UMNO warlords aligned to the Court Cluster, a term refers to several UMNO leaders facing graft charges in court, including former Prime Minister Najib Razak and UMNO president Zahid Hamidi, were incredibly shocked at the boldness and swiftness of the Federal Court led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun in sending Najib to prison. The precision strike has even shocked Najib himself.

 

Rosmah Mansor, 70-year-old wife of Najib, is expected to be convicted too when the High Court delivers its decision on the coming September 1. While her case did not have evidence as overwhelming as her 69-year-old husband, there are enough evidence to convict her in the corruption trial linked to the RM1.25 billion Sarawak rural schools’ solar energy project.

 

Money changed hands and she had accepted bribes. If her husband’s SRC International corruption was a simple and straightforward case, as ruled by the chief justice, Rosmah’s case is even simpler. The stunning decisiveness displayed by Tengku Maimun has indeed inspired and encouraged other judges. Her leadership sends shivers down the spine of other UMNO crooks.

This is why UMNO Supreme Council member and former Tabung Haji chairman Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim pretended to be sick today when the Court of Appeal is about to decide whether to strike out his corruption and money laundering charges. Judge Kamaludin Md Said, frustrated with multiple delays, has warned that a decision will be made on Sept 5 whether Azeez is ready or not.

 

And this is also why pro-Najib bloggers, propagandists and cyber troopers are working overtime and burning the midnight oil to cook up yet another dubious 71-page judgement documents pronouncing Rosmah guilty on Sept 1. They knew Rosmah is guilty as hell, but use psychology warfare to create a false perception that like Najib, Rosmah will face an unfair judiciary system.

 

But the most terrified crook after the jailing of Najib is obviously Zahid. If a former prime minister can be imprisoned, who is Zahid to escape punishment? Facing 47 charges related to corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT), his crime is even simpler than Najib and Rosmah combined. Not only money changed hands, the crook used the ill-gotten money to pay his credit cards.

Jumping like a cat on hot bricks, Zahid has been summoning UMNO leaders for endless meetings to gather support to pressure junior colleague – party vice-president Ismail Sabri – to dissolve the parliament for a snap election. At the peak of Najib’s final appeal at the Federal Court, both Najib and Zahid reportedly forced their way into PM Sabri’s residence, demanding political intervention.

 

The disgraced Najib had even instigated his army of hardcore supporters to intimidate Chief Justice Maimun with a death threat. But when Ismail Sabri refused to interfere and Tengku Maimum resisted the personal attacks, panics engulfed the camp of Court Cluster. Thugs were sent to the Palace, disrespectfully demanding the King to interfere and issue a royal pardon for Najib.

 

Comically, none of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) top leaders, let alone ministers, were present when some 300 Najib supporters marched to the Istana Negara (Palace) just a day after Najib began a 12-year jail term. Not even UMNO party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, formerly Najib’s deputy, took part in the illegal gathering.

But the burning question is why Zahid so panicked when he has not even been convicted? Even after he is found guilty, he still has years to appeal at the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court. The answer – without Najib, he is fast losing support within the party. Even though Zahid minions claimed 158 out of 191 UMNO division chiefs supported him, the actual number is much lower.

 

Known for inflating the figures to project fake support, other sources said only 73 division chiefs – less than half of the claimed 158 division chiefs – had responded to Zahid’s call for a special meeting on Monday (Aug 22). Even then, some had reluctantly attended because they were being threatened – Zahid will not nominate them as candidates in the coming polls if they refused to participate.

 

Meaning the UMNO president commands as little as one third supports from 191 division chiefs. It’s highly possible because top guns like Hishammuddin Hussein, Khairy Jamaluddin and other UMNO ministers aligned to Sabri’s Minister Cluster appeared to have ignored Zahid’s meeting. Now, UMNO warlords aligned to Zahid have given an ultimatum to PM Sabri.

Despite being the prime minister, Ismail Sabri could be sacked as the party’s vice-president unless the turtle egg man obediently carries out 4 demands – remove Attorney General Idrus Harun, sack Chief Justice Tengku Maimun, get a royal pardon for Najib and immediately calls a nationwide election. This is the first time in the history that a sitting premier is being blackmailed by fellow UMNO leaders.

 

The Court Cluster, led by Zahid, threatens to withdraw support for the prime minister, the same way they toppled former backdoor PM Muhyiddin Yassin last year, even though this time the premier is one of their kind. That speaks volumes about how desperate and anger the crooks are at their own vice-president, so much so they dare to openly ask PM Sabri to interfere in the judicial process.

 

However, all the thuggish protests, threats and blackmails exposes how UMNO previously created Kangaroo Court to carry out their orders to pervert the rule of law – till the party was defeated in the 2018 General Election. That explains why the corrupted UMNO regime always won their cases when it reached the Court of Appeal or the Federal Court against the Opposition.

But the biggest surprise was the resistance demonstrated by Ismail Sabri, refusing to kowtow to his two big bosses, Najib and Zahid. He has maintained that the doctrine of separation of powers must be respected. And he has continuously played dumb, dragging his feet for months, despite repetitive pressure to call for an early election.

 

Was the turtle egg man really that clever? When Muhyiddin was forced to resign, Ismail insisted on meeting Mahathir Mohamad to get his support in August 2021. He visited Mahathir again in January 2022 when the old man was admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN). Both met again in May this year at the 27th International Conference or Nikkei Conference in Japan.

 

Those were published meets. There could be dozens more un-published private meetings between Mahathir and Ismail. Both have common enemies – Najib and Zahid. Surrounded by mostly clowns and apple polishers, the accidental prime minister does not have any credible advisers. Sabri might be dumb, but he understood that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

In February this year, Mahathir said – “Najib must be stopped. If he comes back to power, this means that the country will be controlled by a kleptocrat from the ‘court cluster’ and risks being robbed”. While the message was written to Johor voters during the state election, Sabri soon found out why Mr Najib must be stopped – if he does not wish to be dumped like a used condom.

 

Even though UMNO had won a “landslide”, Ismail was humiliated the moment he walked into the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition’s command centre at the Johor UMNO Liaison Hall. He was greeted with a roaring “Bubar Parlimen!” (Dissolve Parliament) – clearly staged to pressure the un-elected premier. But that was not the worst humiliation.

 

When Zahid rudely pushed Ismail to give way for a convicted criminal – Najib Razak – to emerge in the centre of the stage in celebrating Johor state election victory, PM Sabri knew he would be game over the moment he dissolves the parliament. Even though he is just one of UMNO three vice presidents, below Zahid in the party’s ranking, he should be accorded some respect.

More importantly, despite promise to retain Hasni Mohammad as Johor Chief Minister if UMNO wins the state election, it was not the case. A junior, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, has been appointed the Chief Minister instead. If the top leaders could betray Hasni, they can certainly betray “poster boy” Ismail Sabri. As expected, after jailing Najib, his loyalist Puad Zakarshi called the poster boy to be scrapped.

 

The dumb move by Zahid forced the PM to work with Mahathir behind the scene. Last month, Mahathir pre-emptively warned how a non-unanimous decision by the Federal Court in Najib’s final appeal could lead to a royal pardon. After the court delivered an unanimous decision to uphold Najib’s guilty conviction, now Mahathir said there is a 50-50 chance Najib will be pardoned.

 

If 97-year-old Mahathir’s goal was to provoke Najib and Zahid supporters into believing that Najib has been unfairly sentenced to jail, turning the desperados to openly ask PM Sabri to interfere in the judiciary system, the grand old master tactician has done a great job. If the cunning old man’s objective was to pre-emptively warned of a royal pardon, he has done an excellent job.

Now, Ismail Sabri looks like a champion, refusing to give in to demands to interfere in the legal process. His popularity also skyrockets with many people think he must be a clean leader, or at least relatively clean, for fighting the corrupted UMNO crooks. He has won the perception war in the court of public opinion, while Mahathir got his victory in the court of law with Najib imprisonment.

 

People actually rally behind the turtle egg man after news broke that he could be sacked by his own party for refusing to break the prison in order to rescue a crook. The pressure on the prime minister could boomerang on Zahid. If the UMNO president is not careful, he himself can be sacked with the support of two-thirds of delegates at an EGM (according to Article 9.12 of UMNO Constitution).

 

To kill three birds with one stone, Sabri administration has declassified documents pertaining to investigations into the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) scandal. The brilliant move has not only project transparency in his government, but diverts all the blame on Najib, Zahid and Hishammuddin – all are ambitious corrupted UMNO leaders hunger for the Iron Throne.

The declassification of the LCS project was also one of the reasons Najib and Zahid wanted to neutralize Ismail soonest possible with demands to dissolve the parliament. Armed with Mahathir’s help and Opposition Pakatan Harapan’s support, the supposedly lame duck Sabri has checkmated rival Najib, and soon Zahid, Rosmah, Azeez and other crooks could be terminated.

 

Eventually, Mahathir may return to UMNO after getting rid of Najib, Zahid and Rosmah. The old man only said he will not work with UMNO, but didn’t say he would not go back to the party which he created back in 1988. He said UMNO will win big, thus he needed UMNO to ensure his son could continue his dynasty. For now, he is giving Zahid enough rope to hang himself.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• A Royal Pardon – Here’s Why Najib’s Case Is Different From Anwar And Has To Stay In Jail For At Least 3 Years
• Najib Supporters Instigated To Kill Chief Justice – Why All 5 Judges Must Deliver Guilty Verdict To Deter Royal Pardon
• The Last Station Ends Here – How Najib Top Lawyers Trapped And Outsmarted By First Woman Chief Justice
• Prisoner-in-Waiting Najib In Deep Shit – Attack On Judge Nazlan Backfires, Federal Court Destroys All Delay Tactic
• The RM6 Billion Warships Scandal – Corrupt Fingerprints Traced To Najib And Crony Lodin, Zahid & Hishammuddin
• Top-10 Questions For Najib To Prove He Was Not Involved In RM6 Billion LCS Warship Scandal
• Najib Could Go To Jail, Zahid Likely To Be Convicted – PM Ismail Just Need To Play Dumb & Delay Election
• The Resurface Of Submarine Scandal – Panicked Najib Started Spewing Lies As Plan To Get Royal Pardon Is Under Fire
• 3rd Time U.S. Says “No Saudi Donation” – FBI Confirms Najib Stole RM3.2 Billion, Riza RM1 Billion & Jho Low RM6 Billion
• Sex, Bribes & Blackmail – Najib’s Appeal In Jeopardy After Leissner Exposed More Dirty Deals In 1MDB Scandal
• Big Mama In Trouble – Facing The Prospect Of Jail Time, Rosmah In Tears After Ordered To Defend Her RM1.25 Billion Corruption
• 12 Years’ Jail & RM210 Million Fine For World’s Biggest Crook Najib – A Result Of Insulting The Judge’s Intelligence

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August 26th, 2022 by financetwitter

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