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A future prime minister, or a jailbird?

THE HIDDEN STORY OF ECM Libra merging with Avenue Capital is not told. Avenue Capital used to be called Phileo Bank, which got its licence from the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and was said to be his vehicle, but was taken over by the government after his fall, and which is controlled by the Prime Minister. It has in its portfolio the post office, with about RM3 billion in funds. The new entity will rival Commerce International Merchant Bankers (CIMB) as Malaysia's largest investment group. But CIMB. built brick-by-brick and therefore solid, is run by Dato' Nazir Razak, the younger brother of the deputy prime minister. Mr Khairy is the top dog of the rival. It must be noted that CIMB wants to take over Southern Bank, while Mr Khairy wants it to be taken over by a Singapore group. Malaysians are told the confusing pattern of corporate deals, while the political impact of the deal is not explained. Mr Khairy is a young man in a hurry, and the corporate deals he is part of is so that he can be prime minister after his father-in-law. But ECM Libra merging with Avenue Capital, worth over RM280 million, would not have happened if his father-in-law had not allowed it. In other countries, both would have gone to jail. In Malaysia, one could follow the other as prime minister!

It is to enable Mr Khairy, whose minor stake in ECM Libra was bought after he knew of the merger, gets his hands on the cash, and that has the deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak worried. Last night, he met with his advisers deep into the early hours of this morning. Now he knows for certain Pak Lah is against him. The Avenue Capital sale could not have taken place if Pak Lah had raised an objection. But in the complicted corporate moves, ECM Libra has its hands on the cash. And this cash is for Mr Khairy's use in becoming the next prime minister. He now has the money to fight his battle against Dato' Seri Najib. It is the practice of the UMNO group in power not to inform the peole what it does, unless it wants to, especially if what it had planned could go awry. Pak Lah thinks Mr Khairy and his friends can match the best in Malaysia, and has now given him the funds to go further. But Mr Khairy has come a cropper in the few political attempts to be top dog.

This is what happened to the British Labour Prime Minister, Mr Harold Wilson's friend, Patrick Gordon Walker, a brilliant man, also from Oxford!, but lost two elections in succession, one after he had become Britain's foreign secretary. He was made a peer, but his political career was over even before it started. Mr Khairy was to have stood in Rembau for parliament, but he had to be dropped as a candidate because of local opposition. He had already put his choice as mentri besar, whom he could order around had be been elected to parliament. He made an enemy of the former state mentri besar, who is out of the federal cabinet on rather spurious grounds, and has become his implacable enemy. Mr Khairy became UMNO deputy youth by working behind the scenes, ignoring political developments and the people. He took over the Putera UMNO mainly to overthrow his leader in UMNO Youth, Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, but the man he put as chief is embroiled in a controvery after a dato', a title he has. is caught in a spa of a hotel he frequents. Ethos Consulting advised the defence ministry on the weapons to buy, only those whose local agents were Mr Khairy's friends. But its chief died, and no one from Ethos Consulting is allowed in the defence ministry, and Mr Khairy is left high and dry.

He hopes to be prime minister after Pak Lah, but without getting to know the rank and file of UMNO. He is from Oxford, and that he insists gives him a cache that those wanting a political career in UMNO, including the deputy prime minister, do not have. He only talks to newsmen favourable to him, and he believes he should be prime minister over all other claimanents, including Dato' Seri Najib. He threatens to sue any body he does not like, or puts a break on his political rise. If he is supported by his father-in-law the prime minister, he thinks he will make it. He hopes to in Malaysia as Tony Blair, also an Oxford graduate, did in the United Kingdom. He now has money to throw, although using money from a public listed company is criminal breach of trust. He gets UMNO men and women taking him into their bosoms. He thinks he is popular. But where does he stand on issues affecting Malaysia? He does not want to say. He threatens libel suits instead. The New Straits Times, which was once edited by his side-kick and made a mess of it, usually carries laudatory articles about him, more in answer to criticism of him on the Internet. He had not been elected to any post. He has so far arranged it so that he is returned unopposed. Pak Lah thinks this is as it should be, that a young man with no experience in government or in employment is a better bet than a man who had been a cabinet minister more than twenty years ago.

Now Mr Khairy has a hold now of over the post office cash cow of RM 3 billion. He can put Dato' Seri Najib on the defensive, in fact he is worried about development. Malaysians know that ECM Libra is Mr Khairy's vehicle to reach the top. But ECM Libra is not only an Ali Baba firm, but has Singapore firms that will control it. Mr Khairy can lift himself out of the scandal that is brewing over his businessd and political links if he now reveals the truth of his finances and his relationship with, and Pak Lah reveals his relationship with his son-in-law. At the moment, both view it as their business. It is not. It is the people's business. And while they are at it, they should also say why the ECM Libra merger with Avenue Capital is not insider trading. Mergers taking a long time to fruit, and when RM280 million is involved, other people are involved. But not in this case. He would have to explain how he has been the go-between in deals with Singapore. The simple fact is he cannot be prime minister if his past, in this case in ECM Libra, involvies selling Malaysian government assets to Singapore. If he is not careful, his political career will be like that of Mr Patrick Gordon Walker.

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