Party forced to deal with corruption allegations in the midst of its
annual general assembly
The United Malays National
Organization, Malaysia’s biggest political party, finds itself embroiled in yet
another scandal right in the middle of its annual general assembly, which is to
run through tomorrow night.
Instead of a grand national
potlatch, in which the unified 2,600-odd deputies accuse the opposition of
being disorganized and unable to run the country, untrue to the Muslim faith
and in thrall to the ethnic Chinese, the party is forced to deal with deep
concerns that a carpet trader formerly close to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, has now turned on the first family. Deepak
Jaikishan has been giving interviews to any opposition websites who want to
listen, saying he had played a role in a move to funnel RM5 million (US$1.64
million) to get out of the country to Perumal Balasubramaniam.
Balasubramaniam at that time
employed by Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Nahib’s best friends, was a private
detective who charged in a sworn declaration that Najib had been the former
lover of murdered Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu, who
was shot in the head by two of Naib’s bodyguards in 2006. After Bala filed his
sworn statement describing his knowledge of the affair between the two and
giving excruciating details of sexual practices, among other specifics, under
pressure from police, he recanted his statement and wrote a second saying the
first had been false. Then he left the country for Chennai, where he has
remained, saying he had been intimidated to recant the statement.
Apparently disillusioned because
of a business deal gone bad, Jaikishan is also charging that the first couple
engineered the cancellation of government contracts to his businesses after he
first went public about his role in the affair and got him kicked off the
boards of directors of 26 companies. He has threatened to reveal more details
of the cover-up and offered to sue Najib himself.
Jaikashan’s firm Asacannggih Sdn
Bhd is suing Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdulla, a federal government senator and head
of the women’s division of the Selangor state chapter of UMNO. In addition, he
is alleging that Najib in 2006, when still defense minister, illegally bypassed
the Barisan Nasional cabinet and signed over land worth RM400 million owned by
the Ministry of Defense for privatization and redevelopment to Raja Ropiaah for
a still uncompleted defense research center. He is charging that Astacanggih
was cheated out of a portion of the land purchased from Raja Ropiaah's Awan
Megah (M) Sdn Bhd. The land had been privatized by the Defense Ministry to
Ropiaah's firm.
Jaikishan is charging in court
that Astacanggih in 2007 bought 90 hectares of land from Raja Ropiah’s Awan
Megah for RM120 million but that the transaction was never concluded and that
the titles have never been released to an Astacanggih subsidiary. He accused
Raja Ropiah of selling the land that had been sold to him to other parties.
"Without Najib's OK, Raja
Ropiaah would not have been awarded the deal by the Ministry of Defense,"
Jaikashan told a local independent website. Jaikashan is also suing the
Ministry of Defense and the land and mining office for complicity in the deal.
Jaikishan’s decision to make
himself available to opposition media in the middle of the UMNO general
assembly has caused outrage among rank and file UMNO members, coming as the
affair does on the heels of a series of other scandals including the notorious
Cattlegate scandal, in which family members of the head of the women’s wing of
the party allegedly misused a RM250 million soft loan to build a cattle feed
operation, spending considerable amounts of the money on condominiums, luxury
cars and overseas trips.
“I am sure Deepak will name
whoever he tried to bribe and hence start the investigation,” said one UMNO
source. “On my end, I have got no sympathy for Deepak. In fact, I would say it
serves him right. Other than that, I don't care too hoots for Deepak.”
Speculation as to who is behind
Jaikishan’s decision to go public inevitably centers on Opposition Leader Anwar
Ibrahim. Others believe that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, with the
connivance of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is behind Jaikishan’s
actions although yet another wing of the party, controlled by forces aligned
with former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, whom Mahathir helped to drive from
power in 2009, could also be playing a role.
Jaikishan has publicly said he
will talk more if his safety is guaranteed by someone powerful.
“Najib’s side retaliated
immediately by arranging for Deepak to be sacked from the boards of 26
companies over which he holds shares,” said a political operative in Kuala
Lumpur. “It looks like Deepak is using his involvement in the Bala saga as
leverage to force Najib to come to terms with him. On the other hand he is
probably being made use of by Najib’s UMNO rivals, as up to this point, he must
have been backed by a powerful faction before he would dare to go this far.”
The source called Mahathir and
Muhyiddin “the current suspects” although there is no concrete evidence other
than the fact that Jaikishan has said he is close to Muhyiddin. The affair, he
said, depends on how much Jaikishan knows and how much evidence he has, how the
political tussle plays out behind the scenes, “and to what extent Najib &
Co. are prepared to appease him.”
There is of course the likelihood
that the entire episode will fizzle out without crippling Najib nor UMNO,
though they may be bruised, out of common interests among the warring parties
to keep the present UMNO power structure afloat. Jaikishan can only be expected
to go as far as his UMNO backers agree to allow him to go. If Najib were to be
driven from power within UMNO now, with elections looming probably in April,
the party would be in serious disarray that could cost it dearly in
organizational terms. He could be expected to take revenge of his own on the
other factions.
In addition, said a source with a
nonpartisan think tank in Kuala Lumpur, “I don’t think Deepak’s accusations
will have that much impact on voters. For a start, he isn’t linking Najib
directly to Altantunya’s murder. He has said he was only involved in the 2nd
statutory declaration. Second, the election will be won or lost in the Malay
heartland – and I can’t see Malay heartlanders getting worked up about the
allegations. They will have a tremendous impact on middle class, urban voters
but that is a voter segment already lost to the Barisan.”
Jaikishan told the opposition
Malaysia Chronicle that he had "lost 20 kilos, my father says I have grown
up from a boy into a worried man. Just yesterday, I suffered a revolt from my
board. The directors in all 26 companies want me to step down. To them, I have
committed an unforgivable sin of exposing these matters to the press as it
affects the credibility of all 26 firms."
John Berthelsen
Business & Investment Opportunities
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