A bankrupt in Tun M’s inner circle

Besides the famous Tuns, one of Tun’s muscle is Khairuddin Abu Hassan. As a Tun M’s staunch loyalist, he was the one who lodged police report against Najib before the 14^th General Election.

In retaliation, the former UMNO Batu Kawan Vice Chief later was sacked from the post for being a bankrupt. Apparently, Khairuddin was declared bankrupt by the court in May 2014.

The rule that a bankrupt cannot hold positions in organisation is iterated in Section 9A(1)(d) of the Societies Act 1966. 

Not only he played an important role during the 1MDB scandal, he was also pivotal during the 1998 political crisis between Tun Mahathir and Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He was the publisher of ’50 Dalil kenapa Anwar tidak boleh jadi PM’, a widely distributed book to discredit Anwar’s image and integrity amongst UMNO members.

Khairuddin may be an effective hit man to carry out Tun M’s dirty job, but one cannot help but to question his credibility as a person who are in the inner circle of the Prime Minister. Is it wise for a Prime Minister to associate himself with a court declared bankrupt? And who gave him the funds to pay off his debts if he is no longer a bankrupt?

Khairuddin through LBCN Development Sdn bhd and Mujur Zaman Sdn Bhd was also involved in the much disputed Ijok land issue in Selangor where 980 settlers were robbed of their supposed gains as they were duped into accepting low compensations.

And recently, Khairuddin has trained his guns at TMJ, calling for the royalty to shed his royal status and join politics full time. TMJ since the general election, has made several comments critical of the current government. Instead of taking heed of the advice given, it is rather unfortunate that TMJ’s forthright and honest opinions were taken as political.

Unlike other royal houses, the Johor family has always been far more involved in caring for the welfare of its people. Recently, they donated lands for the construction of affordable homes, contributed funds for hospitals and urged the state government to construct a centre for homeless.

Opinion and advice by the royal family should not be met with hostile response. Pakatan Harapan leaders must remind themselves that Sultan of Johor was the first Head of State who urged all parties to accept the GE14 election results and a government be established according to the will of the people.

Khairuddin’s statement is actually a déjà vu. Not long ago, Nazri Aziz responded the same way as Khairuddin, asking TMJ to join politics when the prince commented on national issues. The Harapan leaders rallied behind TMJ when he told off the former minister not to be arrogant, and to start solving problems faced by the rakyat.

If it was acceptable to criticise the government then, why can’t the same standard be applied today? TMJ’s right to freedom of speech cannot be restricted just because his opinions do not please certain quarters.

Ultimately, Khairuddin’s action can be perceived as Tun M’s latest move to discredit the royal institution, and if not managed properly could be a repeat of the 1992 constitutional crisis. This is not the first attempt as we have witnessed countless move to publicly humiliate the King since May 9^th.

Doesn’t this indicate that the Rukun Negara principle of “Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara” has no value amongst the Harapan leaders? Tun Mahathir’s party, PPBM claimed they are the new champion of the Malay agenda yet they endorsed actions that are disrespectful towards the Head of State and Head of Islam.

For once, I hope the Pakatan Harapan leaders quit politicking, enough with the power manoeuvring and start prioritizing the issues of the rakyat.