ROSMAH & UMNO WARLORDS DIGGING IN?
Rosmah your materialistic life can also give you peace of mind
In the true and rather sneaky tradition of Umno free-for-all, many of the salvos fired at Daim on government media like TV3 were made by making use of the Opposition So why are some people in Umno so unhappy with Daimthat they would use their prized weapon to reach the masses - the mainstream media? Does Umno or someone powerful in Umno know something we don’t?
When Daim finally voiced out his concern on why the Umno media was promoting the Opposition’s claim of his alleged illegal dealings, it confirmed that something has started to boil in Umno!
"I am aware of who is behind this sudden attention on me. If you don’t like the message, kill the messenger," Daim was reported as saying on Thursday.
Najib's counter-attack
The attacks on Datuk Seri Najib Razak have been going on for some time, but it seems that it has gained some momentum recently.
There have been few counter attacks from Najib’s camp but it is his nature not to do anything! It is only Najib’s supporters who are offended most but most probably more apple polishing rather than sincere.
Najib knows that he should not instigate the real wrath of Daim because he knows a lot about Najib. Daim has more connections and better networking which he had even before going into politics and he got more during Tun Dr. Mahathir era. Daim has more experience and more money to spend than Najib.
Daim also has lesser scandals than Najib. Furthermore Daim could team up with Dr. Mahathir to sweep Najib away. The only thing that has prevented this from happening is because there is no one capable in Umno at present to replace Najib!
But when shove comes to push, Daim has no choice but to retaliate back! Thus the crack has appeared and unless Najib rush in to amend it, the crack will get bigger.
Work of 'kaki bodek' - but would someone like Daim bother to react to minions
On the other hand, has Najib himself felt the heat from the attacks? He seemed so cool and confident since he has the “all for one and one for all” team!
PM Najib & wife Rosmah - should Dr M and Daim underestimate them?
The attack on Daim must be a huge mistake may be from some overzealous “kaki bodek” in the Najib camp. But it is highly unlikely. Daim would hardly bother himself over troublesome minions. A phone call to Najib could solve that.
Then who could it be? Apart from Najib himself, could it be his powerful spouse Rosmah Mansor?
Whoever behind the attacks, Najib would be wise to eat crow first. If Najib refuses to make amends immediately, than that would be taken to mean Najib himself is behind the retaliation.
And the implication for that is that Najib may have crossed the line intentionally. Either he is brash or he is confident that he will prevail in the end.
A veteran newsman, closely associated with Dr Mahathir Mohamad says there is a buzz about a new person, from outside the media circle, acting as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s propaganda chief.
For too long, UMNO Working Committee has been little more than a talking shop. Its recent confabulations underline that it has clearly failed to offer any prescriptions for a party struggling to come to terms with the electoral debacle of 2013. UMNO faces two challenges. First, its organisation has weakened in the absence of internal elections. Second, party leadership has failed to galvanise the rank and file by offering a credible government.Najib’s role must be scrutinised. Since the drubbing in May 2014, Najib has barely been seen or heard, either in parliamentary debates or in mass agitations PAS even after crushing defeats in polls Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin has galvanised a small force for 2018 election
. It remains worryingly smug and deluded perhaps by Najib’s belief that if UMNO is a computer, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is the default programme. But repeated election results show a serious programme malfunction in the Grand Old Party. It’s time for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to either become party president or let Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin is more dynamic to take that role. For the reluctant , the writing has been on the wall for a year: shape up or ship out.Tun Daim Zainuddin has revealed he knows those behind a sudden spotlight on his business empire as Malaysia's anti-graft officials investigate the former finance minister's banking business abroad.
Daim, in a statement today, said he was surprised that Umno-controlled Media Prima Bhd would provide coverage for opposition party PKR.
“While I understand the motivation of these PKR politicians as they know not much other than politics and making baseless allegations, I am quite surprised with the attention given to them by the government-friendly media.
“TV3 which would not give 2 minutes of air time to Pakatan, has aired the PKR press conference no less than 3 times. The NST and Utusan have also carried this news,” he said.
The Umno-controlled Media Prima group runs four free-to-air television stations and newspapers in Bahasa Malaysia and English editions. The group recently laid-off nearly 400 managers and executives in an exercise in light of falling revenue and profit.
The group also controls English language daily New Straits Times. The other Umno-run media firm is Utusan Melayu Bhd.
"I am aware of who is behind this sudden attention on me. If you don’t like the message, kill the messenger," said Daim further.
Tun Daim Zainuddin also said he would cooperate with Malaysian anti-graft officials investigating the former Malaysian finance minister's banking business abroad, but said pressure groups should not interfere.
"I stand ready to support and co-operate with MACC in its investigation," he said in the statement.
Tun Daim Zainuddin
Daim was quoted by the news report as saying that he had been investigated on the matter twice in 1999, and they found nothing.
Pro-Umno bloggers reported that Daim had been attacked by cybertroopers aligned to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for criticising Putrajaya's handling of the economy.
Daim, along with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have emerged as strong critics of Najib's administration over his handling of the economy and national politics.
Veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin warned a few days ago that the Umno-controlled media group, Media Prima Bhd, should stop sniping at Daim as it could backfire on Najib.
Najib was more vulnerable to personal attacks than Daim and other critics, Kadir, the retired editor of the New Straits Times Press group, said in his blog.
Calls for the anti-graft authorities to investigate Daim, however, have also been made by the opposition, with PKR's Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin in November last year highlighting the lack of police action against the former minister despite the lodging of a police report in 1999.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lodged that report 15 years ago, accusing Daim of amassing billions of ringgit in African and Eastern Europe banks through proxies.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recent agitation against has joined others to question the whereabouts of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) money kept in the Caymans, adding that the explanation offered by the Malaysian strategic investor was "shallow".
Newly minted 1MDB chief Arul Kanda Kandasamy recently announced that the US$2.318 billion (RM8.24 billion) Caymans funds have been fully redeemed.
But Mahathir, in an exclusive interview with online news portal Sarawak Report, echoed the concerns raised by opposition party DAP on the fund which is in excess of RM8 billion.
“The explanation does not enlighten us on anything. I want to know which bank it’s kept in now.
"A billion dollars. You must keep it somewhere, you see. I don’t know where the money is. That is part of transparency," the former prime minister said.
The report said Mahathir invited the editor of Sarawak Report to his Perdana Leadership Foundation office in Putrajaya to speak about environmental and human rights issues in Sarawak.
But, he started discussing 1MDB and corruption during the interview, adding that he was not convinced the money had been fully repaid.
Dr Mahathir also questioned the creation and management of the fund.
“They [the managers] came to see me. But they couldn’t explain how the money was raised and why the power plants were brought at such high prices and the commission that was paid to Goldman Sachs,” he added.
The news portal also reported that Dr Mahathir had inside information that raised serious questions over 1MDB's integrity, despite the fund appearing to have plugged the most controversial gap in its accounts.
He told The Sarawak Report that he did not think it was necessary to have such a fund in the first place.
"That’s my difference with the government. I don’t think that it is necessary for us to have a fund like this.
"We are doing well enough without a fund… in the first place they got the money to lend to the Saudis and they put it in hedge funds.
“The government should not be gambling money in hedge funds”, Dr Mahathir added.
He also acknowledged the lack of transparency in the way Malaysia's public finances are managed, which he said led to scandals, where there was little or no outside scrutiny of 1MDB.
He agreed that there was a need for greater transparency to prevent mismanagement of such funds.
DAP's national publicity secretary Tony Pua said 1MDB chief Arul had not explained what he meant that the fund parked in the Caymans had been redeemed in full.
DAP's national publicity secretary Tony Pua said 1MDB chief Arul had not explained what he meant that the fund parked in the Caymans had been redeemed in full.
He also urged the new chief to confirm the actual amount received in cash by the company.
Arul said on Tuesday that 1MDB had redeemed the funds it had invested in a Cayman Islands registered fund.
Pua, however, noted that the statement came soon after Arul said in an email interview with The Malaysian Insider that more time was needed to repatriate the funds because of the "size and nature" of the investment.
The strategic investment fund, the brainchild of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and owned by the government, was to have brought back its Cayman funds before the end of November as agreed with its auditors, Deloitte Malaysia.
Pua previously questioned if 1MDB had misled Deloitte over the timeline of the repatriation of the funds because of the delay.
He said with the lack of details, Arul would be doing himself "great injustice if he doesn't wipe the slate clean and increase transparency to rescue and rebuild the troubled company".
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/now-dr-m-wants-to-know-where-is-1mdbs-caymans-fund#sthash.36CjNea0.dpuf
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