Desperation has caused the UMNO-PAS conspirators to change tactics – abandon the “no confidence motion” strategy and to try to cause the downfall of Pakatan Harapan government by targeting DAP and AMANAH.

This is why unlike the previous parliamentary meetings, there was no speculation before the present Budget parliamentary meeting to float the possibility that there would be a “no confidence motion” to remove Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister.

The “no confidence motion” line was earlier decided as the strategy to destabilise and topple the Pakatan Harapan government after the historic decision of a democratic and peaceful transition of power on 9th May 2018 where contrary to pre-election UMNO propaganda and warning, I was not only not the Prime Minister, I did not play any official government role and was not even in the Cabinet.

The earlier strategy to plot for a new combination and permutation of parliamentary numbers to secure sufficient parliamentary support to carry out a “no confidence motion” against Mahathir as the Prime Minister, or at least the fevered speculation that this was afoot, did not materialise and was quite an abject failure.

Now, desperation has set in, calling for a change of strategy. There are several causes for this sense of desperation, resulting from the failure to find any chink in the solidarity of the Pakatan Harapan government for the conspirators to enlarge and exploit.

But one cause of such desperation is that November 11 is getting closer and closer, the date former Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak would know whether he walks free or will be ordered to enter his defence on seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court had fixed Nov. 11 as the date for its decision on the prosecution-stage of the case against the former prime minister and finance minister, after 58 days of the hearing since April 3.

The prosecution called a total of 57 witnesses over the course of the trial from Najib’s former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu to former second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, among others.

Yu, who acted as the liaison between the former premier and the commercial bank in regards to his various bank accounts, testified that Najib spent RM606 million within three years from 2013.

Husni, meanwhile, admitted in court that he lied when he said his resignation as second finance minister in 2016 was not due to the 1MDB scandal, adding he did this because he wanted to protect then-premier Najib.

If judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali finds that the prosecution has established a prima facie case (meaning that the prosecution succeeds in establishing a sufficiently strong case that Najib needs to answer), then the court will order Najib to enter his defence against the charges.

However, if the judge rules that the prosecution has failed to prove a prima facie case on any of the seven charges, then Najib walks out a free man on Nov 11.

The judge also set Dec 3 as the first day for the defence stage of the trial if Najib’s defence is called. Dec 3 and 4 is the start (of the defence stage of hearing), followed by Dec 9 to 12, then Dec 16 to 19.

Time is running out not only for Najib, for other UMNO kleptocrats, whether charged or not yet charged – which makes the sense of desperation more acute with every passing day.

In the change of tactics, the pedlars of lies, fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisation and conflict have escalated their campaign and caused such an upsurge of lies, fake news and hate speech that those who advocate multi-racial Malaysian nationhood are painted as the country’s No. 1 enemies, and even the country’s basic documents like the Constitution and the Rukunegara which advocated a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia are made to appear as if they have violated national aspirations.

DAP is suddenly pictured as a terrorist organisation or one which supports terrorism, whether communist or LTTE.

Being accused of being a supporter of LTTE is the latest of a long list of lies and falsehoods which had been levelled against me in my 54 years in Malaysian politics – I had been accused of being a communist; responsible for the May 13, 1969 riots, leading the street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur shouting anti-Malay and anti-Islam slogans although I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the May 10, 1969 General Election; painted as quite a devil, a puaka, even jembalang; that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam and at various times even anti-Indian, anti-Chinese educated Chinese , anti-English-educated Chinese; an agent of KGB, CIA, MI6 and even Australian Intelligence.

Before the 14th General Election, such toxic politics alleged that I would be the Prime Minister of Malaysia if Pakatan Harapan won the polls. When such lies and falsehoods were proved wrong after May 9, 2018 new lies and falsehoods were manufactured to allege that I am the real power in the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya and that Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Mohamad Sabu were merely my stooges and puppets.

If all the lies told about me were true, I must be among the richest, the most powerful and most remarkable persons in human history.

Now, DAP is suddenly accused of supporting the revival of LTTE and the PAS official organ, Harakah, even went to the extent of carrying a monstrous lie of an evil but non-existing LTTE-DAP-Israel-American quartet?

There will more lies, fake news and hate speech from now till November 11, and if Najib’s defence is called, from November 11 till the judgement of the SRC trial.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, October 21, 2019)