An American conspiracy to oust Malaysia’s Najib – or a propaganda war?
As civil suit turns public perception of 1MDB scandal against embattled PM, supporters rally with a tried and tested tactic. But it may have been tried once too often
As Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak becomes increasingly besieged by revelations in a US civil suit alleging fraud in his brainchild 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), his supporters are hitting back with a textbook tactic straight from classic psychological warfare manuals.
Over the past several days leading up to Malaysia’s 59th Independence Day on August 31, senior leaders and operatives of Najib’s party, United Malays National Organisation or Umno, are claiming that the suit by the Department of Justice is the start of a US plot to topple Najib.
It’s not me: Malaysian PM Najib says US 1MDB lawsuit doesn’t involve him
Comparisons have been made between the DoJ suit and the 2003 invasion of Iraq when then-US President George W Bush used destroying weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for war.
By channelling nationalistic feelings that intensify at this time of year, they hope to nullify a key message in the DoJ suit which has grabbed the public’s attention – that Najib’s associates and his stepson defrauded 1MDB. And that Najib very possibly benefited from the graft.
The propaganda war around the DoJ suit also serves to neutralise the latest two threats to the political survival of Najib and Umno. The first is a series of massive rallies by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 to pressure the government to reopen investigations into 1MDB.
The other, bigger, threat is Bersatu, a political party set up by the former premier Mahathir Mohamad, Najib’s highly regarded former deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and other former Umno rebels. Bersatu aims to replace Umno as the party of choice among Malaysia’s rural ethnic Malays, a key voting bloc, and to defeat Umno and its allies in the next general election.
