COMMENT | Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s failure to address the open letter by Rafidah Aziz regarding the privatisation of over 40,000 hectares of military land across the country to a three-person company, does not bode well for the self-described Bugis warrior. Rafidah was not only an Umno insider, she was also a former high-ranking official of the establishment. While she may have picked a side in this conflict within Umno, this should not diminish the allegations she made against Najib personally in her open letter.

Instead of the minions of the state, including a relative of Najib, taking pot shots at Rafidah, the caretaker prime minister should address her allegations in an open and transparent manner. Of course, since he can't seem to find the resolve to address the 1MDB issue in an open debate with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister-designate of Pakatan Harapan, there is very little evidence that he would find some to face off against the former minister of international trade.

If the Umno state claims that Rafidah is lying – as the state's minions do – then why not sue her in open court? If the Umno state is claiming – as the state's minions do – that these allegations are “fake news”, the genesis of which is supposedly a WhatsApp message passed around, why doesn’t the state use the newly-minted anti-fake news laws against her? Rafidah has eschewed the usual Malaysian-style politics of poison-pen letters and directly addressed these allegations towards the caretaker prime minister, and if this does not show cojones, I do not know what does.

Moreover, these allegations are important. Not only to the voters but to former and still serving security personnel. Why is it important? Because when allegations of corruption revolving around the security apparatus of this country, be it personnel, land or the myriad other concerns attached to the security apparatus of the state, these become issues of national security. We are not merely talking about any pieces of land here. We are talking about land, whether “idle” or not, which has some connection with how the state handles the security of the nation. More importantly, if business interests could find easy access to those who hold the reins of the state security apparatus, this complicates things in obvious ways.

Let’s face facts. The state security apparatus is riddled with corruption scandals. International arms companies understand that we are a pliant country when it comes to the way how we do business. There are recent examples of so-called “rogue” regimes like North Korea, using local front men to facilitate international arms deals. The state security apparatus is a collection of petty fiefdoms allegedly connected to organised crime, which has been documented by numerous government commissions and non-aligned NGOs. We even have had security apparatus personnel arrested for terrorist activities.

These allegations merely continue a narrative of greed, incompetency and high-level governmental corruption. This point is neatly summarised by retired Brigadier General Mohd Arshad Raji: “Besides the commercial value, any relocation of the military bases would have serious strategic, security and defence implications. Additionally, relocation to remote regions would cause much discomfort to the uniformed men and women and their families.”

Mohd Arshad’s Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) also posed three questions to the prime minister but no doubt these would be ignored too. In other words, the voices of retired service people are not important except when they are called to sing along to the Umno tune like deranged old men, and encouraged to show that they have loyalty towards the country which translates to loyalty towards Umno.

Long-buried secrets

Not only are the allegations in Rafidah’s open letter serious, they are not complicated like the 1MDB issue. These are straightforward allegations of governmental malfeasance and if these allegations are lies as claimed by the minions of the state and by Mindef, then why not openly release the cabinet papers that would determine once and for all if the former minister of trade is lying? The very fact that these allegations are not complicated is what troubles the Umno hegemon. You can dismiss the 1MDB scandal with legalese, complicated multinational business practices, grey-area economics and the arcana of international banking systems but when it comes to these allegations, it is clear-cut.

The Defence Ministry's rebuttal of these allegations was not really a rebuttal of the specific allegations and certainly not one that takes into account the issue of cabinet papers (which is germane), but rather was merely a denial and the excuse that “procedure was followed”. This, of course, does not answer the allegation put forward by Rafidah that this was indeed a business conspiracy approved by the highest levels of government. So, is this what it is? A high-level agreement with private entities that was kept from public scrutiny? This, of course, is the essence of the kleptocratic government that governs Malaysians. It also raises more questions when it comes to the current Umno grand poobah.

This happened when he was defence minister and if these allegations are true, they demonstrate a pattern of corrupt practices which always seems to come back and bite Umno in the nether regions. Most leaders in the armed forces just kept their heads down, looked after the welfare of the men and women under their command, and went about the business of soldiering. Our omissions contributed to the breakdown of the system. If this sounds horrid, well, everyone has a story to tell and these days, it would seem that former establishment types, including me, who are seeking regime change, have a lot to answer for.

This is what systemic corruption looks like. Coupled with institutional discrimination, we arrive at a point when the hegemon turns upon itself when it discovers that agents who faithfully served them for years expose all their long-buried secrets. Many people ask, why didn’t Rafidah “make noise” when she found out about the deal? Why not cause a ruckus then? That is an important question, of course, and there is no point attempting to sidestep it. This, of course, are the vagaries that occur when Umno goes to war with itself and the enduring conflict attracts combatants with agendas, hopes and feelings of remorse of their own.

What I will say is this - I do not care for the reasons why someone unearths the dirty little secrets the state wants to hide, only that I want it exposed so people hold their elected representatives accountable and never forget that fascism most often is encouraged by the will of the people, which is something opposition supporters should be mindful of. Forget about the fact that this issue is about a major financial scandal involving the state security apparatus, high-ranking government officials and unknown corporate interests. This is also an issue of which establishment personalities are lying.