Political Earthquake: Can a new Malaysia Emerge?
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Loading... - Bingwen Jian
- 07 Sep 2022
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The recent imprisonment of former Prime Minister Najib Razak when his conviction was upheld by the Federal Court, and the subsequent conviction of his wife Rosmah Mansor on corruption charges, has likely triggered a tipping point in Malaysian politics.
Until Najib’s incarceration and Rosmah’s conviction, the United Malays National Organization-dominated government now led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yakoob looked like achieving a landslide in the coming general election, due by September 2023.
Although both Najib’s jailing and Rosmah’s conviction were expected, the pictures of Najib being physically escorted to Kajang Prison and a slumped, masked Rosmah receiving the verdict brought the realization that the rule of law had prevailed. With a long parade of other UMNO officials headed for the dock, there has been nothing less than a political earthquake that has riven the party and rejuvenated the opposition.
The judiciary, particularly Chief Justice of the Federal Court Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, has been held up as heroes by Malaysians. The gravity of the criminal deeds orchestrated by Najib and Rosmah, particularly with social media pictures and videos of their displayed loot, seems to have sunk in to Malaysians generally, as most witnessed the dramatic events unfolding on national television.
This realization is set to be reinforced by a number of other high-profile cases involving UMNO stalwarts over the coming months. The trial of UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is expected to result in a guilty verdict in the not-too-distant future. He faces 47 charges including Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT), money laundering, and corruption. Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, an UMNO Supreme Council member and Chairman of Tabung Haji, is due to receive a verdict on corruption and money laundering charges soon as well.
Shahrir Abdul Samad, the former chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority, is currently on trial for money laundering, and former Dewan Rakyat Speaker and current Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin and his wife have been ordered by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to answer corruption charges.
UMNO now on the back foot
Malays have been told for generations that they must vote for UMNO out of gratitude. The party’s control of the education system and mainstream media over decades have enabled the government to engineer the narrative that ethnic Malays, who make up a majority of the population but who continue to lag economically despite decades of affirmative action programs, must be obligated to UMNO.
This has been an implied social understanding between UMNO and Malay-centric electorates that kept the party and its ethnic partners in power from before Merdeka until the 2018 general election, when they lost to the reform Pakatan Harapan coalition. Read More...
