For ten days, the new Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had been on a rampage with his tall tale of a heinous and treacherous plot to topple the elected government in Malaysia, aimed at sending the country into a frenzy with two objectives:

• to distract the nation from the twin scandals of 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal bank accounts; and

• to neutralise and flush out potential challengers to his new-found position as the heir-apparent to the highest office of the land.

He even got the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to play second fiddle by getting the police to go on a “wild goose’s chase” to investigate police reports based on Zahid’s claim of a plot by an Umno leader to topple the government under Section 124B of the Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.

Let IGP Khalid declare whether in the past ten days, the police have found any plot to topple the elected government by violent or unconstitutional means, the number o people arrested or interrogated, or whether Khalid would state categorically that there is no basis whatsoever to Zahid’s claim of a plot to topple the elected government by violent or unconstitutional means.

Malaysians will like to know whether the police have found any basis for Zahid’s claim that there have been attempts to overthrow the elected government of Malaysia by violent or unconstitutional means, and if there is no basis whatsoever to Zahid’s so-called “intelligence reports”, whether the Police would propose instead to the Attorney-General to either charge the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister for the offence of causing people to lodge false police reports, issue a public reprimand of Zahid for misusing his high office which allowed him access to government security and intelligence information or at minimum issue a clear statement that there is no basis whatsoever to the allegation of a plot to topple the elected government by violent or unconstitutional means.

The IGP should be forewarned that questions as to whether there is a plot to topple the elected government by violent or unconstitutional means, and if so, who were the persons involved, will be the hot favourite question in the October/November meeting of Parliament, and if he is not prepared to answer this question now, he cannot avoid it when Parliament meets in mid-October.

In this connection, the IGP should also admit that any effort at the peaceful, democratic and constitutional change of the Prime Minister or government is none of the business of police, but is an integral part of the process of parliamentary democracy, provided a new majority of Parliamentarians could be found to support a new Prime Minister or a new Government; and that the Police is mindful of its independent, professional and non-partisan political role and would never allow itself to become a tool whether of any political party or individual politician to undermine the democratic process – including the peaceful, democratic and constitutional change of government and the Prime Minister of the day.