Pot boils over on house arrest issue

THE whispers had begun even before the Melaka election took off.

The word going around then was that Umno had managed to raise the RM50mil to pay off the fine so that Datuk Seri Najib Razak could begin his house arrest. In fact, the party had managed to raise RM52mil.

The guessing game went on for several days while Najib’s family feigned ignorance.

Politics is about timing and Umno was waiting for the right timing and that was when the Melaka campaign was in full swing.

They wanted to see how Pakatan Harapan would react and whether DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke would actually resign.

Or to put it bluntly, the aim was to throw Pakatan Harapan’s campaign in the Melaka election into disarray.

“Don’t blame us. We did not ask anyone in DAP to resign, they said it themselves. We only wanted Najib to begin serving his house arrest,” said Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Alwi Che Ahmad.

The keris (Umno) had outplayed the rocket (DAP).

Despite the fine having been paid, the Attorney-General’s Chamber, immediately deferred the house arrest on grounds that clarification was needed in connection to overlapping cases involving Najib and the way the release order was worded.

The perception was that the Madani government wanted to keep Najib in prison until the Melaka election but it was blindsided by the bombshell statement from the national palace.

The statement stressed in unequivocal terms that the conditional pardon decree is clear, explicit, without ambiguity and not connected to any other cases against Najib.

The palace pointed out that Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Mohd Duzuki Mokhtar who sits on the Pardons Board should be aware of the terms of the conditional pardon.

As such, once the requirements of the conditional pardon are met, any dispute would amount to disobeying the decree of the King.

It was a direct refute, with implications of treason, and it must have sent shivers down the spine of the AG who does not only advise the government but also His Majesty.

Mohd Duzuki has clarified that his decision to defer the house arrest is not about disputing the pardon but concerned the technicalities involved in the overlapping cases.

Unfortunately, the politics surrounding Najib’s house arrest has overshadowed any sort of technical arguments.

A former aide to a minister pointed out that no civil servant, however senior, would dare to act so independently unless instructed by those higher up.

Why did Mohd Duzuki not raise his concerns about overlapping cases during the Pardons Board meeting but waited until when Najib was about to step out of Kajang Prison to jump into action?

It was seen as a knee-jerk reaction or even as attempts to shift the goalposts.

There are calls for Mohd Duzuki to go on leave while an investigation is made into what happened.

The normally placid Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazali ramped it up when campaigning in Melaka.

Onn said that the first thought that came to mind when he knew of the AG’s action was “treachery”.

“The Pardons Board has decided, the conditions have been fulfilled, but you still go against the royal decree,” said Onn as his audience called out “daulat Tuanku”.

A cabinet minister who interacts with Mohd Duzuki finds him to be a decent government servant who follows instructions and who is quite without malice.

“His problem is that he does not know how to read the room,” said the minister.

None of the Pakatan leaders have stood by Mohd Duzuki and it appears that he has been thrown under the bus.

However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has advised the AG to seek an audience with the King so that he can clarify his actions.

Are the efforts to block Najib from going home worth the mess that has ensued?

Is the Prime Minister so determined to keep Loke in his Cabinet? Would it change the outcome of the Melaka election?

The outcome of the state polls is a foregone conclusion and there are only a handful of seats worth speculating over.

Would it not have been wiser for Pakatan leaders to explain to their base that they tried their best but they have to respect the royal decree and that Najib’s sentence will continue till 2028?

The thing is that Pakatan leaders had pledged to keep Najib in prison and allowing him to go home, even under restrictions, would mean they failed to keep the promise.

An indication of the Chinese outrage was evident in the Chinese Facebook of former Selangor DAP leader Datuk Teng Chang Khim. It was swamped with thousands of critical and even nasty comments.

Meanwhile, Loke is said to have packed his things at his Transport Ministry office.

He is not clinging on and intends to keep his word to resign once Najib goes home.

It is unfortunate that Pakatan leaders not only have to face the Melaka voters over the house arrest issue, but have to defend themselves over accusations of treason.

“The way the home arrest issue was handled leaves a bad impression on the government. It strikes me as self-inflicted. The Madani government is playing a dangerous game if they think they can challenge a royal pardon,” said former minister Datuk Rahman Dahlan.