WATCH HOW FAST UMNO-BN DUMPS NAJIB: By now even the blind can see - Najib will lose GE14

By now, everyone has had a chance to read the letter Najib’s lawyers sent to the Wall Street Journal, and if social media comments are anything to go by, it looks like we all had a laugh reading the confusing and asinine document. The letter clearly shows that Najib’s people are unsure of how to handle the dilemma on their hands, an international scandal with many moving parts that may lie outside the jurisdiction of Malaysian courts.

Add to this the mind-boggling statements about a Jewish conspiracy to interfere with Muslim countries and investigations on the whistleblowers instead of the one accused of committing the crime, and what we have is a strong impression that Putrajaya has lost the plot. To be fair, a scandal of the magnitude that Najib is at the centre of would render any government a little barmy as it tries to contain the damage.

However, it seems like our government never considered the possibility of being caught red-handed with evidence of wrongdoing, and now that the claims cannot be brushed away in the usual cavalier and haughty fashion, Najib and his cohorts are left clutching at straws. They are not used to this. After all, the best the opposition has managed to produce up to this point have been nothing more than circumstantial evidence. But the WSJ report and the subsequent release of the documents mentioned in the report are the equivalent of a smoking gun.

We are, of course, in danger of pre-judging the Prime Minister before he has had his day in court. The old mantra of “innocent until proven guilty” must apply equally to all, even Najib. However, things are looking increasingly bleak for him, and the vultures are starting to close in on the limping Najib administration.

It would not be too foolhardy to wager that Najib will lead Barisan Nasional to defeat at the next general election even if he manages to avoid a fall here, given the ubiquity of reports that all but affirm his guilt in the eyes of the public, rightly or wrongly. And if he does fall here, be sure that his successor will throw out all his dirty laundry along with him in the name of a “clean” government, and that might still not save BN.

Najib may well have lost the perception war for good, now that nearly everyone has read the damning Wall Street Journal reports. The responses from him and his cohorts have only made it worse. They show just how much of a panic they are in right now. This is a crisis of monumental proportions for Najib, and continuing with his missteps will only lead to a deepening cynicism among the rakyat, who are already at least half-convinced of his guilt. - FMT