The Eagle has Landed” the leaks will surely come from UMNO itself if Tan Sri is reluctant to fall on his own sword!
part3 setev shaariibuu, a psychology professor said Najib his 2nd wife rosmah,murdered Altantuya, because she “knew too much,”
readmore EZAM WAS ALWAYS A MAHATHIR’S RECRUIT HIS SENATOR’SHIP APPOINTMENT CONFIRM HOW CLOSE EZAM AND MAHATHIR
let us be very clear on one thing! In Malaysia, the political secretary to a Minister is the “bag guy” for the Minister. Let me be more specific. Amongst his more important “duties” is to accept, collect and seek funds from persons known and unknown to the Minister for the political activities of his Minister. If he was caught with RM2 Million cash, you can be rest assured that his Minister has got more … much more because anything less would mean that this political secretary “melawan towkay” i.e. bites the hands that feeds it!
By steadyaku47
I would designate the activities of this Hasbie Satar and the other political secretaries in UMNO as outright theft and/or extortion but I digress. Let us start from the beginning.
Now who would want to donate/contribute/give these funds to the political secretary of Tan Sri Nor Yakcop? They do so for a number of reasons but the most logical would be because they want a favor not from Hasbie Satar - but from his Minister Tan Sri Nor Yakcop.
The money they give is substantial and people with a lot of money are not stupid people – unless they are from UMNO! Before they hand over the money to Hasbie Satar, they must have some indication that the favor they ask will be granted by his Minister Tan Sri Nor Yakcop. That indication will normally be in the form of a face-to-face meeting with Tan Sri Yakcop arranged by Hasbie Satar where they will tell Tan Sri Nor Yakcop what they wish for and Tan Sri Nor Yakcop will indicate the possibility of that favor being granted.
From there the donor will make a decision as to how much he will or will not donate to Tan Sri Nor Yakcop’s political funds by way of Hasbie Satar. Then money change hands … half now and the other half when the deed is done … a deposit first, maybe … or if the political secretary is very insistent – the whole amount agreed. If we are talking about hundreds of thousands of ringgit then the donor will certainly be granted another meeting with Tan Sri Nor Yakcop after the money has changed hands where he confirms with Tan Sri that “The Eagle has Landed” … or words to that effect. That, my friend, is the modus operandi of one aspect of money politics relevant to the duties of the Political Secretary - of whom Hasbie Satar is one.
What are the favors that might be asked for? A negotiated tender, perhaps. Settlement of “outstanding” damages payable to the Malaysian Government for late delivery of projects or contracts or non-compliance with tender specifications for projects completed. They might also want to negotiate a “fair” (and I use the term “fair” very loosely here!) valuation of Government assets or government owned companies that they want to purchase … and the list goes on. All these are within the purview of Tan Sri Nor Yakcop to decide or to give advice to the Government when the decision making process is underway.
If these favors are not granted after the money has been collected by the political secretary, you can expect the donor to inform Tan Sri Nor Yakcop of his displeasure or at the least, identify another ‘favor” in lieu of the first one.
So, my friend, where does that put Tan Sri Nor Yakcop? In the doghouse, perhaps? The buck stops at Tan Sri Nor Yakcop. He cannot be in denial nor escape complicity in the activities of his Political Secretary. He appointed Hasbie Satar to that post. Tan Sri Nor Yakcop cannot claim that he has no knowledge of the activities of his Political Secretary! Nixon resigned because of Watergate. Nixon did not take part in the break-in but he sure as hell was responsible for the culture prevalent within the Republican Party then that resulted in the break-in and the subsequent cover up! So in the end he had to resign. Ditto for Tan Sri Nor Yakcop!
The resignation of Hasbie Satar is not a “clear sign that the Najib administration wants anti-graft authorities to investigate without pressure from politicians”. This is a case of damage control and self-preservation by UMNO after one of its own has been caught doing what comes naturally to a Political Secretary of UMNO Ministers! I dare say that every Political Secretary of an UMNO Minister is living beyond his means – and why not, when every UMNO Minister is living beyond his means! When you pee into the wind ….
Najib must rid himself of this Tan Sri Nor Yakcob and use the opportunity to declare his administration commitment to fighting corruption - a key target in the National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) under the Government Transformation Plan (GTP). Tan Sri Nor Yakcop is collateral damage. Najib can then declare that MACC will target even those Ministers from the ruling Barisan Nasional Federal Government. Muhyiddin will have to declare his admiration for Najib’s “no nonsense” approach to money politics knowing that Najibs latest “courageous” actions against money politics has set his Prime Minister’s aspiration back a few months. The UMNO controlled media will make much of Najib’s “uncompromising” stand against corruption vis a vis the misfortune of Tan Sri Nor Yakcop. But if Tan Sri’s Political Secretary has ringgit $2 Million cash on him, BMWs and properties … the mind boggles as to what his Tan Sri political master will have! Now that is another story to tell … and the leaks will surely come from UMNO itself if Tan Sri is reluctant to fall on his own sword!
Infighting and unease in Umno has intensified following the arrest of a political secretary to a senior Cabinet minister, sparking questions about Prime Minister Najib Razak's grip on his embattled party and consequently the stability of his year-old administration.
Not only is the 57-year old leader dogged by personal scandal, warlords in the fragmented Umno are said to be discontented and once again openly on the lookout for their own interests. Privately, the buzz is that the party is disappointed that after 11 months in power, Najib has failed to bolster crucial voter support, nor is he likely to do so going forward.
“Basically, there are two main conspiracy theories going around town. Which is the more probable depends on which of the three main factions in Umno that you belong to,” a veteran party watcher told Harakahdaily on the condition of anonymity.
“One theory is that Najib is fighting back against his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The second is that Najib wants to squash Khairy Jamaluddin, the Umno Youth chief, before he becomes too successful in his own plots to topple Najib.”
Quicksand politics
Indeed, Umno politics is complex and often a vipers pit of corruption where loyalties switch at the blink of an eye. After passing the premiership to Abdullah Badawi in 2003, it did not take long for a jealous Mahathir to U-turn on his initial praises and launch attack after attack to destabilize his successor's administration..
Abdullah was finally forced to surrender the top job to Najib in 2009, and among key conditions for the power transfer was that his son-in-law Khairy became the head of Umno Youth, while Muhyiddin got the deputy-presidency and Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi the No. 3 spot.
In the latest graft scandal to rock Umno and the nation, Hasbie Satar the political secretary to Nor Mohamad Yakcop, the minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department, resigned a day after news broke that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had made a high-profile arrest.
Without naming who, the MACC had on Sunday confirmed they arrested a political aide after finding him with more than RM2 million cash at a flat in Penang. It was also reported that the aide was under probe since late last year due to allegations of having amassed several properties by helping business groups secure government approval for multi-million ringgit projects.
A short one-paragraph statement issued by the ministry on Monday did not offer any reasons or details but the spin from the Umno media is that Najib wanted to show that he is serious about weeding out corruption. Nevertheless, few Malaysians are convinced by the alleged show of altruism from their prime minister.
“Whether it was Hasbie or if he acted on his own - with or without the knowledge of his boss - is not at heart of the debate taking place.The speculation is on who his boss is linked to," said the political watcher.
"Some favour the first theory because they see Nor Mohamed as a Mahathir man. Nor Mohamed was the brains behind Mahathir's capital controls in 1998. So the question being asked is – has Najib begun his move to come out from under Mahathir's thumb?
“Yet others say Nor Mohamed is no longer that close to Mahathir and has become aligned to Pak Lah and Khairy. Remember he was a very powerful Second Finance Minister in the Abdullah administration and his first political secretary was Norza Zakaria, who is a Khairy man. So is Najib trying to purge Khairy?”
The Zahid factor
Norza – the FT Umno Youth chief - was arrested in January 2009 for offering bribes to voting delegates ahead of the party’s election in March the same year. He has pleaded not guilty and was released on bail pending investigations.
Mahathir has made no secret of the fact that he detests Khairy even more than Abdullah. Just weeks ago, the 85-year old former Umno president was accused of instigating a move to oust Khairy as the Youth chief. Mahathir’s son Mukhriz – the deputy international trade minister – is also seen as eager to head the wing.
Meanwhile,Zahid has also entered the fray. Once regarded as a Najib loyalist, he is now believed to part of the movement to topple Najib.
But it is still unclear if Zahid has thrown in his lot with Muhyiddin and Mahathir or with the 34-year old Khairy. As the senior-most vice president, he stands to be promoted immediately to both the Umno deputy-presidency and the deputy premiership if Najib is ousted in a power struggle.
“It is hard to say for sure which camp Zahid is currently with. And it doesn’t really matter because at this stage, their common priority is to seize control of Umno now when it is weak and fragmented,” the Umno observer said.
“Once Najib surrenders to Muhyiddin, who as the current No. 2 is next in line to inherit the Umno presidency and premiership, Zahid can switch out of KJ’s camp and into Muhyiddin's. For him, what’s important is that he gets to assume the deputy presidency which would also make him the country’s Deputy Prime Minister.
“As for Khairy, he will have to look after himself. But he is still young, whereas Mahathir is not. In politics, as long as time is on your side, you have a chance to win. It is indeed a dirty game and what more in Umno – which already has a reputation of being one of the most corrupt political parties in the region.”
Scandals galore
In the past few months, Zahid has raised eyebrows by revealing several incidences of high-level corruption and security breaches at the Defence Ministry when Najib was in charge.
One such incident was the astonishing theft of two fighter jet engines from right under the nose of top military and immigration personnel. And just last week, Zahid revealed that the nation’s first submarine – one of two costly Scorpenes ordered by Najib in 2006 and delivered by French shipyard Armaris in 2009 – could not dive due to a technical problem.
Also related to the controversial Scorpenes purchase, Najib’s close associate Razak Baginda had been accused of accepting a whopping RM540 million commission from Armaris. Furthermore, Baginda was charged with abetting two former bodyguards of Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Although Baginda has since been acquitted, speculations remains rife that he – together with the first couple – had been involved as the two bodyguards did not know Altantuya and could not have any motive of their own to kill her.
Najib has also been blamed for driving away key Chinese votes from the BN by staging an unpopular coup d'etat in Perak last year. To help him cling to power there, the country's judiciary has been plunged into infamy for questionable rulings that have been ridiculed by constitutional experts throughout the Commonwealth, which shares Malaysia's legal history.
More recently, Najib's weak handling of the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims sparked a spate of violence against places of worship throughout the country and created serious rifts in Malaysia's multi-racial society, attracting a reprimand from international bodies including the World Council of Churches.
No less messy was his insistence to push through a sodomy trial against arch rival Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim that has been widely condemned as rigged and politically motivated. Among the groups that have condemned his 'persecution' of Anwar are the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and scores of Australian lawmakers, who tendered a joint letter of protest to the Malaysian High Commission last week. There is a large population of Malaysian students and workers in Australia.
The presence of so many foreign embassies attending Mr. Anwar’s show trial is a clear expression of international concern. This is an issue on which the world must speak out.
If his country is to take its place among the progressive nations of the world, it is crucial that the politically motivated charge against Mr. Anwar be dropped and that he be free to pursue his vision of a democratic Malaysia, properly respectful of human rights and international law.
but why did he sent the sms ?
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 LADIES AND LADIES MAN I DONT GIVE A DAM The latest Bala revelations have constituted a solemn challenge to the integrity and legitimacy of Najib’s premiership, for which he must now solemnly account to the nation. Khairy’s alternative media blitzI have always thought that the revelation of Khir Toyo’s ‘blemishes’ would not affect his chances among the UMNO Youth voting delegates. After all, why would they care about the public image of UMNO Youth and the electoral appeal of its leader?At a time when Malay rights are seemingly being assailed from every angle, wouldn’t they want a true ‘ultra’ to champion their cause instead of a few ‘fake’ ones in the form of Khairy or even Mukhriz?There is probably some truth to this kind of reasoning, at least on the part of some delegates, but in a three-corner fight, all Khairy needed to do was to find a handful of delegates who would buy into his message of UMNO Youth needing greater electoral appeal.After all, a swing of 30 votes in Khir Toyo’s favour would have given him the Youth chief position. But if Khairy could find a handful of more ‘astute’ UMNO Youth delegates who could see where he could take the party as opposed to where Khir Toyo or even Mukhriz could take the party, he could get to the finish line ahead of his two rivals.Hence, his ‘media blitz’ strategy of granting one-on-one interviews to Off the Edge, The Nut Graph, Malaysiakini and the New Straits Times in the lead-up to the elections. He was the only one of the three candidates to have this ‘media blitz’ as part of an overall strategy to give himself a ‘makeover’ and to make the claim that he is capable to give UMNO Youth a similar ‘makeover’ as well.This strategy may have seemed strange to some who wondered if Khairy was running for the position of UMNO Youth chief or if he was lobbying for votes from the larger public, especially those who follow the alternative media more than the mainstream media.Many of us doubted if the public would actually believe that Khairy was sincere in his intentions of giving himself a ‘makeover’ but the primary audience for Khairy, at least in the short term, was not the general public but UMNO Youth delegates. This strategy paid dividends if we see it in the context of appealing to the handful of more ‘astute’ UMNO Youth delegates.Khairy used this ‘media blitz’ as part of his strategy to convince these delegates that only he was capable to speak the same language as those who read the alternative media, that only he was capable of reaching out to the younger voters who speak a different language from that spoken by members of UMNO Youth, that only he was capable of giving UMNO Youth a ‘makeover’ that would make them more appealing to the general public.Of course, not all UMNO Youth delegates would find this necessary or even palatable. But then Khairy’s strategy was never one of trying to win a majority of votes among the delegates. If the Youth wing was truly split between the three candidates, then all he had to do was to win a plurality of votes, which meant that he had to find and then target some of the more ‘astute’ delegates who could ‘see the light’ and vote for him based on his ‘marketability’ and ability to ‘remake’ his own image as well as that of UMNO Youth.His power of incumbencyOne further point that needs to be made here is the power of incumbency. One has to remember that in his capacity as UMNO Youth deputy chief and as someone having direct access to the PM’s ear, Khairy would have cultivated many ties and helped out not a small number of delegates within the UMNO Youth ranks.While some may say, perhaps a little uncharitably, that all UMNO Youth delegates care about is access to power and money, there probably are still some delegates who would have voted for Khairy based on loyalty and remembering past favours which he has rendered to them. Unlike Mukhriz, Khairy has had much more opportunities to cultivate these ties, to dispense favours and in so doing, perhaps demonstrate his worth as a leader of the Youth movement.It is hard to gauge the effect of the ‘stern warning’ which he received from the UMNO disciplinary board a week before the casting of the ballots for the Youth election. Many of us, myself included, thought that this was a death dealing blow to Khairy. But he did not over react and perhaps may have used this opportunity to cast himself as a ‘victim’ of a harsh and arbitrary disciplinary committee that was being used to further the ends of a certain leader within Umno, whose own popularity is in question.Could Khairy have benefitted from some of the anger directed at the decision to bar Ali Rustam from contesting the deputy president position? Could the fact that Khir Toyo was let off ‘scot-free’ harmed him more than helped him?After all, there was no question that all three candidates were probably using some form of financial ‘incentives’ to entice delegates to vote for them. Why target Khairy specifically and not the other two candidates? With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that the ‘stern warning’ probably did not hurt Khairy’s chance of winning the election. It probably helped him a little.But it was the combination of the other factors – convincing UMNO Youth delegates that he could effectively defend Malay rights, that he was the best leader to take on the opposition, that he has the capacity to ‘remake’ himself and UMNO Youth as well, and his cultivation of ties and dispensation of favours during his time as deputy chief which probably saw him to the finishing line ahead of Khir Toyo and Mukhriz.Najib fails to kill Khairy offWhat are some of the political implications of Khairy’s improbable victory? The first and most immediate implication has to do with Najib’s power and influence within UMNO. If the ‘signal’ which was sent by Najib was not sufficient to ‘kill off’ Khairy’s chances to become the next UMNO Youth chief, one has to wonder if the suspension of Mohd Ali Rustam is sufficient to pave the way for Muhyiddin Yassin to win the post of UMNO deputy president and hence become the next DPM of Malaysia. We will find out within the next 12 hours.Even if Muhyiddin manages to beat Muhammad Muhd Taib for the position of deputy president, the damage to Najib has already been done. (It would also hurt if Muhyiddin’s margin of victory turns out to be narrow).Khairy will no doubt play the role of the loyal Youth chief but he will remember what Najib tried to do to him. And when the time comes when Najib’s back is against the wall (and that time will most certainly come) and if it is not politically expedient for Khairy to support Najib, then the daggers will be unsheathed, presumably, not only by Khairy but also by others, including Mohd Ali Rustam.This is a clear sign that there will be multiple centers of power that will be undermining Najib from within which makes his challenge of trying to govern the country in the midst of a serious global economic slowdown even more daunting.The second implication arising from Khairy’s victory is that Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s influence within UMNO is clearly on the wane. This perception will be cemented if Muhammad beats Muhyiddin in the deputy president’s race since Mahathir clearly favours the latter over the former.Even if his blog (chedet.com) remains one of the most popular blogs in the country, Mahathir did not achieve what he set out to do after |
