Illegal arms: Is Najib, Umno mulling using force to stay in power

Najib's Umno has ruled Malaysia since 1957

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Concern is rising that Prime Minister Najib Razak has begun a series of moves including the use of force to retain control of Malaysia. Sparking the speculation is the second-day shutting down of popular political blog Malaysia Today run by the controversial Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

RPK had accused Najib’s government of buying small arms – pistols, sub-machine guns, stun-grenades and so forth – from underground sources in the overseas black markets, and of sending the Youth wing of his Umno party for paramilitary training.

Until now, the PM has not responded to the allegations.

Tian - Umno footprints

“This is extremely worrying. There must be impartial investigation to check if the allegations are true. It is very alarming because it has all the footprints of an Umno maneuver. Of late, it has been displaying the characteristics of ultra movements in line with the rise of Nazism and Facism,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle. 

Another sandiwara

Indeed, in a bid to cool public perceptions that it was an “extremist” party, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan moved to distance Umno from Perkasa on Wednesday.

Perkasa is an ultra-Malay rights group widely perceived to be an Umno spin-off. Its patron is none other than former Umno president Mahathir Mohamad and the vast majority of its 200,000 members are from the Umno right-wing.

Accused of churning hate

“They are not wanted in Umno, they are no more leaders, they are just ordinary members. Umno has nothing to do with Perkasa,” the Umno-controlled Star newspaper reported Tengku Adnan as saying.

But few Malaysians, especially the non-Malays, found comfort in Tengku Adnan’s words. One main reason is that he made no mention at all about Utusan – the Malay language daily that has been at the forefront of a series of racist articles widely held to be responsible for giving Umno a Nazi and Fascist face.

Now or never - rakyat must speak

Meanwhile, there is widespread unhappiness amongst Malaysians about the worsening suppression of their civil rights. Several journalists have been sacked for speaking up on issues that highlight government inefficiency and corruption.

RPK - controversial but very popular

The latest attack on Malaysia Today symbolizes the start of Najib’s clamp down on the Internet – the last bastion of freedom of expression in the country and a key communication channel for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

“The rakyat cannot remain silent about this very alarming turn of events. We know that there are moves to buy these armaments. That, the Malaysian government cannot deny. To deny this is futile. But what we do not know yet is the reason the Malaysian government is buying them on the black market and whether these would all finally end up on the streets of Malaysia in the hands of Umno Youth who would soon be trained on how to use them,” wrote RPK in an article late last month

MAS debacle

Mahathir and Badawi

There has also been widespread speculation that RPK’s site was closed off to prevent him from exposing the corruption in the MAS-Tajudin Ramli case. The ramifications behind the national airlines' RM8 billion ringgit in losses are astounding.

No less than two former prime ministers, Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Badawi, as well as shadowy ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin are believed to be involved.

Salahuddin Ayub

Pakatan leaders including PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub are demanding an explanation. They want recovery of taxpayers’ money and have vowed to appeal to the King for a Royal Commission of Inquiry. A series of awareness campaigns will also be launched as they take the case to the people.

“It is obvious those involved are afraid that more of their secret wheeling-and-dealing will be exposed. At RM8 billion, the MAS debacle is even greater than the Port Klang Free Zone and here the link to the top Umno leaders is clearer,” Salahuddin told Malaysia Chronicle.