1. And today Najib goes to jail finally. He fought hard, his counsels snarling, coaxing, debating, arguing but the CJ Tun Maimun held firm. Evidence of wrongdoing captured on paper was too overwhelming, denials too flimsy. In the end it was a show, a performative one where desperation meant nothing was left sacred - sumpah laknat mubahalah, lawyers arguing for CJ to recuse herself as she could be influenced by her husband. The screaming supporters were a separate theatre.
2. So after many years of the kleptocracy spilled out into the open with no way of hiding the crime on such a massive global scale, one part closes. Not all is over - Jho Low walks free, the moneys not fully recovered, impact on nation’s coffers will linger for decades. Institutions were tainted, lackeys walk freely after turning hostile prosecution witnesses. Najib caused massive institutional damage to the country, recover we must.
3. Going deeper into the root cause - Tun M’s role in the sacking of Tun Salleh Abas in 1988 has got to be the starting point of the centralisation of powers, diminishing the separation of powers of the three-legged chair of democracy. Selective prosecution of high-profile cases became normalised, Anwar’s sacking followed by the strange sodomy trials became a permanent blight on the judiciary. As much as Tun M must be praised for his role in bringing down Najib, the fact that Najib caused considerable damage before the unthinkable elections of 2018 could be traced back to Tun preparing the massive levers of authority in the PM Chair. Perhaps Tun only had good intentions, perhaps he did not perceive the damage when those levers of power were passed to personas of considerably less vision and more self-interest in the post, but damage was considerable. Perhaps Najib failed to control people around him who used him to siphon money out and only gave him a smallish commission of at least tens of millions, but that should not have happened if the checks and balances were in place.
4. Tun Maimun perhaps had the overt backing of the executive before today as PM9 stood to gain with Najib’s imprisonment too, but still seeing her in live action setting an exemplary behaviour of interacting with power is instructive. No fear, no favour, nothing given, no less. No jargons, no slogans - just exercising her powers at the apex of the judicial system. We probably need more women leaders who can segregate ourselves from this elitist families, schools and alumnis and just start doing the right things when called upon to do it.
5. The nation is still hurting, but today allows for some healing when an antagonist like Najib gets what he deserves. Still a lot more needs to happen when we can stand tall, or regain our posture, but it’s a start.
6. One year on from the last post, this is a better place than the dark final days of Muhyiddin’s administration. His PPBM influence is all but gone, his frog support is likely to be wiped out in the next GE. Replacements are thin - MUDA isn’t one. Politically, it does seem we have to rely on Ismail to lead, cleanse and transform UMNO on its own as the best option, which creates its own peculiar set of internal revulsion admitting that, but put them next to PAS who are always three steps behind and hiding behind its religious masquerade or PH under a pretty much lost-looking PKR
6. Bye Najib. Good riddance to rotting, un remorseful, unashamed rubbish.
