Yesterday, two of the top stories in the Wall Street Journal were unflattering accounts of what has become the biggest political scandal the country has ever seen.
We are no longer talking about a lack of accountability among the leadership. We are now seeing a failure and, worse, a refusal to account.
Many Malaysians have asked what has brought us to this stage. Opposition politicians and civil society leaders will tell us that we are on the brink of becoming a failed state.
It doesn’t take deep reflection to see why. We have watched over the years how our institutions, intended as checks and balances against each other, have one by one been compromised.
The three branches of government – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – each of whose independence is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, no longer operate as such. In fact, the executive and legislature never have, with Umno/BN so dominant in Parliament over six decades to the extent that it controlled two thirds of the chamber for so long, enabling it to wreak what we now see, with the benefit of hindsight, as havoc on the institutions of government.
The opposition has, at the expense of public interest, recently chosen to self-destruct, largely through self-service and egotism developed as a by-product of substantial electoral gains made in recent years.
Prior to that, BN itself had self-destructed, with component parties not prepared to stand up for minority rights in the face of an increasingly dominant and bullying Umno. Only their leaders can tell us what motivated their silence. Security? Comfort? Fear? Patronage? Inability?
Most of all, within Umno itself, we now see a failure to come to grips with the situation, its leaders’ silence showing how out of touch they are with the realities on the ground. Again, this is possibly born of security, comfort, fear, patronage and inability.
Umno has as its president the country’s prime minister, a man who has belatedly admitted to receiving a massive donation of almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion), most of which is now said to have come from an unnamed foreign donor. That explanation itself is inherently unbelievable to many who have in the recent past also been suspicious about the debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s activities.
The prime minister claims he did not use the funds for “personal gain” but to date has refused to disclose to the public the source of those funds and what they were used for. Previous attempts by him and 1MDB to account for its funds have been shown to be disastrous.
Implicit in the statements now being released are admissions that the so-called donation was used for political gain, namely to buy victory in the 2013 general elections.
Blatant lies
All the machineries of government, supposed to act as checks and balances against such abuses, have now been shown to have failed. Worse, segments of the administration have been found to be blatantly lying, seemingly unchecked and without repercussions.
Bank Negara, led by a direct appointee of the Yang diPertuan Agong supposedly to preserve its independence, has failed to detect, report and act under existing laws which govern such remittances.
Tax authorities have failed to investigate the nature of the income. Interestingly, the Inland Revenue Board comprises the Secretary- General to the Treasury, the Attorney- General, the Director- General of Public Service, the CEO of Inland Revenue and other appointees of the Finance Minister, who, as we all know, is the Umno President/Prime Minister himself.
The Elections Commission, another institution created by the Federal Constitution and headed by an appointee of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, has failed to investigate the matter and take action despite the fact that there may well be an election offence of gargantuan proportions here.
The list is endless.
The system having abjectly failed, it has taken a combination of foreign and local media to ask questions that the public clamour for answers to.
On the local front, outspoken 1MDB critic The Edge and its sister paper were without warning suspended for allegedly publishing false news without need for the authorities to prove what exactly was false, and sadly it seems without recourse to the courts of justice. Its owners and editors were threatened with criminal action.
The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story about the money in Najib’s bank accounts, has been threatened with a lawsuit which may never see the light of day simply because it is quite untenable.
More ludicrously, the defiantly conscientious British journalist Clare Rewcastle-Brown has been issued with a warrant of arrest purportedly for activities detrimental to a parliamentary democracy, a stick also being used by the police to beat down opposition politicians, civil society leaders and ordinary Malaysians who speak up for accountability.
Belatedly, amidst much fanfare, a multi-purpose task force comprising the Attorney-General, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Governor of Bank Negara and the Inspector General of Police, was set up to investigate allegations against 1MDB.
Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, another appointee who serves at the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s pleasure, had his services abruptly terminated apparently on health grounds but without his prior knowledge.
And then there was a cabinet reshuffle involving the dismissal of the deputy prime minister for publicly asking questions that demand answers at a party function.
The top two officers of the MACC are said to be on leave. How they can do so in the face of such a crisis is unfathomable. The MACC office has been raided and nine MACC officers have been hauled up for questioning by the police.
Amidst all this, real issues of conflict of interests and abuse of powers have emerged.
So where has this led us to, Malaysia? Who is left to check what may be an errant administration? The answer is simple: everyone.
Umno, wake up, for if you do not this may well be the end of your existence. BN parliamentarians, arise, your voices of dissent and dissatisfaction need to be heard. Opposition members, put aside your differences and place the interest of the rakyat first. Members of the administration, speak out, put your positions on the line. Judges, understand your oaths.
Appointees of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, understand that you were appointed to serve king and country, not the powers that be.
Be brave and bold. Risk your offices.
And finally, Conference of Rulers, please step in. In you lie residual powers which can be invoked.
Invoke them, and return Malaysia to its rightful path.
Malaysia is in turmoil, but there is a way out.
By Mark Clement
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