Malaysians appear quite satisfied with the ongoing trial of the main 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is being conducted one month after it started, according to political analyst Ibrahim Suffian of independent pollster Merdeka Center.
- PH seems to be making good progress in repairing the judicial and administrative weaknesses of the previous BN government
- Moving forward for 1MDB, the public will want to see if the current trial will include officials from Goldman Sachs
- Najib is hoping his cases extend into the time period of the next political cycle where a change of government could improve his fortunes
He added that Malaysians also seem confident the judicial process has not been tampered with so far, noting that the defence team for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been accorded fair treatment and access to court documents, which proves the integrity of the judicial system is intact in a case that is being closely watched by the world at large.
“1MDB has been going on for over a month. Yet come on the heels, the SRC International trial has been going on for several months. Till today no criticism towards how the judiciary handled the case and also no inkling of any type of political interference.
“So, the public and observers are looking at the trial being run properly, and the judicial process has not been tampered.
“The defence team has been able to procure evidence and their witnesses and have free hands in asking questions. So, no serious issues with the integrity of the court so far,” he told international news wire Bloomberg in a five-minute broadcast interview published yesterday.
To Ibrahim, the current ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) seems to be making good progress in repairing the judicial and administrative weaknesses of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government, especially with regards to the 1MDB financial scandal.
“The PH government came into power on the back of promises to investigate issues surrounding the 1MDB case and to reintroduce the rule of law.
“On both counts, the government seems to be very strong in making good progress. They appointed judges fairly impartial and an independent lawyer to be the Attorney-General.
“But I think moving forward, the challenge is to extend these reforms to other areas, particularly the appointments of key government officials,” he said.
He added that it is still a long drawn out process but on the count of these types of governance reform, PH seems to be making a decent process.
“The public by large are quite happy with that.”
Ibrahim also said that moving forward for 1MDB, the public will want to see if the current trial will include officials from Goldman Sachs.
“I think people want to see if the trial starts to involve Goldman’s officials, people want to see a strong process, particularly investigative process and evidence being brought to court to show allegations complicity and where they went wrong.
“What we have noticed based on media reports, former prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has already made a statement that he has not accepted an offer by Goldman to pay a billion ringgit, saying that Malaysia deserves more compensation from Goldman.
“So, we will see how far this legal process goes through, to what extent they be able to tender evidence that can shore up their case and how court processes carry forward from here.”
Ibrahim added that the only way Najib could improve his fortunes is by hoping for a change of government in the next election — namely the return of BN.
“I think Najib is in a real tough situation. If you look at his legal battle today, the first case on SRC has concluded and we are waiting for the initial verdict in November and judging by how the case has proceeded, there are indications, some wrongdoings is going to be found there.
“Therefore, we’re looking at a possible extension of the legal case into appeals and so on. He is hoping these cases extend into the time period of the next political cycle where a change of government could improve his fortunes.”
Najib’s ongoing 1MDB trial involves 25 criminal charges — four counts of abusing his position for his own financial benefit totalling almost RM2.3 billion allegedly originating from 1MDB and the resulting 21 counts of money-laundering. – MMO