“A group of politicians deciding to dump a President because his morals are bad is like the Mafia getting together to bump off the Godfather for not going to church on Sunday.”

– Russell Baker

At the risk of ending up like former minister Zaid Ibrahim who exercised his democratic right of free speech in asking for Najib Abdul Razak to resign or step down, I too would ask that, with the latest revelations from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the prime minister step down.

I did the same when the corruption charges against Penang chief minster cropped up where I said “the Penang CM should take a leave of absence until these charges have been settled.”

Nowhere did I attempt any justifications for the Penang chief minister not resigning or stepping down because of the politically motivated nature of the charges (which I acknowledged) or the fact that the Malaysian system is broken and compromised.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak in urging Malaysians not to jump to any conclusions said, “No one should rush to judgement before allegations are proven in court,” which of course does not apply to Lim Guan Eng, who was summarily demonised by Umno propaganda organs as being hypocritical and corrupt.

In the case of the current Umno regime, the DOJ has claimed, “The Malaysian people were defrauded on an enormous scale (in) a scheme which tentacles reached around the world.”

The prime minister’s stepson was named in documents aimed at curbing the excess of kleptocratic regimes and if this was not enough, US attorney-general Loretta E Lynch said, “We want to make clear to corrupt officials around the world that we will be relentless in our efforts to deny them the proceeds of this crime.”

Najib’s press secretary Tengku Sarifuddin Tengku Ahmad is absolutely correct when he observes that, “US Department of Justice’s civil lawsuits were filed against the producers of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ against various assets”, however this does not detract from the fact that claims of innocence aside, the Umno regime and the prime minster has been implicated in one of the biggest cases of financial thievery investigated by various US enforcement agencies.

The spin masters of this regime will attempt to minimise this as something less than a criminal action brought by parties against a “third party” – Red Granite Pictures. The reality is that the DOJ has made it very clear that by drafting this document, it is aware of the scope of this alleged criminal undertaking and further processes are in place with actions that would have far more devastating results.

Indeed, Najib loyalists are wallowing in the fact that Najib’s authoritarian measures ensures his political stability because there are no democratic or legitimate means to oust him from office. What is left are the internal mechanism of Umno which has been greased by the ‘cash is king’ dictum.

From press reports, DOJ did not name ‘Malaysian Official 1’ but described the individual as a “high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB.”

Beneath the layers of legalese is the undisputed fact of a kleptocratic government in the crosshairs of a foreign government getting ready to take their shot at a potentate who has allegedly funnelled money through American institutions.

An elaborate conspiracy?

I have no idea who is advising the PMO, but anyone who is aware of diplomatic speak would understand that this is just the prelude to more concrete actions that would be taken by Washington to encourage the perception that the US was tough on international corruption.

The Najib regime has managed to silence critics, used the various security and legal apparatus to whitewash the alleged corruption charges and done its best to disseminate the propaganda that this is a politically-motivated attack against the prime minster.

The Najib regime have implied that not only are there local actors in this elaborate conspiracy but there are also foreign elements, which includes Washington and, yes, even the Jews. While the Najib regime continues to maintain that the prime minster has been cleared of any wrongdoing locally, he has never once brought a civil suit against any of his foreign critics or attempted to clear his name by litigation.

Instead, what he has done is continue the narrative that his enemies seek to subvert democracy and supplant his legitimate leadership through unlawful and immoral means. The reality is that there is no massive conspiracy.

Anyone who is against the prime minster openly declares that they wish to see him removed from office. Najib refuseniks have gone so far as to create another political party for this purpose. The opposition has aligned itself with a former prime minister who they claim is the causes of these problems but may offer a solution.

The only conspiracy is the conspiracy to keep the current Umno president in power. The only conspiracy is the one between those security and legal agencies in furtherance of said agenda. The only conspiracy is the one involving an Islamic sect, once the sworn enemy of Umno but now used as a convenient tool to ensure Malay/Muslim unity, in the face of massive scandals that has caused Umno to implode and with various factions competing from the benefice of a potentate who realises that he is walking on thin ice.

For the past couple of days, Umno insiders – both pro-Najib and pro-Mahathir – have been chattering about possible regime change within Umno in the coming few months. Perhaps they were aware of the bombshell that was about to be dropped or perhaps the gravy train was stalling. This kind of talk is rife these days and one has to be discerning or have discerning contacts.

The anarchy in Umno has spawned a cottage industry of problems that will have a terrible effect on the security of our country. We have, because of the stratagems of this regime with regards to Islam, an Islamic State (IS) problem.

Faith in our public institutions is at an all-time low. Racial and religious issues have become the norm because our man in Putrajaya needs to appeal to baser populist sentiment to remain in power.

However, Najib will not resign. Indeed, this US action will have very little effect on the Najib regime because he has managed to subvert those institutions charged with bringing order and justice to his will. He is operating in a compromised electoral system that favours the ruling regime and the opposition is fragmented and riddled with Umno sympathisers.

If I can make the argument that Lim Guan Eng should step down or resign even if the charges were politically motivated, I can and should say the same for Najib. It does not matter that our “departments of justice” have cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing, the DOJ has claimed that the Malaysian people were defrauded by a fund under the control of the prime minster and as yet the prime minster has not attacked any of his foreign critics.

I would argue that remaining in office would be an insult to Malay integrity and dignity, but apparently Malay integrity and dignity only extends to attacking local actors with very little power.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.