The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, clearly has a very different Vision 2020 from former premier Tun Mahathir, for from what is happening in recent days, weeks and months, Najib is taking Malaysia to his Vision 2020 of a “banana republic” and not a fully developed nation under the original Vision 2020.

It is only in a “banana republic” where the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance are totally alien in practice, whatever the hifalutin slogans eulogising them, that there is a Prime Minister who could keep dumb for close to three weeks about allegations in an internationally reputable newspaper that Malaysian government investigators have found US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been deposited into the Prime Minister’s personal bank accounts just before the previous general elections in 2013, without being frank and truthful where the RM2.6 billion came from, where and to whom they had gone to – as the Prime Minister had tacitly admitted the deposits into his private bank accounts by repeating the refrain in the past three weeks that he had not taken funds for personal gain.

It is only in a “banana republic” that either the entire or the overwhelming majority of the Cabinet is “suspect” and “tainted” of having received improper funding from these personal banking accounts of the Prime Minister for the 13th General Election campaign, and for three weeks, the Ministers dare not make any statement to clear themselves of such impropriety, malpractices and conflict of interest.

No wonder former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir in his blog “Conspiracy” on 20th July 2015 commented:

“11. To all comments made against 1MDB, the standard answer is to deny, to say “No it is not true.” It is like somebody upon being asked whether he had stolen the money as alleged, simply denies that he had stolen, expecting the judge to acquit him simply because he denied.

“12. There is no denial that money was deposited in the private account. The explanation to UMNO is that it was for the elections. UMNO seems satisfied. Don’t they know that Government money cannot be used to help a political party to win elections? But the money was from donation. Who donated 2 billion Ringgit? No answer.”

It is only in a “banana republic” that subordinate officers are appointed to investigate into a mega-financial scandal directly implicating the Prime Minister, officers who are junior, answerable and responsible to the Prime Minister, when the investigation should be by a Royal Commission of Inquiry of independent and credible elders of the country, who are not beholden to the Prime Minister, with the Prime Minister going on leave pending the outcome of the investigations.

It is only in a “banana republic” that “soldiers of fortune” and the dregs of society are elevated to a position where their lies and falsehoods are given even greater weight than those of patriots and solid citizens of the country who want to save Malaysia from becoming a failed state because of rampant corruption, socio-economic injustices and the collapse of good governance.

It is only in a “banana republic” that a person is appointed Strategic Communications Director when he is not even fit to be made Communications Director, making “strategic errors” by the dozen in his first week in office.

It is only in a “banana republic” that Members of Parliament and media practitioners who have spent months trying to pry upon the 1MDB mega-financial scandal are placed on an immigration blacklist prohibiting them from leaving the country when the persons who should placed on the blacklist are people accused of serious malpractices and criminal breach of trust headed by none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

It is only in a “banana republic” that diligent, conscientious and patriotic MPs like DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli, are wanted by police for their sterling role in demanding accountability for the 1MDB scandal in the police’s first investigations into the new-fangled crimes created in the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2012 of “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” (Section 124B) under which person could be jailed up to 20 years.

The new-fangled offence of “Activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” should protect MPs in the discharge of their parliamentary duties. Instead it has become a weapon to cow and intimidate MPs from carrying out their duties – which fits the offence of “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.

Those responsible for the unconstitutional action against Pua and Rafizi, violating their freedom of movement, are guilty of the offence of “Activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” and police investigations should be initiated against those responsible for these directives against Pua and Rafizi, regardless of whether he is Director-General of Immigration, Home Minister or Prime Minister.

Will the Inspector-General of Police twitter-direct police officers to start investigating the Director-General of Immigration, the Home Minister and the Prime Minister as to whether they have committed the offence of “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, where a person is liable to be jailed up to 20 years?

Section 130A of the Penal Code defines “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” as “an activity carried out by a person or a group of persons designed to overthrow or undermine parliamentary democracy buy violent or unconstitutional means”.

Prohibiting an MP from carrying out his or her parliamentary duties by violating his or her constitutional right to travel is clearly “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” designed to undermine parliamentary democracy by unconstitutional means, and the question is whether the Police will immediately open files to investigate the person or persons responsible for violating Pua and Rafizi’s freedom of movement.

Malaysia should stop become a laughing stock in the world, and Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation, must not allow Malaysia to degenerate into a “banana republic” when we should be marching towards a fully developed nation status.

I call in particular on the elders in our society, regardless of race, religion or politics, irrespective of the positions in government or private sector which they had served, to come forward to speak out to ensure that Malaysia is not enveloped by a new darkness of misrule, misgovernance and violation of democracy!

(Media Conference Statement at DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 23rd July 2015 at 12 noon)