Najib wants to be able to claim to the world that he has ‘won a free and fair election’ in Malaysia. On the other hand, he has no intention of losing GE14.
As a result, the charade has been incremental as the ‘Crime Minister’ has pressured supposedly independent bodies to produce an increasingly ludicrous list of abuses designed to make it effectively impossible for him to lose.
The fact that the list keeps growing as the election draws nearer, shows that the beleaguered kleptocrat is ever more terrified that each measure that he throws at the situation will not be enough to stem the tsunami of natural disgust that any population would feel against a leader exposed for stealing billions of ringgit of public money – much of it showered on crass luxuries for his wife.
After all, who in Malaysia relishes the prospect of their prime minister facing prosecution in the United States for theft and money-laundering? And how many would not rather a new government took over, if only to find out just how much Najib and his mafia ring have stolen from the public purse and get some of the money back?
Najib’s growing list of counter-measures against this loss of support has provided daily outrage amongst Malaysian voters:
Plan A was the extraordinary last minute gerrymandering of boundaries; Plan B was the outrageous Fake News Law to intimidate critics; Plan C the ‘outlawing’ of Bersatu the key Malay opposition party; Plan D was the ‘legitimising’ of UMNO by the Registrar of Societies, despite illegally failing to conduct internal elections; Plan E the decree that the images of the popular leaders of the opposition must be literally cut out of posters; Plan F a huge series of astonishing financial promises to the population that will never be fulfilled….. and so the list of disgraceful actions goes on and can be better elongated by SR’s savvy commentators.
Along the way to Plan Y, however, must be included the extraordinary looting of yet more public funds in order to finance the flood of grubby notes that has already passed out from the hands of BN workers at ceramahs up and down the country. Scenes of these disgusting hand-outs have circulated widely during what has become termed the ‘Whatsapp Election’.
This is of course criminal money, stolen from the funds and pensions belonging to the very people who are so grateful to receive just a little of it back.
Particularly disgraceful, have been reports that down in rural villages BN workers are demanding that the recipients of cash handouts, amounting to as much as RM2,000, must swear on their holy word that they will vote BN in return for the election bribe.
These poor folk are therefore allegedly being enjoined to make their oaths with respect to dirty money, compounding the sin already imposed upon them.
If this is widespread allegation is a slur against BN, then their leader ought here and now to make a public televised announcement that no person who has received cash at this election must feel in any way bound by the word of Allah to vote for BN or any other party.
If Najib fails to do this, given the reports that have been circulating, then he stands guilty.
So, what is Plan Z?
Sources close to Special Branch have allegedly leaked details of a full-scale operation to ensure that there will be ‘votes available on the night’ to top up failing BN candidates.
It is little surprise. The country is already awash with discussion about the concerns relating to postal votes from the army and civil service, both of which are put under enormous pressure to put the combined million or so votes in the hands of BN. The secrecy surrounding the destination of those votes and the practice of distributing them to marginal seats has long stained the management of Malaysia’s elections.
However, over and above this established abuse, we now have allegations that boxes of standby ballot papers will be distributed to all vulnerable BN constituencies (which by now means all of them). Given the blatant level of cheating already on display, these concerns deserve credence and all good people should be put on warning.
Indeed, anyone who has observed Sarawak’s various elections over previous years will recall those moments of sudden blackout at the end of counts, with the lights coming back on only to the arrival of a last unidentified ballot box, stuffed with BN votes.
At the last Sarawak state election the NGO Bersih pointed out that the official turnout leapt from over 50% at close of polling to over 70% after midnight, when the final tallies brought ‘victory’ to BN.
A source who says he has details of such plans for GE14 has told Sarawak Report “Don’t be surprised if there are more ‘voters’ in this election than elegible adults in Malaysia!”
There is good reason for genuine fear. Malaysians have already experienced the point blank refusal of the responsible authorities to investigate a single one of the flood of complaints over malpractice during the last GE13.
Should evidence be gathered of any such interference at GE14, Najib’s appointed officials at the Election Commission and the courts can be relied upon to refuse to review the evidence.
As with 1MDB, they will rule, without providing the slightest justification, that “there has been no wrong-doing in GE14″
So, Malaysians must watch and see if Najib does indeed feel forced to resort to ‘Plan Z’ and attempt to rig GE14 with fake votes. If so, he may regret having revealed himself so openly by first employing Plans A-Y!