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Was there an attempted coup against Najib involving charging him for corruption in last week of July which was pre-empted by the sudden sacking of the then Attorney-General Gani Patail?

Was there an attempted coup against the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak involving charging him for corruption in the last week of July which was pre-empted by the sudden sacking of the then Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail?

In fact, was there already a coup and unconstitutional grab for power when Gani illegally and arbitrarily set up the four-agency Special Task Force comprising Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to investigate the 1MDB scandal and RM2.6 billion deposit in Najib’s personal bank accounts by foreign sources just before the 13th General Election?

These are among the questions buzzing the everybody’s mind from the interview in Star Online by the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan who is also Minister for Housing and Local Government. Continue reading “Was there an attempted coup against Najib involving charging him for corruption in last week of July which was pre-empted by the sudden sacking of the then Attorney-General Gani Patail?”

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Najib badly served by the world’s worst but probably most expensive media communications strategists as witnessed by the “dud” of the National Consultative Committee on Political Funding

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is badly served by the world’s worst but probably most expensive media communications strategists as witnessed by the “dud” of the National Consultative Committee on Political Funding.

Those responsible for mooting the idea of National Consultative Committee on Political Funding at this stage deserve to be sacked immediately, as only the naïve and the dim-witted could believe that this is the best timing for the Prime Minister to surface such a proposal.

Those who convinced Najib to go public on this idea at this stage must have sold the Prime Minister with the argument that this was a panacea for Najib’s recent woes, pushing to the backstage the twin scandals of 1MDB and RM2.6 billion deposit into Najib’s personal bank accounts, which had haunted the Prime Minister for months, but even more tempting, allow Najib to go from the defensive to the offensive against opposition parties – by taking a moral ground vis-à-vis his critics and dissenters.

But only the naïve and the nincompoop could fail to see that this is the worst possible timing to surface the proposal of a National Consultative Council on Political Funding, and in fact, may even be inviting a death certificate for the idea.

This is because with Najib’s failure to uphold accountability and transparency in the two biggest scandals in the nation’s history, the RM42 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion deposited in Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013 just before dissolution of Parliament and holding of 13th General Election, the Prime Minister has lost all moral authority to talk about transparency and integrity in political funding. Continue reading “Najib badly served by the world’s worst but probably most expensive media communications strategists as witnessed by the “dud” of the National Consultative Committee on Political Funding”

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The culture of integrity

By Anwar Fazal
Malaysiakini
Aug 15, 2015

Ensuring integrity and fighting corruption has been among the greatest challenges of all times to humanity. Religions have addressed the issues as have governments of all shapes, sizes and structures.

Sadly, it continues to be an unremitting scourge globally. It is a deep malaise that, like a malignant cancer, continues to grow, destroy, while sometimes appearing in unexpected and even in quasi-legal ways with the complicity of the very institutions established for ensuring justice and good governance.

Malaysia’s journey in meeting these challenges continues to be a struggle. One of the most significant publications in this field was done in Malaysia appearing first as ‘The Sociology of Corruption’ in 1968, and subsequently and extensively updated.This globally classic intellectual work on corruption was published in Malaysia by one of its outstanding public intellectuals, Dr Syed Hussein Alatas.

The 1991 edition was entitled ‘Corruption: its nature, causes and functions’. The book was reprinted in 2005 and the distinguished Malaysian prince who launched it warned us that “Corruption may become an industry”. Continue reading “The culture of integrity”

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Malaysia’s Ringgit in a Tailspin

By ANJANI TRIVEDI and EWEN CHEW
Wall Street Journal
Aug. 14, 2015

Currency falls more than 3% Friday to a fresh 17-year low

Malaysia’s ringgit suffered its largest one-day loss in almost two decades, with investors pulling cash out of stocks and bonds, as the nation’s list of challenges appears to be getting longer.

The ringgit shed more than 3% against the U.S. dollar Friday, leading the losses in global currency markets and falling to a fresh 17-year low.

Malaysia’s benchmark index was down 5.4% for the week, the region’s worst-performing stock market. Yields, which move inversely to prices, on five-year Malaysian government bonds rose 0.20 percentage point this week to their highest level since the global financial crisis. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Ringgit in a Tailspin”