MACC targets the two Tuns

The frail appearance of Daim in court shocked everyone but the question on everyone’s lips is whether Dr Mahathir’s sons will be MACC’s next target

THE sight of Tun Daim Zainuddin being wheeled into court almost blotted out the reason he was there for.

It was quite a shock even for those who knew him personally to see this almost skeletal figure slumped in a wheelchair, barely able to hold up his head and with only one eye, the left eye apparently blinded by an infection.

He had not lost his penchant for oversized clothes and sandals but the billionaire - still an enigma after all these years - was hardly recognisable behind his face mask.

His attempt to read out a press statement was barely audible and he had to be physically lifted from his wheelchair into the car after the proceedings to charge him for not declaring his assets were done.

There were allegations that he was trying to evade the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when he was hospitalised and a famous cartoonist linked to PKR had done a cruel cartoon suggesting that Daim was putting up an act.

Anyone with half a brain could see that Daim, 85, was genuinely unwell. The Malays are famous for their kesian culture and there has been a wave of sympathy for his condition.

But there was little to no sympathy for him with regard to the court action even though words like “vendetta” and “witch-hunt” have been used to describe what is going on.

“If you must know, Umno blames the two Tuns for bringing down our party. You won’t hear much from Umno leaders because Malays don’t like to say disrespectful things about elderly people,” said Selangor Umno Youth chief and lawyer Imran Tamrin, referring to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Daim.

“I felt very sad for him, especially after looking at his eye but wrongdoing must depend on facts and not emotion,” he added.

But the reaction from the Pakatan Harapan base was quite unrestrained with many lauding the move and even proclaiming him guilty of corruption.

Yet the ones shouting now were also those who had heaped praises on Daim when he was on their side and had headed the Council of Eminent Persons after the 2018 general election.

“I remember when Daim went to China to woo investments for the Pakatan government wearing slippers and a baggy batik shirt, they said this is the kind of leaders we want,” said an aide of a Johor leader.

The legal community was a bit more rational, asking why MACC, after months of investigation, did not charge him with corruption.

“They went for the low-hanging fruits, charging him on a technical offence that he did not declare his assets although I am not discounting that more serious charges will follow.

“It was distressing to see him like this, the man who played such a prominent role in Malaysia’s growth story. At the same time it is necessary for us to shine the light on billionaires and ask how they amassed their wealth,” said political commentator and lawyer Ivanpal S. Grewal.

Perak Umno politician Dr Faizal Tajuddin has suggested that going after a big name like Daim is a diversion tactic to distract people from the dire economic state of affairs.

However, the above aide to a Johor leader said the rush to nail Daim may also have to do with deflecting potential anger over granting clemency for Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The last one month has been full of speculation about the fate of the imprisoned former prime minister.

“Actually that is what the Umno grassroots was most concerned about. They are less bothered about what’s happening to Daim,” said Umno’s Imran.

Going for Daim could also be the Prime Minister’s way of telling his base that he has not abandoned his Reformasi vision and the fight against corruption.

And indeed, there has been an explosion of reaction from the hardcore Pakatan supporters, furious that Najib’s sentence has been reduced from 12 to six years.

And it is coming from the same people who defended the necessity of accepting Umno as well as the DNAA or discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the Umno president.

It is doubtful if the millennials even know who Daim is. His case resonated mostly among the older generation who remember the power he wielded during an era when the political elite behaved as though they were above the law.

Daim and Dr Mahathir are two sides of the same coin. Neither of them would have been as awesome as they were without the other in their heydays.

A Putrajaya insider described Daim as “the hand of the king” - a term borrowed from the Game of Thrones series - during both of Dr Mahathir’s times as prime minister.

According to the insider, the Council of Eminent Persons was formed as a means for Daim to wield power without it seeming out of line.

“He could summon people and he could throw people under the bus. He was the one whom many of those who defected from Umno to Bersatu ran to for help,” said the Putrajaya insider.

Daim and his wife Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid are fighting back with fresh applications on their case. They have the money, they have lawyers and they are not afraid.

However, the hostility toward Dr Mahathir runs much deeper in Umno. For the Umno rank-and-file, Dr Mahathir was the man who betrayed the party and sent Umno over the cliff.

MACC is investigating two of Dr Mahathir’s sons, Mokhzani and Mirzan and it has struck the elder man in a way that only a father can feel for. One could hear the emotion in Dr Mahathir’s voice when he slammed MACC for targeting his children.

It is quite ironic that the man who sent the MACC after Najib and a host of other Umno leaders is now being pursued via his family by the MACC.

“I don’t believe in vendettas, but what goes around comes around. Let the courts decide,” said Dr Faizal.

>The views expressed here are the author's own