30 March 2007
Pressure mounts in Kuala Lumpur to put the brakes on a scandal-tainted Malay politico

Speculation is increasing in Malaysia that of one of the country ‘s elite politicians, Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, is in serious trouble due to a series of messy scandals.

There is considerable speculation that Najib, the son of Malaysia’s second prime minister, will be forced to step down from national politics. One rumor has him becoming chief minister of his native Pahang state, although the exit route for most discredited or politically suspect figures in Malaysia is a diplomatic or other posting overseas, according to sources contacted by Asia Sentinel. In any case, on March 13, he became sufficiently concerned that he called a press conference in his Perak constituency to deny rumors that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was considering dumping him in favor of Muhyidin Yassin, currently minister of agriculture and agro-based industries and a Badawi ally.

Najib is said to be fighting back on a several fronts, making the rounds of the old bulls of the United Malays National Organization, Malaysia’s biggest political party, in an effort to save his career. In January, Najib reportedly flew to London to attempt to meet with Mahathir Mohamad, the octogenarian former prime minister who still carries considerable clout inside UMNO, in an attempt to shore up his support. Mahathir reportedly declined to see him.

In particular Najib has been wounded by speculation of his involvement, however peripheral, in the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the 28 year-old Mongolian beauty whose body was found in a patch of jungle outside a Kuala Lumpur on October 20. Two policemen from an elite Special Operations Force whose ultimate boss was Najib were arrested for the crime. Altantuya disappeared after attempting to confront Abdul Razak Baginda, the head of a think tank closely tied to Najib, over support for her 18-month-old son. Razak Baginda is also facing charges for conspiring in the murder

Originally, a third member of the force – a 22-year-old woman lance corporal – was also arrested. She was never named in news stories by Malaysia’s government-friendly press and was released a week later without being charged. There is widespread speculation in Malaysia that she is the aide-de-camp and bodyguard to Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Razak Baginda is scheduled to go on trial in June. The case leaves open the question of how two – and possibly three ‑ elite police officers became involved with a political analyst who has no formal government authority. The top leadership of UMNO, the dominant force in the ruling national coalition, have been tiptoeing gingerly around the case ever since the arrests in November.

Razak Baginda, originally scheduled to go on trial in March 2008, had his trial date moved up by months in an unusual move. That has raised additional questions in political circles over whether the move was engineered by Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi or individuals close to him because there is evidence that would tie Najib to the case.

Kuala Lumpur’s energetic blogs are buzzing with rumors that prosecutors have a letter indicating that Najib asked Malaysia’s Immigration Department to issue the doomed Altantuya a visa, and that at one point Najib, Razak Baginda and Altantuya were said to have gone overseas from Malaysia together, although others point out that visitors from Russia, China, Mongolia and from lots of other countries can get visas very easily to visit Malaysia.

In addition to questions over the murder case, Najib is also under fire for the 2002 purchase by the Malaysian Ministry of Defense of three submarines that cost the treasury RM$4.5 billion (US$1.3 billion) for which a company controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda was paid a commission of RM510 million (US$147.3 million) in a sale that included no competitive tenders.

Although Najib was cleared in an investigation at the time of the purchase, his position has been weakened enough by the Altantuya scandal that opposition politicians, particularly onetime Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, have again begun to assail him over it. On the Al-Jazeera television network, Anwar Thursday also questioned commissions paid over the purchase of 18 Russian Sukhoi-30 jet fighters in 2003 when Najib was defence minister.

"There are complicities over the huge and massive commissions accrued by the government involving the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak," said Anwar during the interview.

Najib said he wouldn't respond to Anwar's charges. But, he told reporters recently, "Don't listen to the stories on the internet...they are all a myth. We should not react hastily, we must stick to principles and the truth...what is important is that we understand and know who will help us."

Driving Najib from national politics would be difficult. In addition to the cachet he enjoys from being his father’s son, as deputy party president he has strong ties among UMNO leaders in a career that goes back to 1978 as a functionary in the very strong UMNO Youth wing. The party’s nearly 200 division chiefs are key to his political wellbeing, and reports are that he has been wooing them assiduously, arranging in some cases for overseas junkets.

And, as UMNO goes, so goes Malaysian politics. Despite its endemic corruption and the pervasive sense of rot at the top, it appears highly unlikely that any outside political force could even dent it. Anwar Ibrahim, who was jailed on charges of sexual abuse that were widely perceived as spurious, has been leading a reform party movement, making speeches across the country about party corruption and in particular Najib’s connection to it.

But few believe Anwar has any chance to take down UMNO. The odds are instead that if Najib were to be sent packing, it would be at the behest of UMNO leaders who have decided he is too hot to handle, not by the country’s full electorate.

Source: http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=c...6&Itemid=31

Your next PM has shown his "good" leadership .... wakakakakak ....

I eagerly waiting for the trial of Razak Baginda to see how he was related to this case.

We dun change PMS/Presidents like 4 times in 5 years..lol

I can see beads of sweat trickling down baldy's head.

April 22, 2007 01:26 AM

Najib Stresses That He Had Never Met Altantuya

KUALA SELANGOR, April 21 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tonight stressed that he had never met Altantuya Shaaribuu, the Mongolian woman who was murdered in Malaysia in October last year.

"I have only seen pictures of her in the media," he said in refuting allegations by the opposition that he was linked to the high profile murder.

Speaking while campaigning for the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Ijok by-election in Kampung Bukit Badong here, he also urged the Malay voters in the constituency to give their undivided support to the MIC's K. Parthiban, who is representing the BN in the contest.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the Malays, especially Umno members must reciprocate the support the MIC had given to the coalition in all the previous elections.

"Eighty per cent of Indians in the country support Umno and the BN. If others support us, God wants us to be fair and reciprocate the support given," he said.

Najib, who is also the BN deputy chairman, said the coalition did not want to see its candidate losing the election merely because the candidate was not from the majority of the electorate.

"Umno as the backbone of the government is strong because Malays and non-Malays support it," he said.

At the function, Najib also announced a RM300,000 allocation to upgrade the mosque in the kampung.

The Ijok by-election is being held following the death of BN Assemblyman Datuk K. Sivalingam on April 4. Parthiban is involved in a straight fight with Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Polling is on April 28.

-- BERNAMA

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Come on Mr.Baldy...dun play play la..we know la...but fortunately we,the Rakyat can't do anything about it and we did not even do anything to you when u did not see ur dying son(from first arriage) at hospital. So u can blow up other people if u want too.....

Top Malaysian denies murder link

Mr Najib's key political advisor Abdul Razak Baginda is currently awaiting trial in connection with her killing.

Mr Najib's political opponents have made the murder an issue in a key by-election campaign.

The remains of the Mongolian model were found outside Kuala Lumpur in October.

She had been shot twice in the head and her remains blown up with plastic explosives.

According to the police she was kidnapped outside the home of Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst and a close associate of Mr Najib.

Until last week the deputy prime minister had ignored attempts to link him to the murder.

But when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanded he reveal what he knew about the killing, Mr Najib hit back saying he had nothing to do with the affair and had never met the woman.

He refused to rise to Mr Anwar's challenge to sue him over the allegations, saying he had no wish to embarrass his former colleague because he has a wife and children.

Mr Najib is perhaps the most whispered against politician in Malaysia - however he is also one of the most astute.

Analysts say it would have been extraordinary if he had allowed himself to become embroiled in such a gruesome affair.

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LOL... how stupid the way he answer to anwar.. does show hes really lying