Hadi’s PAS leadership appears to be Najib’s last line of defence in the unraveling of Najib’s kleptocratic premiership when even UMNO leaders are beginning to distance themselves from the former Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s PAS leadership appears to be former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s last line of defence in the unravelling of Najib’s kleptocratic premiership when even UMNO leaders are beginning to distance themselves from the former Prime Minister.
Acting Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that all quarters should respect the ongoing Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe against Najib, as long as it is conducted appropriately “within the appropriate hours”.
If this rule had been strictly observed, Teoh Beng Hock would not have died at the Selangor MACC premises in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, and still awaiting for justice for nearly nine years – the reason why the Teoh Beng Hock case, like many other cases of injustices resulting in death, should be re-opened for justice to be finally done.
But apart from Zahid, there is thunderous silence from the other UMNO leaders like UMNO Vice President Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and the UMNO Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin on the 1MDB scandal and Najib’s “global kleptocracy”.
In sharp contrast, Hadi’s PAS leadership has rushed to Najib’s defence with its lawyer criticizing newly-appointed MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull's decision to reveal details related to the 1MDB investigation in 2015 on the ground that it was very prejudiced against the former premier and would create the perception that there was political interference in the case before this.
This is a most shocking position to come from Hadi’s PAS leadership, as if there had been no political interference in the case in the past four years, causing Malaysia to suffer the international infamy and ignominy of a “global kleptocracy” and making Malaysians to be ashamed to acknowledge that they are Malaysians when abroad.
The reasons why Hadi’s PAS leadership is so enamoured by Najib’s kleptocratic premiership have yet to be revealed, but Malaysians will not forget that Hadi was hoping that his PAS leadership would be the “kingmaker” to prop up Najib’s kleptocratic regime, if the 14th General Election had resulted in a hung Parliament with PAS winning some 40 parliamentary seats!
Shukri’s tell-all press conference was quite unorthodox, but in the extraordinary circumstances of the scale of the criminality and moral turpitude of the 1MDB scandal, suborning national institutions and destroying public confidence in them, and staining and disgracing the international reputation of the nation, I fully support Shukri’s unorthodox action.
What has Najib got to hide – and Hadi, what has the PAS President got to hide?