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The Battle for Johor Has Begun With First Salvo From Muhyiddin Denouncing Najib, A Shameless Convict
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright February 2022
Malay Mail reported on 6th Feb, Mahyuddin “dispensed completely with all subtleties and openly denounced former prime minister Najib Razak as a ‘shameless’ convict who was dragging Umno down with him.”
Muhyiddin said Najib had been convicted in the court of a very serious crime and described by a Court of Appeal Judge as a ‘national embarrassment’ last December. Implying Najib should be regarded as a liability to UMNO and reminding the supporters to be wary of him in the forthcoming election.
This prepared statement was made when political parties were busy preparing for the Johor state election which will determine the success and survival of BERSATU or UMNO as the dominant party in the state assembly.
Discrediting Najib as one that was dragging UMNO down was indeed timely and a move which must have been carefully calculated by BERSATU strategists.
They must have realised by now that they did not attack Najib hard enough during the Melaka state election. UMNO won the majority of seats in the state assembly there with Najib as UMNO’s frontman leading the charge taking over from Zahid who was away in Europe.
Politeness, subtleties and diplomacy that seem to characterise Malays everywhere, more so amongst politicians, were out of the window that day. It was an outright blunt full-frontal attack on Najib by Muhyiddin. You could almost sense the anger and the venom spewing out of his mouth as he read his prepared speech.
During the Melaka state election, Najib’s case was yet to be decided by the Court of Appeals and he was out on the campaign trails playing to the gallery, drumming up public support and perhaps appealing for some sympathy when his daughter was about to give birth at a hospital in Singapore.
The court was kind enough to return his passport for him to visit his daughter, much to the displeasure of the public. But he stayed on until UMNO won. In the eyes of the Melaka public he was seen to be sacrificing his time and setting aside his own family matters for the sake of the party. Supporters of UMNO gave him a resounding Yes!
However, since then Najib’s case had been rejected by the Court of Appeal with his crimes labelled by the Presiding Judge as a “national embarrassment” instead of acts of national interest, that his lawyers tried to paint.
In the forthcoming election, BERSATU probably decided to put an end to Najib’s antics. We can safely say that for their political survival, head-on confrontation was not only a necessity but of utmost importance for BERSATU in the UMNO heartland.
So, they fired the first salvo and let the other side go on the defensive. This time there was plenty to say about Najib’s reputation now that two courts have found him guilty of the crimes that embarrassed the entire nation and made Malaysia a laughing stock and the butt of jokes by comedians worldwide.
The bitterness between these two rival politicians was deep-rooted. It started when Najib dismissed Muhyiddin as his Deputy Prime Minister when 1MDB fiasco was being unravelled. Muhyiddin had not forgotten that neither had Najib who regarded his former deputy not only as a “traitor” to him but to the party, as well, when the latter left UMNO to form BERSATU with his nemesis, Tun M.
Muhyiddin said Najib should be ashamed of himself. But instead, he said Najib was cheered on with the slogan, ‘malu apa, bossku’!” (why be embarrassed, my boss?).
Muhyiddin continued saying he personally, would be ashamed to be linked to a party who held up a man convicted of a serious criminal offence as a boss!
“Where is your faith? Where is your pride?” asked Muhyiddin. When he talked about faith he meant Islam that demands followers to be remorseful and to repent when found guilty of any criminal acts.
So, is the word malu, to be shy or embarrassed in Malay culture. But obviously, Najib was above all that.
It did not take long for Najib himself to respond to Munyiddin’s first salvo. The very next day he said Muhyiddin himself should be ashamed for associating with UMNO when he needed help most to hold on to his job as Prime Minister. Without he would not have the majority to assume power.
Bloggers like Hussein Hamid from as far away as Melbourne added their version of cases after cases of misdeeds involving Muhyiddin since his time as MB of Johor until the day he abandoned UMNO.
However, close to home, Tun M added his own version with details of Najib’s shameless ways and ended his litany of the crimes committed by saying “Najib tidak malu dan ramai penyokongnya tidak malu apabila disogok, apabila didapati bersalah. Nilai hidup yang hodoh ini jelas ternampak apabila penyokong Najib berkata, “Apa perlu malu, (Najib) boss kita.” Dengan itu diciumlah tangan Najib, pencuri Melayu Islam” or in English, Najib is not ashamed and many of his supporters are not ashamed either when they bribed, when found guilty. This ugliness of life is clearly seen when Najib’s supporters say, “What a shame, (Najib) our boss.” With that, they kissed the hand of Najib, the Malay Muslim thief”.
Subramaniam Muthali too admonished Najib by saying the latter did not have “an iota of credibility” to lecture anyone on “shame” because he had stolen billions from the country and subjugated the administration to keep himself in power and out of jail during his premiership.
Muthali said Najib was the least qualified to talk about shame! Besides, we are well aware he had been sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million and buying time, waiting for the day to enter prison.
So, this battle of words goes on to inform and perhaps entertain us till polling day.
Meanwhile, the jury is still out. Johorians have to decide whom they would like to have in the state assembly.
For the rest of us in the gallery, just enjoy the show.
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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