Malaysians must be asking today whether they can accomplish next Wednesdy on May 9 accomplish what was intended five years ago today, 5th of May – to achieve a “3 in One” to change the Prime Minister, the Malaysian Government and national policies which allowed Malaysia to become and remain a global kleptocarcy?

When I was at the Sibu market walkabout this morning, a supporter approached me and asked whether it is true that Datuk Seri Najib Razak had resigned as Prime Minister so that Pakatan Harapan would not have a target to focus their attacks.

I told them this will not happen as Najib had studiously prepared the last five years to make sure that whatever happens, he cannot be dislodged as UMNO President and Prime Minister of Malaysia – and this is where the 1MDB scandal played a strategic role in Najib’s re-election plans, for 1MDB was to ensure that he would have an uninterrupted flow of money, what Tun Dr. Mahathir had described as “dedak”, to sweeten his path to re-election as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

But “Man Proposes, God Disposes”, and the 1MDB caper did not work out smoothly as planned, as although 1MDB managed to raise RM50 billion through debts, the !MDB “masterminds”, particular Jho Low, was unable to prevent the kleptocratic aspects of the 1MDB scandal from becoming public in the world – although the 1MDB scandal was studiously blacked out inside Malaysia and now even equated as “fake news” which is criminally punishable under the Anti-Fake News Act with draconian penalties of RM500,000, six years’ jail or both.

On looking back, it is now obvious that Najib had set up a decoy to ensure that the 1MDB scandal would not be a major issue of the 14th General Election by getting the 1MDB chief executive officer, Arul Kanda Kandasamy to embark on a daily nation-wide roadshow purportedly to give a full accounting of the world’s “kleptocracy at its worst” and in the process, to remove all the stings from the 1MDB scandal.

But Arul Kanda’s roadshow was a great failure, for the 1MDB CEO had lost all credibility and nobody, except the UMNO/BN rent-a-crowd audience, was going to be “Arul Kanda-ied” by his lies and fairy tales about the 1MDB scandal.

With or without Arul Kanda, whether the issue is shouted from the rooftops and questioned by Malaysians in the silence of the conscience, the MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal remains one of the leading issues of the 14GE, even when it is banished from the official media after the enactment of the Fake News Act.

Najib has a vested interest to win big in the 14GE, for he can then tell the world that 31 million Malaysians agree with him that the world is wrong, that there is no 1MDB scandal, that it was the Arab royalty who put RM2.6 billion into his personal bank accounts and that not a single sen of public funds had been lost by 1MDB – despite evidence to contrary, whether the RM1 billion Equanimity luxury superyacht seized by the Indonesian authorities in February, or the RM144 million pink diamond necklace which Jho Loh bought with 1MDB-related funds to give to the “wife of MO1” as a gift!

If the old rules of the game in Malaysian general elections are followed, Najib and the UMNO/BN are assured of a landslide victory on May 9, especially after the Election Commission’s constituencvy redelineation, which saw the worst gerrymandering in Malaysian history.

However, there had been at least eight “game changers” to alter the rules of the game in competitive electoral politics, which place the outcome of the 14GE on May 9 into a zone of uncertainty.

The eight “game changers” are:

1. Mahathir leading the Pakatan Rakyat offensive to change the Prime Minister, the Malaysian Government in Putrajaya and national policies detrimental to the Malaysian nation and people;

2. Decision of the DAP leadership not to use the Rocket symbol in Peninsular Malaysia but the Pakatan Harapan common symbol of the PKR blue-eyes to send a message to all Malaysians to rise above race, religion and political party affiliation to Save Malaysia from becoming a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state;

3. High-profile parliamentary contests in Ayer Itam, Teluk Intan, Seremban, Langkawi, Pagoh, Semporna, Stampin, Iskandar Puteri, Jerlun, etc.

Since the dissolution of Parliament, there have been more “game-changers” like:

4. The declaration of Bersatu as provisionally dissolved, when it is UMNO which is illegal;

5. The wanton tearing out of the pictures of Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim from Pakatan Harpaan election billboards while photographs of Barisan Nasional leaders, and even leaders of foreign nation, were left untouched and intact;

6. The Police investigation of Mahathir under the Anti-Fake News Act;

7. The candidature of Nik Omar Nik Aziz as Amanah candidate in Kelantan; and

8. Former UMNO heavyweights like former Finance Minister and UMNO treasurer Tun Daim Zainuddin, former UMNO Wanita chief and Minister for International Trade and Industry Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Rais Yatim declaring their support for Pakatan Harapan and the need for UMNO to be replaced.

I do not think Najib could now deny the existence of a Malay tsunami, but only whether the Malay tsunami is strong enough to sweep Najib and UMNO/BN out of Putrajaya on May 9, 2018.

(Speech to Iskandar Puteri (PACA) Polling and Counting Agents in Skudai on Saturday, 5th May 2018 at 3pm)