Yesterday, I listed the six “political disasters” committed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s in his new “swamp politics ala-Trump” from Sept. 12 when he visited the White House and met with US President Trump, viz:

1. Najib’s visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump on Sept. 12, without any sense of personal shame or national humiliation at being branded a “kleptocrat” and “MO1” by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland, and his subservient position in a supplicant role to Trump to the extent of offering up as “homage” three “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy.

2. Najib publicly labeled as a “crook” by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Newsweek magazine on Sept. 13, and Najib dare not sue them for defamation.

3. Najib’s speech at the MCA-organised Chinese Community Patriotic Assembly at the UMNO HQ in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Sept. 16, where he threatened the Chinese saying that “the Chinese community would be targeted should Malaysia ever descend into chaos…If there is no peace in our country, what will happen? The Chinese will be the first to be targeted if there is no peace in this country.”

4. The perfunctory manner in which Najib as Prime Minister celebrated Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, spending less than 24 hours in Sabah to attend the official Malaysia Day events in Kota Kinabalu at night while completely ignoring Sarawak altogether.

5. The Prime Minister’s highly-hyped media conference announcement on Sept. 17 at 4.45 pm, resulting in the swarming by over 100 reporters from all over the world at the media conference, but which produced a dud in Najib’s latest “swamp politics” – “Mike Tyson” rejoining UMNO after a five-year sojourn in PAS and PKR from April 2013.

6. The continued hearing on Sept. 18 of the farcical Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara foreign exchange losses a quarter of a century ago, while there is no RCI on the elephant in the room – the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight.

I am to cite Najib’s seventh “political disaster” on the seventh day of the week of Najib’s political disasters” starting with his White House visit on Sept. 12, but Najib had three “political disasters” on Sept. 19 – totaling nine “political disasters” in Najib’s week of “political disasters” from Sept. 12.

Najib’s three “political disasters” yesterday (Sept. 19) alone were:

FIRSTLY, the conclusion ahead of schedule of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara’s forex losses three decades ago, resulting in a caustic article “A farce of an RCI is over” in a leading news portal, coupled with the following eyebrow-raising developments:

• The refusal of the RCI Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to retract his statement on the first day of the RCI public hearings on August 21 on the total Bank Negara forex losses even before oral and documentary evidence were submitted to the RCI;

• The refusal of the RCI to recall former Bank Negara assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid for further examination;

• The failure of the RCI conducting officer to honour his statement that he would recall Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim; and most significiant of all,

• The “quitting” of Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop as deputy chairman of the sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd as he failed to “deliver” at the RCI to implicate Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Daim Zainuddin and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Bank Negara forex losses scandal. Will Nor Mohamad Yakcop next be stripped of his “Tan Sri”ship?

SECONDLY, the hubris in the UMNO leadership after the disastrous Najib media conference on Sunday on the return of Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib to UMNO after nearly a five-year sojourn to PAS and PKR, with the UMNO Information Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa declaring that UMNO will use “various methods to wrest Selangor from the opposition, including out-of-the-box approaches” – reminiscent of Najib’s undemocratic and “political swamp” tactics to topple the elected Pakatan Rakyat Perak State Government in February 2009;

THIRDLY, the overhanging stench, infamy and ignominy in the land throughout the whole week, in fact for the past two years, of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal despite Najib’s brave boast in his 2016 New Year Message on 31st December 2015 that the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Even in the past week, the 1MDB scandal continued to hog international news and headlines, viz:

On Sept 14, world reports that “US court grant stay in 1MDB assets seizure case” as a federal judge in Los Angeles granted a stay on the US Department of Justice’s application to put on hold its civil forfeiture suits on assets allegedly purchased using funds misappropriated from 1MDB, to avoid jeopardising an ongoing criminal investigation.

The US Court said it “sees no reason to doubt the government’s claim that a criminal investigation is ongoing into the underlying money laundering allegations that form the basis for all of these civil forfeiture cases”, following the disclosure of facts by the FBI that the revelation of its methods of the investigation would subject witnesses and informants to intimidation or retaliation, and raise the potential for evidence destruction.

The US Court said: “Given the complex nature of the alleged crimes and the sensitive political and diplomatic issues involved, it is apparent that revelation of any significant amount of information by the government could endanger the operation of the criminal investigation.”

On 15th Sept. US reports that “’Wolf of Wall Street’ Producer Reaches Settlement in Federal Corruption Case”, that Red Granite Pictures, “dogged for more than a year by its connection to a massive Malaysian corruption case”, reached a settlement with federal prosecutors in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil forfeiture case in July 2016 to recoup proceeds from the film. Prosecutors alleged that Red Granite — whose CEO, Riza Aziz, is the step-son of Malaysia’s prime minister — used funds embezzled from a Malaysian development authority to produce the film.

Where are Malaysians to hide their faces in shame at the unending turns and twists and new developments in the 1MDB scandal at the global level, which has turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight?

Can Najib and the UMNO/BN government exorcise the ghosts of the 1MDB scandal? Impossible, as Najib continues the pretence and charade that the 1MDB scandal does not exist, and Parliament is not even allowed to ask questions about it, with the UMNO/BN Government the modern-day version of the traditional three monkeys, with eyes that see not, ears that hear not, and mouths that speak not about the 1MDB scandal.

Only a change of the Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 14GE can the ghosts of 1MDB be exorcised, and Malaysia restores its international reputation and standing by shaking off the stench, infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy!