WHEN it comes to the crunch, those who talk earnestly about fighting corruption will be the first to admit they don’t have the solutions to today’s complex problem of graft.

If solutions are not forthcoming, then one should at least grasp the lessons first.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu was spot on when he urged Malaysians not to gloat over the jailing of former prime minister Najib Razak being sent to jail for embezzling hundreds of millions of ringgit.

Mohamad said Najib’s conviction should instead serve as a lesson for all to steer clear of crime.

“We should not be happy when something bad happens to someone. Malaysians must continue looking to build the nation and eradicate corruption so that Malaysia becomes a prosperous and peaceful nation with integrity, now and in the future.

“Take every catastrophe that happens to others as a lesson for us all. Let’s not be arrogant or snobbish. Instead, let us all seek forgiveness from God,” he said on Facebook.

The catalyst that led to the prosecution of Najib over 1MDB scandal was when then deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin broke ranks to speak out against his boss.

Criticise Muhyiddin all you want but it takes guts to break party ranks  to speak out against the most powerful man in the country, the prime minister.  

His action led to several events, including a partnership with Dr Mahathir Mohamad that led to the formation of Bersatu, which in turn led to a reconciliation between Dr Mahathir and his nemesis Anwar Ibrahim of Pakatan Harapan (PH), which in turn led to the coalition’s victory in the 2018 general election.

With PH in Putrajaya for the first time, it became possible to prosecute the former prime minister, which would have been unthinkable under an Umno-led government.

Yet it was under the Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration that the jailing of Najib finally took place.

It is no mean feat for Ismail to be firm about this as a faction of Umno has been harassing him to call a snap election.

There are some, particularly PH leaders and supporters who have rejoiced at Najib being sent to jail,  bragging that it was the PH administration that had set into motion the prosecution process.

But what these people failed to see is all PH did was charge Najib in court. 

The Perikatan Nasional administration led by Muhyiddin scored a better outcome when Najib was convicted by the High Court.

Again, it was under the same administration that saw Najib jailed.

But this is not about keeping score on who did more work. We can only be proud of our achievement when we have build a corruption-free nation. For this to happen, it is up to every member of Keluarga Malaysia. 

But for the politicians, what better time to be seen as a corruption buster than during election time? 

Witness the mud thrown by Rafizi Ramli at Special Functions Minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad; he can’t even wait for a royal commission of inquiry into the littoral combat ships scandal to be formed!

Another lesson to be learnt from the Najib story is that it is a mistake to label a political party as being fully corrupt.

Umno is often described as a party that is corrupt to the core. But if this were true, how was it possible that Najib was sent to jail under an Umno-led government? 

Let’s look at the accuser – the holier-than-thou PH.

The moment it came into power all charges against DAP leader Lim Guan Eng was dropped even though his court hearing was already nearing an end.

And despite the PH manifesto clearly spelling out that the appointments of senior government officials were to be made in consultation with a parliamentary select committee, and that a politician must not head the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, a PH prime minister conveniently went on to appoint a politician to head MACC without even having the courtesy to consult his cabinet.

All this shows that to eradicate corruption, politicians should not be allowed spearhead anti-corruption efforts. And when the problem of corruption is brought up in the heat of election fever, it is motivated by a desire for power rather than to truly wipe out graft. – August 30, 2022.

* Jamari Mohtar reads The Malaysian Insight.