 2.0 electoral reforms were unceremoniously arrested by the police just before his arrival at the KL Sentral public transportation hub.

No reasons were given but a few in the group wore the taboo colour - yellow!

"One of us was wearing a Malaysian jersey and I myself was wearing the 'Patriot' colour of red when we were arrested," Fareez Kamal Intidzam, who is also the aide to Ampang MP Zuraida Kamarauddin, said.

Among the 10 were PKR Youth leaders Zaki, Zulfikar, Sachi and Rozan. They were all detained at Jalan Travers police station.

Jekyll and Hyde

Meanwhile, PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin slammed the prime minister for the high-handed move.

"They may be Pakatan Rakyat members in the group but is Najib trying to say they are not Malaysians and only BN members are Malaysians. This is a total disappointment to his pledge when took he over of allowing greater democratic space. Under him, Malaysia is now at its most repressive. It is a real switch," Shamsul told Malaysia Chronicle.

Indeed, many have accused Najib of a Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. In April 2009, when he took over as the 6th prime minister, he promised unity and reforms.

But he has since backpedalled, with his administration recently drawing rebuke from the UN, US and international human rights groups such as Amnesty International. One of the foreign NGOs even likenened his government to being a "banana republic".

His blatant disregard for his own words and unabashed practice of sending starkly different messages to different racial groups have made him the most unpopular leader now.

Just two days ago, fed-up Malaysians did not bother to hide their contempt when they plastered the words Diam Lah! or Shaddup! all over his Facebook wall when he tried to explain his excessive police crackdown on the July 9 Bersih ralliers. Najib is against Bersih, insisting there is nothing wrong with the existing electoral system. Earlier this month, he even outlawed Bersih.

His critics have now begun a Diam Lar! Facebook page to censure him each he overdoes the hypocrisy in his rhetoric.

As of press time, the 10 are still in the police lock-up. Najib and several cabinet ministers were on the Express Rail Link, heading from Putrajaya to KL Sentral to distribute the Jalur Gemilang or Malaysian flag in a run-up to the national day celebrations on August 31.

Taken from Malaysian Chronicle

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Game Over: It's either resign or snap elections for Najib, here's why

FROM THE INBOX As much as I would like to stop writing about PM Najib administration, the plot just got interesting and I think he may just hit the bull’s eye as far as my prediction that his downfall may be faster than his predecessor, Abdullah Badawi, is concerned. Compared with Najib, Badawi now seems like a cute adorable little kitten, who merely likes to sleep (on the job). Malaysians tend to be more forgiving on lazy prime minister but not a prime minister who lies, cheats, brutal, dirty (allegation on Mongolian Altantuya’s murder), hypocrite but above all foolish yet arrogant.

One cannot help but fall off the chair laughing after reading that Najib said he cancelled a family vacation because he wants to spend more time with Malaysians. This was perhaps the best joke ever by premier Najib since he took over from Abdullah Badawi. This joke is actually worth a thousand “Likes” on his Facebook page. Forget about Bersih 2.0 because this guy may quit under pressure – not from opposition parties or Bersih 2.0 but from his internal UMNO party. Boy, if it was true that the US$24 million controversial diamond ring indeed belongs to his wife Rosmah Mansor, that ring is cursed.

Anyone notice the deadly silence from Mahathir after the Bersih 2.0 rally that instantly flush Najib’s popularity into the toilet bowl? I’ve written earlier that Najib administration’s extreme stupidity in tackling the simple issue of Bersih 2.0 made the whole episode smells like a rat. Najib can’t be that foolish (or was he?) and even if he was indeed stupid, his wife would have saved the day, unless of course the plan to unseat him has been brought forward by his own circles.Mahathir doesn’t like Najib for two main reasons - his wife and his close connection with Singapore Government.

It seems Najib may have to quit soon, probably before his term expires in 2013. And if Najib plans to stay until next year to enjoy more free overseas holidays using taxpayers money under his capacity as the prime minister, his dream is now short-lived based on his emergency return to take control of Putrajaya. How on earth could everything turn upside-down before his “shopping” trip to United Kingdom and Italy ends? It appears he has no other option but to call an early election, possibly before 11-11-2011 in order to neutralize his enemy from within UMNO, if he’s able to do that.

1) Perkasa Ibrahim Ali

Ibrahim Ali, the guy whom you love and hate has successfully performed his duty, if indeed it was true that he was actually a mole, regardless whether he was planted by Anwar or Mahathir. His job was to create chaos and racial disharmony. Both Anwar or Mahathir knew the Malay votes and to a certain extent the Indian votes have returned to UMNO under Najib’s leadership. If the Chinese voters were to go back in droves to the UMNO-led National Front coalition, then the opposition is toast and Najib would become very powerful, so much so that he can ask Mahathir to fly kite.

One has to remember Mahathir is a master in the game of divide-and-rule. As long as Ibrahim Ali can continuously feed the racial hatred cookies to both ethnic-Malay and ethnic-Chinese, Najib’s strength is being checked. And wasn’t Ibrahim Ali a director in Vincent Tan’s Berjaya Group, one of the closest cronies during Mahathir administration? Well, if Najib truly believed that Ibrahim Ali was God-sent Angel to help fish runaway Malay votes for his administration, then he deserves what he’s getting now.

2) Deputy PM Muhyiddin

One needs to see the bigger picture on how the deputy PM seems to be pouring kerosene everytime his boss, PM Najib Razak, starts a new project in his bid to gain voters’ support. When Najib was shouting till foam at mouth his 1Malaysia concept, Muhyiddin declared he was Malay first and Malaysian second. And of course Mahathir almost swear he doesn’t actually understand the concept of 1Malaysia. Muhyiddin is indeed a strong deputy as he was one of the warlords who enjoys ground support.

Najib doesn’t like a strong deputy because it would make him looks weak, which is true because his political rising star was purely based on his father’s name, the second prime minister Tun Razak. In short, Najib was born with silver platter hence he has never been known to be a risk-taker. The fact that Muhyiddin together with Mahathir were extremely quiet post-Bersih 2.0 rally speak volumes about how both were equally pleased with the public and international criticism on the Najib administration in handling the peaceful demonstration. Muhyiddin can almost smell the aroma of the premiership.

3) Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein

Given the option, Muhyiddin would like to become the Prime Minister yesterday but there’s another opportunist who like to climb the ladder and he’s none other than Najib’s own cousin – Hishammuddin Hussein. In Malaysia, it seems only the elite groups have the priviledge to become the prime minister. Just like how Najib leveraged on his daddy’s priviledge name, Hishammuddin was drooling about becoming the next prime minister since his father was the country’s third prime minister.

Needless to say, Mahathir was also architecting the plan to build his own dynasty. Time is the luxury Mahathir doesn’t have considering his current age. Going by his plan, he would like to see his own son takes over the throne while he’s still alive – after Muhyiddin warmed the seat. But with Hishammuddin controlling the police force, this little obstacle needs to be neutralized and what better way than to promise a deputy prime minister-ship to Hishammuddin after Mahathir’s son gets to sit on the throne? Hishammudin must be a fool to believe such a promise but then he is not a very clever fellow nonetheless.

He’s an opportunist who would not think twice about jumping ships, cousin or not. Judging by how he declared the Bersih 2.0 an illegal organization, made wild but laughable allegations that PSM-6 were waging war against the King and linked them to communism but later accused them of being involved as “movers and activists” to Berish 2.0, arresting people for wearing yellow T-shirts and whatnot goes to show how he tried to make Najib administration looks very foolish. As fast as he plucked accusations on PSM-6 from the sky, he disappeared with equal speed after Bersih 2.0; leaving the police to take care of their own mess. Has Najib ever wondered that his own cousin has jumped ship to Mahathir-Muhyiddin tag-team?

4) Bersih 2.0 and Marina Mahathir

Many people praise Mahathir’s daughter, Marina, for taking part in the Bersih 2.0 although strangely she didn’t participate in Bersih 1.0 (or did she?). Of course that was after she blogged about it and fortunately she didn’t get tear-gassed by the police. Silly me, of course she didn’t get to taste the water cannon or tear-gas because she didn’t lead the marchers. It would be fun to see if the police would still spray her knowing she’s the daughter of former powerful dictator Mahathir Mohamad.

Coincidently Mahathir was deadly silent while the daughter suddenly become super vocal in condemning Najib administration. She can’t possibly speak on her daddy’s behalf in pouring fuel into the fire in the plan to unseat Najib, can she? But how could anyone suspect Marina’s noble intention in supporting the Bersih 2.0. For goodness sake, she won’t kill an ant so how can she has ill-intention towards Bersih 2.0. Compared to her monster daddy, Marina is such a charming angel so let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.

At most, Marina may have “consulted” his daddy and his daddy“encouraged” her to “speak as she sees fit” (*grin*). Maybe Marina should speak about the brutality in Teoh Beng Hock, Ahmad Sarbani or Kugan’s death in the hand of MACC and police as well, no?

5) Utusan Malaysia

The only role of Utusan, the newspaper owned by UMNO, was to publish racial articles – the more the merrier. The justification of doing so was to drum the support of Malay voters. The rural illiterate Malay voters will always support UMNO while the urban educated Malay voters are with the opposition parties. The fence-sitters will swing to whichever side depending on the respective party’s campaign. But assuming the Utusan is still under Najib’s control, won’t it be over-kill to not only fan the racial hatred, Christianity would take over from Islam as the country’s official religion and opposition trying to revive communism but also in taking the slingshot at Jews?

Utusan’s latest loose cannon was aiming at Jews by alleging that the Bersih 2.0 rally could open the door to Jews and Israel to infiltrate Malaysia. B’nai B’rith International, a Jewish humanitarian organisation, called the allegation “preposterous” and “offensive” and which only serves to perpetuate an anti-Semitic attitude. Heck, if there’s one thing you do not wish to disturb, it’s in toying with anti-Semitic game. Mahathir had learnt his painful lesson in sticking the nest of anti-Semitic and certainly the coward Najib won’t dare to even think about such idea.

The fact that Utusan was happily sowing anti-Semitic hatred while Najib administration was busy doing damage-control by explaining to the international media and foreign government about police repression and intimidation on peaceful protestors goes to show that Najib was not in control of Utusan. If Utusan was not within Najib’s control, then Utusan is reporting to someone much more powerful than the prime minister.

6) Matthias Chiang

Mahathir’s die-hard fan and adviser, Matthias Chiang had slammed Najib administration about its handling of the country's economy and practically didn’t put any hope that Najib could overcome the global financial crisis. To be fair, Matthias Chiang was also super critical about Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law administration. Heck, this guy would even criticise Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth because his only idol was his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, simply because Mahathir can do no worng as the former premier was the only visionary ever born in this world, literally.

Before the Bersih 2.0 rally, Matthias wrote that Najib should just let the rally proceed and not make a big fuss out of it, something which I wrote earlier as well. But knowing Najib’s arrogance, such advise would not reach his ears. Maybe Matthias was giving Najib last opportunity, after consultation from Mahathir, to stop, think and act rationally rather than emotionally (or rather stupidly). The water is under the bridge now and Najib has to face the consequences of his stubbornness and arrogance.

7) Angkatan Amanah Rakyat (Amanah)

Don’t you smell rats (what’s wrong with my nose?) that UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah chose to launch his new group, Angkatan Amanah Rakyat (Amanah), at this hour? Suddenly this Kelantan prince called on the silent majority to voice their discontent against “rife corruption, cronyism and racial crisis” despite his many decades serving UMNO as if he has just awaken from hibernation. The fact that he’s still not willing to quit UMNO and focus in this so-called third force raised many questions and doubts.

It’s not difficult to conclude that his new Amanah is more of a political movement set up to take advantage of the current chaos within UMNO and the huge support Bersih 2.0 is enjoying. The fact that the group consists of political veterans (or rather rejected) such as former tourism minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, former Sabah Chief Osu Sukam, former MCA president Ong Tee Keat and others triggered suspicions about its real intention. If you believe these people have Bersih (Clean) themselves, then you also believe Paris Hilton is still a virgin.

Wasn’t Kadir Sheikh Fadzir the person who tried to parachute a Proton car into South Pole to impress his boss Mahathir only to find out the oil used couldn’t handle the low temperature? And wasn’t Osu Sukam the guy whom gambling debts snowballed to RM7.1 million that two foreign casinos, London-based Ritz Hotel Casino Ltd and RHC Ltd, had to seek High Court help to recover the debts, despite the fact that as a Muslim Osu Sukam should not had gambled? Sure, they have repented and become the good guys and are now on a mission to save the world (*grin*).

Anyway, is Razaleigh trying to hijack the situation in an attempt to lock-in discontent votes especially from Bersih 2.0′s 709 Facebook revolution and UMNO rejected warlords or little Napoleans who are about to be dumped by Najib in the next general election? As much as Razaleigh tries to lead the third force, he couldn’t even explain the real role of his new pet project, let alone in assuring people that his movement is indeed neutral and not another power broker opportunist. Maybe Razaleigh sensed this will be the golden opportunity for him to become the next prime minister after all.

In a scenario where opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is sent to prison and both opposition and Najib coalition locked in a stalemate in the next general election, PM-wannabe Razaleigh would play the role of the kingmaker, if his Amanah managed to capture some strategic seats. Hey, he didn’t say his Amanah group is purely a NGO and not a potential political party, did he? Mahathir is more than willing to offer the prime ministership to Razaleigh than to lose it to opposition while the opposition would see Razaleigh as a good fit in case of a vacuum left by Anwar Ibrahim.

Razaleigh is old – the most he can walk the corridors of powers is one-term so it seems everybody would favours him, in case of a stalemate. Whether Amanah is the brainchild of Razaleigh or was indirectly sponsored by Mahathir is immaterial. The objective was to unseat Najib Razak as he carries too much baggage so much so that he may bring UMNO down to a level which is beyond repair. When that happens all the corrupt UMNO warlords would need to take the first flight out of the country so you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to decide whether it’s worthwhile to keep Najib Razak. Gosh, the plot thickens and become super interesting.

8 ) Bourdon-French-Scorpene Connection

French human rights lawyer William Bourdon was already in the country since earlier this week and the government had full knowledge about the purpose of his trip and yet the Immigration Department did not refuse him entry into Malaysia, until PM Najib Razak rushed back from his unfinished shopping trip. Surely it can’t be that the Immigration Department was sleeping on the job. Obviously some very senior and influential leaders (more powerful than PM Najib) were pulling the string in allowing the French lawyers into the country to do maximum damage by embarrasing Najib Razak.

The moment Najib rushed home, the French lawyer was deported. Bourdon was arrested after Immigration officials boarded his plane which landed in KLIA from Penang. As expected, the excuse given for the deportation was that the French lawyer violated the conditions of his visit to Malaysia. But if even my cat can tell that it was the government’s RM7.3 billion purchase of submarines from French shipbuilder DCNS that got Bourdon deported, who is Najib administration to bluff?

9) Mahathir Mohamad

There’re two main things that Mahathir doesn’t like about Najib administration –his wife and his close relationship with Singapore, not to mention the dictator just realized Najib is another Abdullah Badawi clone – slogan king without substance. It’s perfectly alright to be corrupt but the country’s economy gravy train has to continuously churning out moolah. The pace of corruption and economic progress have to work hand in glove. If you wish to take 100 bucks you have to make sure the economic train can generate at least 200 bucks. But the way the country’s economic is moving, it seems it was in reverse order - too many hands in the cookie jar.

During Mahathir’s era, the corruption was done in a systematic way, you let the goose lay its golden egg before you take it and not the current way of slaughtering the goose hoping to get all the golden eggs. When there’re not enough eggs to be distributed, chaos erupts as everyone would get anxious, panic and greedy thus triggering the process of massive corruption. This is bad for next UMNO leaders (such as Mahathir’s own son or dynasty) as there would be nothing more left. Suddenly it appears bringing Najib down is much more easier than Abdullah Badawi.

However, there’s a risk that Mahathir’s plan may backfire if the opposition manage to capture Putrajaya in the next general election. And that was why Razaleigh’s Amanah is in the picture now. Razaleigh’s Amanah would be able to split the votes which would otherwise ended up in the opposition’s bag as well as to act as bargaining chip should Najib needs them to stay in power. Razaleigh is noble enough to act as the airbag to absorb impact in case of a sudden car crash. Razaleigh doesn’t play dirty politics as he put priority on his dignity as a Kelantan prince. Time will tell if he’s still a fool to be played out, again, by Mahathir. But after more than 20-years since his defeat, maybe Razaleigh is mature and smart enough this time aorund and may spring some surprises for Mahathir.

Now, Najib’s choices reduced to two – to resign honourably, which is highly unlikely, or to call a snap election this year, earlier than his favourite lucky number 11-11-2011. PM Najib actually doesn’t have much choice and he has only himself to blame. If only he would listen to the voice of bloggers, the Bersih 2.0 rally would proceed and the whole problem would be non-existent. Negotiate and comply with probably half of the Bersih 2.0′s demands and he can still win handsomely as Sabah and Sarawak are still the fixed deposit. Ambiga is not a politician and surely she would be more than happy if Najib can promise half the demands, buy some time until the next delineation exercise takes effect (another round of gerrymandering) and Najib can still remains as the prime minister.

Of course, he can still gamble his last chip by calling a snap election this year, before Mahathir pull his string from behind getting UMNO Supreme Council warlords demanding Najib’s resignation. Either way, it’s quite difficult for Najib to win two-third majority when his own people are sharpening knifes for his head.It’s game over for Najib Razak. He already made his moolah and can retire young retire rich, at Port Dickson. And Abdullah Badawi may call him from his iPhone poking joke why Najib resigns sooner than his (Badawi) term.

Taken from Malaysian Chronicle

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