What is UMNO's and PN's stance in the fight against corruption…?
When around 200 participants, mostly young protesters, including university students, bravely marched through Kuala Lumpur last Saturday (Jan 25) carrying placards and posters, some observers may have dismissed it as just one of those insignificant gatherings; after all, there were no prominent political leaders in attendance and the numbers that had turned up were nowhere near that of past Bersih rallies!
Interestingly, according to a news report, among the placards the protesters held up carried the words “No house arrest for Najib” while another one bore a caricature of PM Anwar with the words “Bapa Pembebasan Perasuah” (Father of Freedom for the Corrupt).
Meanwhile, some also chanted slogans such as “Don’t release Najib” and “Die, die corrupters”, while holding up posters condemning corruption.
The truth is, since assuming office in 2022, PM Anwar has been accused by his critics of dragging his feet in carrying out reforms while being too lenient on corruption cases involving some of his political allies; perhaps, the most notable case being the “dropping” of graft charges against UMNO president and deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi which had sparked public outcry in the country.
Recently, there were also other controversial high profile cases which sparked heated debate; one of them involved Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Najib, who was sensationally freed of 17 money laundering and tax evasion charges last December after the judge had ruled that the charges were flawed and did not comply with the Criminal Procedure Code.
Shockingly, last November Najib himself and former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah were also granted discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) relating to RM6.6 billion criminal breach of trust charges involving the notorious 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal; this was due to the prosecution's failure to furnish the required documents to court though the charges were filed back in 2018!
Given these developments it was not surprising that the protesters in the rally were calling for several major reforms which included the separation of the Attorney-General's Chambers from the Prime Minister’s Office, freeing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission from political interference, and introducing a political funding Act.
Unless these significant structural reforms are set in place, it is feared that in future, many more high profile cases could end up being “dropped” for political expediency!
But while the rally itself may have proceeded without much fanfare it nonetheless did spark some interesting talking points.
First and foremost, why the initial hesitancy by the police and Anwar’s government in granting approval for the peaceful rally? Was it some kind of a sandiwara (charade) designed to appease its coalition ally UMNO and the supporters of the party's incarcerated former president? After all, many of the graft cases involved the latter's own party leaders!
Secondly, wasn't the rally also a stark reminder to UMNO and in particular Najib’s supporters, as well as the opposition, that corruption should never be “normalised" in this country - and that they will not allow any attempts to “whitewash” the disgraced ex-PM’s massive 1MDB-related corruption “sins”…?
Finally, while senior DAP leaders such as Nga Kor Ming publicly supported the rally, there was barely a whimper from the usual “champions” from PAS, Bersatu and UMNO; it would appear that some of them were more keen on following the latest news on the controversial “halal" ham and cheese sandwich issue!
Furthermore, haven't the opposition Perikatan National coalition always projected themselves as “bersih” (clean of corruption)?
Ignore the young at your peril!
Whatever it is, PM Anwar as a former student activist should know better than most people that ignoring the voice of the younger generation can be a huge blunder because if the status quo remains, the next rally could see bigger numbers; in fact, after two solid years in power, shouldn't the Madani government speed up the implementation of the promised structural reforms without offering any more excuses?
Main information source: Malay Mail, Malaysiakini, Straits Times, FMT, Malaysia Now, Facebook Akmal Saleh and Sinar Harian
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