SENSATIONALIZING DAIM'S WIFE NAIMAH INTO A ROSMAH/IMELDA - EVEN AS SHE REBUKES ANWAR & EXPOSES HIS "REAL CRIME" - INDEED, "POWER IS BRIEF" FOR THOSE WHO ABUSE IT
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - As expected, the pro-Anwar media has rushed into overdrive to paint the wife of his political foe Daim Zainuddin as a greedy and money-driven woman - much as how the flamboyant wife of ex-premier Najib Razak was depicted.
Headlines of Naimah Khalid's lands, house and buildings in upmarket areas - from Kuala Lumpur to Penang - were splashed even as she publicly rebuked and 'exposed' their hero Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's "real crime" and openly reminded him that "power is brief".
“I say to this to you, Anwar Ibrahim, that power is brief and there is always a reckoning for those who abuse it. As the Bard whom you often quote says, ‘Man, proud man, Drest in a little brief authority’. The rest you know,” Naimah told reporters, reading from a statement, from outside a courtroom in Kuala Lumpur.
“I have been charged this morning with a criminal offence. But no crime was committed by me and I will prove this in court.
“The real crime is the coordinated plot to tarnish my husband’s reputation and exact political revenge and retribution against him and our family.
“The real crime is the emasculation and manipulation of key national institutions such as the MACC and Attorney-General’s Chambers as weapons in a political vendetta,” she stressed.
WOULD DAIM, AN INVESTORS' INVESTOR, BUY IN NON-GROWTH SUBURBS
The 66-year-old Naimah was been charged with failing to declare several assets in compliance with a MACC order. If found guilty, she faces a jail term of not more than five years and a fine of RM100,000.
According to the charge sheet, the house as well as four plots of “freehold land and buildings” are located in the upper-class residential area of Taman Tunku and Bukit Tunku in Kuala Lumpur.
The other two plots of land are located in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, and Jalan Cantonment Road in Penang. Both of these are also regarded as upscale areas.
SENSATIONALIZING NAIMAH INTO A ROSMAH
Naimah was also accused of failing to declare Ilham Tower, an iconic 58-storey building in the Kuala Lumpur city center and two Mercedes Benz cars - an EQC 400 and a 500 SL.
"In the scheme of things, two luxury cars, a house and 6 plots of land are nothing because Daim is a billionaire and one of the richest Malay men even before he joined the government. Of course in value, these will be huge especially Ilham Tower but these are in line with a man like Daim. He is an investors' investor who invests well, he won't buy in suburbs or places that don't appreciate well," an analyst told Politics Now!
"So to try to sensationalize Naimah as some sort of Rosmah Mansor (Najib's wife) who was known for her love of mega shopping sprees, diamonds and wardrobes of Birkin bags is excessive."
Naimah, who pleaded not guilty, was granted bail at RM250,000. She was represented by her lawyers - former solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden and M Puravalen.
The 85-year-old Daim, who is also under investigation for corruption, is represented by former attorney-general Tommy Thomas. The former finance minister, who was a lawyer by training, has been hospitalized and is due to undergo a "procedure" this morning.
Naimah, who a day ago had blasted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for refusing to delay the preferring of the charges until after Daim's surgery this morning, declined to update the press on his condition or to reveal what was his ailment - only saying she was going to visit him with her 'long day' in court now over.
"Today a team of MACC officers suddenly arrived at the hospital where my husband is being warded, demanding to record my statement, having already taken my statement earlier on Jan 10," Daim's wife had said late on Monday.
"This was despite the fact I assured them that I would give them my statement as soon as my husband's medical procedure is over on Tuesday. I was then told that I was to be charged on Tuesday at 9am which is tomorrow under section 36(2) MACC 2009 for purportedly failing to comply with a notice asking to disclose information on assets. I will be in court tomorrow. I will fight this charge."
REVENGE, SPITE OR RUNNING SCARED?
The embattled Anwar has been accused of going after Daim and his family, as well as former premier Mahathir and his sons, in a bid to deflect public attention from the failures of his own government to stop the unceasing fall in the ringgit's value or put a brake to the stunning hikes in prices and costs of living that have sharply and visibly exacerbated the daily struggles of the ordinary citizens in the country.
While few Malaysians would argue against his anti-corruption campaign, most are unhappy and suspect he is playing politics for his personal survival as PM at their expense.
“It is more than a year into the Madani government’s (Anwar) administration, and people’s lives are becoming more difficult,” former premier Muhyiddin Yassin wrote on Facebook today.
“Until now, I do not see the prime minister being capable of providing a comprehensive solution to the increasingly acute problems faced by the people.
“He seems more focused on suppressing his political enemies than working on solving these issues.”
It is an open secret among Anwar supporters that he blames Daim as being the key person who 'masterminded' his first sodomy conviction and fall from grace. In 1998, Anwar was sacked as both deputy prime minister and finance minister. He was also removed from his post as Umno deputy president and jailed after a long and messy trial.
Mahathir, who was the prime minister at that time, had then summoned Daim out of retirement and reappointed him finance minister to replace the disgraced Anwar in 1999. Daim was finance minister from14 July 1984 to 15 March 1991 and from 7 January 1999 to 31 May 2001 .Daim is widely credited as having 'rescued' the country twice from economic collapse.
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
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