IT WAS always going to come down to this.

Full pressure is being applied to Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his family, including using the taxman, as a way to stop the former prime minister and his campaign to unseat Najib Razak and his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

The Internal Revenue Board (IRB) this week raided all businesses owned by Dr Mahathir’s three sons –Mirzan, Mokhzani and Mukhriz – in what was euphemistically described as “routine” investigations.

It was anything but that.

The reality is that this is from the Umno playbook through the years. Government agencies, the media and bloggers are used to shake and rattle enemies of the federal administration.

In this instance, the attack against the Mahathir clan has several objectives.

* Get family members and perhaps even Dr Siti Hasmah Ali to plead with Dr Mahathir to stop attacking Najib. 

* To damage and disparage Dr Mahathir and his family members as crooks or at least individuals with questionable amount of wealth. 

* Warn other individuals and vociferous critics of the government that they could be next in line.

In May, Dr Mahathir revealed that the IRB was targeting opposition funders by intimidating them from funding the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition pact.

“Now I heard that anyone who wants to donate to Pakatan Harapan will be harassed by LHDN,” he was quoted as saying, referring to the IRB’s Malay acronym.

Among those caught in the tax sweep is Country Heights Holdings Bhd’s (CHHB) executive chairman Lee Kim Yew, whose fixed deposits of RM126 million were frozen over a tax liability of CHHB’s unit, Country Heights Sdn Bhd.

Lee later informed Bursa Malaysia that the fixed de­­po­sits would be used to settle the tax liability.

The Star reported on May 11 that several tycoons found themselves being ordered to pay up unsettled taxes running into hundreds of millions of ringgit by the IRB and the At­­torney-General Chamber’s National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET).

That was two months ago. In the current case, it is pretty clear that the family members of a vocal critic are being singled out in an effort to silence him. 

Will it work? Perhaps for others but not for Dr Mahathir, who in his time stood up and stared down at those who wanted to silence him on issues far more contentious that his children’s tax file. – August 10, 2017.