Many people are asking questions or passing comments on former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s sentence reduction, which they most probably already knew the answer to.
From what I gathered, although many questions and criticisms were raised, sometimes it is best if these are left unanswered or unsaid.
Again, it boils down to how “independent” and how “brave” the government of the day can be. The coalition government has a two-thirds majority in the Parliament, but is the majority stable?
Day in and day out we hear of manoeuvring and machination being staged to oust the present government.
Given that many MPs are treacherous and subjected to horse-trading, it must be naïve for us to think that the government will do nothing to preserve its mandate.
If the government is constantly being undermined, why are we surprised that the government too has resorted to taking steps to undermine the opposition and their financiers?
There is no perfect government in Malaysia today. Whichever government is in power, I believe it must seek compromise among the coalition partners and engage with other institutions of government such as the Malay rulers, the judiciary, and the civil service.
Who initiated the sentence reduction for Najib? Who was able to convince the Pardons Board to give priority and agree to the decision? I think most of us know the answer.
Whether the government formally announces the reasons or not, it would not make much of a difference. We know the decision is difficult to justify but it must be made.
The decision satisfies no one, but it is a good strategy that truncated the agitations from both sides.
The government’s priority is to survive and for that, it must compromise, seemingly indulge in contradictions, and even engage with hypocrisy.
Over the years, my expectations of government and those holding public office have dropped. It is useless to glue to the moral high ground when criticising others when the alternatives available are probably as hapless.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
