MGG Pillai Commentary View

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Can Pak Lah survive his son-in-law?

PAK LAH IS IN DIFFUCULTIES because his son-in-law. Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, does what he likes and any one who questions him can be entangled in libel suits. Mr Husam Musa, a PAS MP, asked a few questions, in an online PAS hewspaper, about his sudden wealth, and ECM Libra has sued both. The company has decided that asking Mr Khairy questions like Mr Husam's is a blight on it. But a defamation suit can take years in the Malaysian courts, particularly if Mr Husam and the PAS Publishing company defends it. The chances are good that it will last after Pak Lah leaves office. Tan Sri Vincent Tan sued me in 1993, I lost all the way to the federal court, but another federal court bench decided the bench headed by the then chief justice, who went to New Zealand on holiday with the lawyer for Vincent Tan, was flawed. I am still waiting for the federal court re-hearing. 12 years after i was sued. Mr Khairy could be in the same boat as Tan Sri Vincent. But Pak Lah is already saddled with the backlash over this.

Pak Lah is enamoured of Mr Khairy, and listens to him more than his advisers. This is not lost on UMNO members. It may be rumours, but the secrecy which cannot be questioned makes sure that many believe what they hear. Mr Khairy does not like others to question his background, neither would he say what it is. He cannot expect to be a Malaysian leader in secret and with his background unknown. The hagiographic details he has given or is written about him is not enough. He has not contested an election, his rise in UMNO is without contest. He would have contested in Negri Sembilan at the last general election, but his strong arm methods did not work there. More important, he is now regarded in UMNO as a 'menyampah', which makes him a liability to Pak Lah. The UMNO head office sees him a liability, and has written him off. He will bring down his father-in-law by his arrogance, his sudden rise to wealth, his secrecy, his penchant to sue. He hopes to bankrupt Mr Husam to disqualify him as Mentri Besar of Kelantan after the next election. But if this case comes to court, he might win but only at the cost of his secrecy. The libel suit is double edged.

Mr Khairy's blames Dato' Seri Khir Toyo for the floods in Shah Alam, and is to prevent him being challenged for the UMNO Youth presidency next year. But within UMNO he is seem as blaming an UMNO leader for mistakes the federal government has made. Why did not the federal government, run by his father-in-law, object to the exclusive housing project near Bukit Cheraka when it was being constructed? It cannot, because it has allowed the ridge above Taman Tun Abdul Razak, which Tun Mahathir when prime minister ordered stopped. The people look upon this attack of Datp' Seri Khir as infighting within UMNO. But the man who could challenge Mr Khairy in the UMNO elections is not Dato' Seri Khir but a deputy minister in the government linked to the deputy prime minister. What Mr Khairy has done is to ensure that the next prime minister is Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, with his deputy prime minister Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, who is UMNO Youth leader. UMNO headquarters believe it, and so do many Malaysians up and down the country.

Going after those who ask legitimate questions is not the way to worm one's way into the Malaysian consciousness. Mr Khairy is not born with a silver spoon, but he is worth more than RM500 million, most of which he had after his father-in-law became Prime Minister. He is regarded in UMNO as representing Singapore in selling Malaysian government assets to the island. If ECM Libra proceeds with the defamation suit, it would be asked to explain why asking questions of Mr Khairy, one of its directors, will damage it. But if ECM Libra is to succeed, it must win its defamation suit as quickly as possible. This is not likely, although both the PAS publishing company and Mr Husam are upset at the suit because it would be disastrous for them if they were to lose. But they should fight on, if at least to inform those in UMNO that they cannot bankrupt politicians because they ask inconvenient questions, as Singapore's PAP and its leaders are prone to do.

But even if ECM Libra wins lhe defamation suit, it would have lost. The company came into prominence after Pak Lah became Prime Minister. It has become a company to watch now because it is given government favours because it is linked to his son-in-law. It will not succeed on its own after Pak Lah is no more prime minister. Datuk Seri Najib would have nothing to do with ECM Libra if, as expected, he is the prime minister after Pak Lah. It would be to the next prime minister what Tan Sri Vincent Tan now is to Pak Lah in business opportunities. His father-in-law need not tell him to stay away. It is too late for that. Pak Lah's epoch as prime minister is over though he would linger on. He makes far too many mistakes. He has has his chief aide a son-in-law who has so damaged himself to UMNO rank and file. It does not matter if he is replaced. He has other problems on his plate, chief of which is his predecessor, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, who had warned him earlier not to like the perks of being prime minister over every thing else. He not only loves that, but he also tells trite slogans which mean nothing while he slacks in his jobs as prime minister, finance minister and internal security minister and as UMNO president. All he can now do is to leave gracefully unless he wants to be challenged at the UMNO elections next year.

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