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Pak Lah in trouble should ECM Libra, and his son-in-law, go through with the defamation action

THE KHAIRY CHRONICLES, now in its 23rd part in Malaysia Today, has become uncomfortable to the young man. Who writes it is not known, Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, editor and the driving force behind it, will not say. But it contains many bullets that UMNO enemies of Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, the son-in-law of the Prime Minister, use with damaging accuracy. Mr Khairy has come from nowhere, married Pak Lah's daughter, and runs the Malaysian government: Pak Lah depends on him, over tried and tested civil servants, who are forced to follow what Mr Khairy decides. As more damaging information comes to light, not only the Khairy Chronicles, they are picked up by his UMNO enemies, who distribute photostats of the original and Malay translation in their balliwicks. The Pengkalen Pasir byelection in Kelantan was not, in Mr Khairy's view, a byelection with PAS, although it was also that, but between his friends and enemies in UMNO. He is a young man in a hurry. He operates behind the scenes, puts his supporters in front. But he is now forced into the open. He does not like it.

The the company he has bought shares into – ECM Libra – has sent letters to harakah daily, and the PAS MP, Mr Husam Musa, for printing and asking trenchant questions respectively, which neither ECM Liba nor Mr Khairy would like to answer, asking for an apology instead. But sending a legal letter is a two-edged sword. Both harakah daily, a web based daily and read widely, and Mr Husam has said they would defend the suit. But ECM Libra does not have local standing (to use the legal term, locus standi), and if it goes to court, Malaysians will know how a young man with no family wealth became rich beyond Croessus, having no job but having married Pak Lah's daughter. ECM Libra is nervous at this being revealed. But being nervous is not a reason for a defamation suit. If harakah daily and Mr Husam take competent counsel, as they would, this action will sort out the law on suing internet publications, which under the Multimedia Super Corridor it has immunity. If this action is continued, the courts should first hear arguments whether it does, and then proceed with the ECM claims. But an old lawyer said unless ECM Libra has stated it has lost money, which can be quantified, the action will fail.

So, the question is why ECM Libra sued. The Khairy Chronicles, particularly part 23, and other writings, has exposed Mr Khairy's attempts to be, if possible, the next Prime Minister. He believes he can get to be at the top without explaining himself and assuming the people are fools. But one cannot reach the top by stealth, especially now when all moves are questioned, or reported. He will not explain himself, but continues with his machinations, and collects enemies in the civil service and UMNO, as a dog collects fleas. The court action will be the first when he will have to explain his behind-the-scenes action, and how he came to so much money that he could buy into ECM Libra for RM9.2 million. Whether he likes it or not, he will be called as a witness. As more damaging articles appear on Malaysia Today, his enemies in UMNO spread them around. They are distributed widely in Selangor, Johore, Pahang, Kedah and to severak UMNO divisions elsewhere. What he does in secret and behind the scenes will also be laid bare.

These revelations are damaging. His business partner, whose plane is used to ferry him around, recently stopped the car of the Mentri Besar of Trengganu, Dato' Idris Jusoh, which was ferrying Pak Lah on a visit to the state, with him present. Mr Lim tapped on the window, and Pak Lah left the MB's car and moved to Mr Lim's. Pak Lah should not have done that. But Mr Lim was given RM250 million to conduct the Monsoon Cup. That money is due to the state, for it is part of the Petroleum royalties of RM900 million a year. But in 2000, it was taken from the state, renamed Wang Ehson, and handed to the UMNO chief in the state, Dato' Idris Jusoh, to be used at his leisure. The man has become mentri besar, but he retains personal control of that money. There are constitutional issues involved. Kuala Lumpur did not want PAS, which was in power in the state from 1999-2004, and gave it to the UMNO chief. Any disbursement of that money must first be approved in the Prime Minister's department, and the friends of Mr Khairy has easy access to it. The Monsoon Cup and the housing development, in which the 50 houses cost RM250,000 each but offered for sale at RM1 million each, got RM250 million from this money. It goes without saying that the man who got it was Mr Khairy's business partner.

Mr Khairy and ECM Libra has not filed police reports for good reason. Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when deputy prime minister, filed police reports, against the advise of the then prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, against the author of the book in Malay, "50 reasons why Anwar Ibrahim cannot be Prime Minister." The police report was used to investigate him, not the author of the book, he was arrested, humiliated by the police, and spent six years in jail. Lodging police reports is dangerous to Mr Khairy's and ECM's health. Mr Khairy and the company he is three per cent owner of has instead sued an opposition company, harakah daily, and Mr Husam, who could be mentri besar of Kelantan in the future. It is not Mr Khairy and ECM Libra who would be on trial, but Pak Lah as prime minister. His brother's company supplies food to MAS at inflated rates. His son's company, SCOMI, is Petronas' biggest contractor, within two years of his being prime minister.

Mr Khairy will have to shut up his enemies in UMNO first, then go after the opposition. Questions are being asked about him in UMNO. He has reached the near top through influence, and he has succeeded quickly by ignoring the Malay habit of assuming an enemy is a friend unless proved otherwise. The death of Mr Liew Boon Horng, of Ethos Consulting, made Mr Khairy an enemy of the defence ministry. The defence minister who is also deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, is not likely to allow Mr Khairy another chance to knock him down. He is facing problems in Putera UMNO, whose president, Dato' Azeez Abdul Rahman, whom he appointed, is said to be caught in a vice raid in the Holiday Villa, would not deny it but disappeared from the scene. He had intended that organisation would knock off the UMNO Youth leader, Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, who has suddenly become his enemy in UMNO. He cannot now get his enemies to shut up, and allow him to go past them. His enemies will not allow that. Instead, they will distribute throughout the country what he does not like known to the public.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com