The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should ensure that the police focus single-mindedly on fighting crime to make Malaysians safe in their homes, offices and public places instead of playing the game of their political masters like probing the Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s ridiculous claim of a campaign to topple the government, when no offence has been disclosed.

Khalid was very proud to say yesterday that the police had received three reports in relation to Zahid’s calim that there is a campaign to topple the government and that the reports will be investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” which carries maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

Did Khalid sense the nation-wide gasp of disgust and disbelief that the police under his leadership are continuing to squander scarce police resources and precious police time to play the game of their political masters and go on a wild goose chase when the police priority should be an unerring agenda to slash the crime rate to make Malaysia a safe country for citizens and investors?

Firstly, can Khalid explain what offence had been disclosed by the so-called three police reports based on Zahid’s claim that there is a campaign to topple the government?

Section 124B of the Penal Code applies only when there is the element of “violent or unconstitutional means” to topple the elected government. It is an open-and-shut case if the complainants could not disclose any “violent or unconstitutional means” employed in any campaign to topple the government, and the three who lodged police reports under this section should be prosecuted for lodging false police reports.

In any event, if Zahid’s claim of a campaign to topple the government relates to “violent or unconstitutional means” to topple the elected government under Section 124B of the Penal Code, wouldn’t Zahid be guilty of a gross dereliction of duty in failing to lodge a police report and giving the police all available evidence?

The very fact that Zahid had not lodged any police report is surely evidence enough that no criminal element is involved in terms of any violent or unconstitutional means and the police should stop wasting police resources and police time just to humour their political masters.

Zahid’s so-called expose of a plot by an Umno leader to topple the government by collecting statutory declarations (SD) of UMNO, Barisan Nasional and Opposition MPs has sparked a political mini-storm.

A blog had published the names of the 20 UMNO/BN MPs, which included Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and the new Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamad, for being involved in such a plot to topple the government.

Are the police going to interrogate every one of these 20 names UMNO/BN MPs as to their loyalties to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak?

Is it an offence of anyone of these 20 UMNO/BN MPs or anyone not mentioned in this group of 20 who feel that the time has come for Najib to step down as Prime Minister?

Is this a crime under Section 124B of the Penal Code, justifying for the police to charge the MP concerned under this section and to send the MP to prison for up to 20 years!

This is utterly ridiculous and Malaysia would immediately cease to be a democratic country.

Any UMNO/BN MP with such an inclination may have committed a breach of party discipline but definitely not committed any offence under the law of the land – which is why the Police should butt out of such political matters.

Zaidi has his reasons – which has nothing to do with law and order and therefore no business of the police to try to “help out” – for shouting from the rooftops of a plot to topple the government.

But is such a plot credible?

Such a game-plan is based on the assumption that with the Opposition’s 88 MPs, all that is needed to topple Najib and replace the present government (including Zahid as Deputy Prime Minister) with a new Prime Minister and new government is to get the support of 24 MPs from UMNO/BN – giving a total of 112 MPs which would be a simple majority in the 222-strong Malaysian Parliament.

But there is a major catch here, as it is wrong to postulate that there are 88 Opposition MPs who support the toppling of Najib as Prime Minister at any one time.

It is clear from recent statements by the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, the the new PAS leadership under him is very sympathetic and supportive of the Najib premiership and even his 1MDB problems.

When things come a crunch in Parliament on a vote of no confidence on Najib as premier, it may be a strategic error to assume that all the 21 PAS MPs would support DAP and PKR in any vote of no confidence in Najib, as about half may remain loyal to Hadi’s supportive stance for Najib.

This reduces the Opposition MPs who may support a vote of no confidence in Najib to around 77 MPs, which would require more UMNO/BN MPs to come on board to secure a simple majority in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in Najib.

Is this likely? I have grave doubts.

Be that as it may, such electoral arithmetic is not going to be that easy to achieve – though this is strictly a political manoeuvre involving party discipline which has nothing to do with violation of any law of the land and should be of no concern of the Police whatsoever.