Najib-obsessed/fixated Kerbau Kerala with another moo-moo

Malaysia Now:

Muhyiddin kept his word about refusing to help Najib escape charges, says Dr M

But it was also this unwavering stand by the Bersatu leader that caused his downfall, with similar pressure to be felt by his successor Ismail Sabri Yaakob, says the former prime minister.


Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin share a light moment before a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, 2016. Photo: AFP

While Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reserved some of the strongest words in his newest memoir for Muhyiddin Yassin, he also acknowledges that his former party comrade who went on to succeed him as prime minister was steadfast against any attempt at having Najib Razak’s criminal charges dropped.

“Muhyiddin assured me that he would not interfere with Najib’s trials and other court cases.

“In this, at least, I believe Muhyiddin kept his word – he apparently declined to drop charges against Najib or obtain a pardon for his existing convictions,” the veteran leader wrote in his upcoming memoir “Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia”, a 304-page book covering his 15-year retirement before his return to the top office in 2018 and his resignation 22 months later.

But Mahathir said it was also this principle that caused Muhyiddin’s downfall in August this year, when he was forced to resign after a string of defections involving Umno MPs engineered by Najib and party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“When Muhyiddin refused to stop the court proceedings against Najib, Najib threatened to pull out of the coalition, triggering the sequence of events that led to the rise of Ismail Sabri,” he said, adding that he had warned Muhyiddin against the risk of needing Najib’s support for his Perikatan Nasional government.

Yesterday, the Court of Appeal threw out Najib’s attempt to overturn his conviction of seven charges of power abuse, criminal breach of trust and money laundering, for which he was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million in July last year, some four months after Muhyiddin came to office after taking Bersatu out of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

Mahathir and Muhyiddin helped found Bersatu in 2016 as a challenge to Najib during the peak of revelations surrounding the 1MDB scandal.

Their party later teamed up with PH to end six decades of Barisan Nasional rule, and Mahathir became the oldest elected head of government in the world at the age of 93.

But following controversies surrounding a promised transition of power that would see his former nemesis Anwar Ibrahim replacing him in the top post, cracks appeared in the PH government, and by early 2020, the coalition fell apart, triggering a split in PKR and Bersatu.

During his 17 months in power, Muhyiddin repeatedly said he would not interfere in high-profile corruption charges involving Umno leaders, despite them forming part of the bloc that had backed him in 2020 to become prime minister.

Muhyiddin had said he was forced out of office due to a group of “kleptocrats” scheming to escape corruption charges, a reference to Najib, Zahid and a group of Umno MPs facing criminal charges.

In a final attempt at preventing the group from coming to power, Muhyiddin offered a cross-party agreement to PH MPs, but the coalition rejected the gesture, leading to his resignation days later.

MalaysiaNow also reported in detail how Zahid had met Muhyiddin to get his backing to drop the multiple corruption charges against him.

Mahathir meanwhile is convinced that Muhyiddin’s successor Ismail would feel the same pressure from Najib.

“For Najib, all that matters is returning to power – and he is nearly there. He made remarkable progress after he lost the general election in 2018.”

‘My extraordinary life’

Looking back at the political crisis triggered by his shock resignation in February 2020, Mahathir suggested that it might not have been the right move.

“I apologise if my decision to resign was wrong but I write this in truth: I could not have stayed on. I was stressed, kecil hati and feeling kecewa – discouraged and disappointed.

“It is not an easy thing to accept that your party no longer has confidence in you. I also did not expect to be betrayed by a co-founder of my party,” he said in the book, which will be available in stores next week.

But he said he was grateful for having led “an extraordinary life” as well as being blessed with good health.

“I once thought 96 was terribly old but here I am at this grand age, working on the last chapter of this book,” he said in the concluding pages of his latest work.

“I know that I have led an extraordinary life, for which I am most grateful to God. I have spent much of it serving the country.”


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Straits Times (Sing):

1Malaysia programme among reasons why Mahathir started to hate me: Najib

In an interview with Malaysiakini, former premier Najib Razak said current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was not happy with some of his projects and policy decisions.PHOTOS: REUTERS

[PUBLISHED JUL 6, 2018, 10:34 AM SGT]


PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The 1Malaysia programme to promote national unity was among the reasons relationship between former premier Najib Razak and current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad soured, said Najib.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Najib said Tun Dr Mahathir was not happy with some of his projects and policy decisions.

"In the early stages after I became prime minister, around 2009 and even after the 13th general election, we were still on very good terms," Najib said.

But, he said, Dr Mahathir grew increasingly angry at him due to his refusal to fulfil his many requests.

He said the first thing Dr Mahathir requested was the crooked bridge project, a six-lane S-shaped highway meant to replace the link from Johor Baru to Singapore, of which Najib was not able to approve.

"The project was cancelled by Pak Lah (former prime minister Abdullah Badawi). It would be very hard for me to explain to the public if we restart the project, especially after hefty compensation was already paid for the cancellation," Najib said.

He said Dr Mahathir had also requested for more funds to develop Langkawi and for his son Mukhriz Mahathir to become the Kedah Menteri Besar.

Najib told Malaysiakini that even though he fulfilled some of Dr Mahathir's requests, the 92-year-old remained unhappy with him.

"He was not happy about certain things like 1Malaysia. He was not happy about the jet. The jet was bought by Pak Lah, but I notice until today he (Mahathir) is still using it," he added.

1Malaysia was a programme designed by Najib on Sept 16, 2010, to promote ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance. Najib had said that initiatives and aid for the needy would be intensified and these included the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), 1Malaysia Housing Programme for Civil Servants, 1Malaysia People's Housing Projects, 1Malaysia Clinics, 1Malaysia Student Discount Card and aid for farmers, smallholders, fishermen and Felda settlers.

Najib said in the interview that Dr Mahathir was also angry at the abolishment of the Internal Security Act, lifting of the Emergency Ordinance, the treatment of Proton - the car company founded during Dr Mahathir's first premiership stint in 1983 - and the implementation of a minimum wage.

Najib also questioned Dr Mahathir's change in persona from the man who was instrumental in Malay rights group Perkasa's founding to a Pakatan Harapan "reformist".

He told Malaysiakini that he was surprised to see Dr Mahathir joining hands with Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP), a party Dr Mahathir used to label as racist and anti-Malay.

"So when they got together, that was something I did not expect," Najib said.

"(But) I suppose once you join the (then) opposition, you are sanitised. You become completely absolved of all these things as far as they are concerned," he added.

Najib also denied that Umno had demonised DAP.

"I did not explicitly say they were racist or anti-Malay or anti-Islam, but I did express concerns about DAP because of their policies," he said.