Tag: Najib Razak

Just before Christmas, Malaysian authorities filed criminal charges against Goldman, seeking a stunning $7.5 billion in reparations for the bank’s role in the scandal. At year’s end, Goldman is known to be under investigation in the U.S., Singapore and Malaysia, while 1MDB probes are ongoing in at least 10 countries. Blankfein does not recall any one-on-one meeting with Mr. Low, nor have we seen any record to suggest such a meeting occurred.” In December, outside analysts predicted the bank might need to set aside $1 billion or more for penalties. The scandal showed that all it takes is a corrupt official and a morally flexible bank office to generate billions in public losses. According to Wright and Hope’s book Billion Dollar Whale, for instance, Goldman’s Asia President, David Ryan, was suspicious of some of the deals in the third bond issue. What was in it for the bank? About $600 million in fees. Still, Goldman charged Malaysia what by all accounts was a beyond-exorbitant price. The Billion Dollar Whale authors asserted the bank earned “two hundred times the typical fee.” Clare Brown of the Sarawak Report, who broke many of the early stories about 1MDB, was writing about Goldman’s pricing a long time ago. Goldman has survived many scandals in recent years.

Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional (BN), who lost the majority vote but won the elections in 2013 now loses the power it had held since independence. The biggest flaw, most analysts would agree, was its president, Prime Minister Najib Razak, the leader of UMNO, which is the heart and soul of the coalition. Advertisement Tainted by suspicions of wrongdoing since long before he became Prime Minister following a coup against Abdullah Badawi in 2009, his term in office continued to be plagued by serious scandals such the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, and the 1MDB affair which was investigated by a list of countries, including the US, Switzerland and Singapore. However, in this endless process of political manipulations, he brought a new player into the game against him — the retired long-term Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Now, in the bewildering game that is Malaysian politics, Mahathir is historically and unquestionably the most effective striker ever. In the penalty shootout that the election campaign of 2018 actually was, the BN side seemed to miss most of its shots. Pakatan Harapan did not miss many shots at goal, and when the last penalty kick had been taken, it had won 122 of the 222 parliamentary seats available according to reports, 11 more than it needed to win the match. Had UMNO changed its president a year or so before the elections were called, and more credible and trusted leaders put in place instead, and all that done before Mahathir felt compelled to take the field, all of BN’s political advantages would have worked in its favour, and the opposition parties, relegated by the breakdown of Pakatan Rakyat, would never have been able to bully the sitting government. Much blame should also be put on the evolution of UMNO and of BN into a state where a leader like Najib could act with such impudence as he did when caught in the 1MDB and other scandals, where all internal dissent had been nullified, and where all external opposition were rendered unthreatening. There is of course also that important factor of the Reformasi Movement.

Now, with images circulating that show thousands thronging to Warisan rallies across the state, Adnan, his boss Najib and others in BN appear to be taking notice. Victory for Shafie in Sabah could hand federal power to Mahathir – Warisan is informally aligned with the opposition – but also upend politics in the Bornean state, which BN’s stranglehold on power has given a reputation for being the bloc’s “fixed deposit”. Independent observers continue to view BN as a favourite to win nationwide and in Sabah, but Warisan insiders are adamant odds are in their favour. Speaking to This Week in Asia on the sidelines of a rally over the weekend, Shafie said while he hoped his ally Mahathir would take federal power, there would be no compromise on this central campaign promise if that happens. The pact saw Sabah form the Malaysian federation with the former state of Malaya, along with neighbouring Sarawak and Singapore. And while Sabah and Sarawak remained, complaints have persisted through the decades about the level of decision-making powers they have on key issues such as immigration, development expenditure and overlapping functions between state and federal agencies. Shukrol said Shafie’s charisma and oratory skills was one reason for the groundswell of support for Warisan. “Warisan has made great inroads and Shafie has charisma and very much reminds me of my husband,” she told This Week in Asia. Sabahan native and politics observer Oh Ei Sun said there was precedence of similar “populist-appearing” political movements triumphing in the state, referring to the 1980s ruling party Parti Bersatu Sabah (United Sabah Party). Asked about his chances, Shafie told This Week in Asia: “Let’s wait and see, the people will decide and I believe Sabahans are wise enough.”

Even if his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition wins, a poor performance at the polls could see a challenge to Najib's leadership from within his own party. There is one big reason why Wednesday's election isn't seen as a shoo-in for Najib: Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's former strongman leader, who ruled the country for 22 years before retiring in 2003, has come back in an attempt to oust the Prime Minister. Chief among them is Anwar Ibrahim, the deputy prime minister Mahathir once imprisoned for corruption and sodomy. While Mahathir and Anwar are the most charismatic politicians Malaysia has and could win the popular vote, it will take nothing less than a miracle for them to oust Najib. The son of Malaysia's second prime minister, Najib is a politician through and through. By 25, he was already a deputy minister and member of then-Prime Minister Mahathir's cabinet. By 2008 Najib, with the backing of his party and luminaries such as Mahathir, had been appointed Prime Minister. Mahathir, in his prime, had full control over the nation's media -- which was almost entirely owned by the government or political parties allied to Mahathir. Filings by the US Department of Justice in the wake of the 1MDB scandal last year claimed almost $30 million of the fund's money was spent buying jewelry for Rosmah. It is this, more than the 1MDB scandal itself, that voters bristle at.