AFTER being pummelled in the court of public opinion over the past few days, Najib Razak has also decided to make his case directly to the Malaysian public.

It’s a fool’s errand but he is a creature of habit.

And Najib the politician always believed that if you don’t respond to criticism, negative publicity and set out your narrative, then what others are saying about you is likely to stick.

Silence and being meek have never been his strengths. Staying on message, no matter how damning the evidence has been the preferred way.

So, he gave an interview to the Malay Mail – a media outlet owned by his cigar-chomping pal, Siew Ka Wai – and gave us an insight into the defence he and possibly even his wife are going to raise in court.

Najib said he had done no wrong and played only an advisory role in scandal-ridden 1MDB, the state-owned entity allegedly used as a piggy bank by the former prime minister and Low Taek Jho.

He said the RM2.6 billion found in his account was a donation from the Saudi royal family.

This improbable tale has been repeated so many times by him that he actually believes it. Many of the crucial documents in the 1MDB scandal bear his signature. And investigators will prove that Najib was far from being just an adviser.

Instead of addressing the millions of ringgit of luggage, handbags, jewellery and other evidence of a life of extravagance seized by police from various properties owned by him, he played the aggrieved victim.

He wondered why Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not subjected to the same scrutiny, given that he had received 30 horses from friends as gifts.

By taking this tack, were Najib and Rosmah (Mansor) saying that all the cash and luxury items seized by ‎the police and carted away in a few lorries mere gifts?

Incredible.

Not an ounce of remorse. Not an iota of regret.

Just the same arrogance he and his wife displayed in believing that that they were entitled to everything in Malaysia.

Even entitled to their own “truth”. – May 20, 2018.