New "Warlordism" in Malaysia

“Sexual abuse and sexual harassment were like a daily routine for me, and he did that every time I did not want to have sexual intercourse,” she said. “I could never think a normal man could do such things.” (An excerpt from 'I was drugged and abuse' - The Jakarta Globe)

When this piece of news surfaced in April, the authority in Malaysia had brushed off the allegation directed to the prince of the state of Kelantan, Tengku Temenggong Muhammad Fakhry. Although police report was lodged and Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia notified, not a single action by the police to investigate the allegation or any effort by the embassy to clear things up as promised. Worse still, our beloved PM Najib by dodging the questions from journalist while on his visit to Jakarta, had not appeased the situation, but exacerbated the confusion and anger of those care for Manohara Odelia Pinot. Indeed, PM Najib had done Malaysia a great deal of shamefulness.

And when everyone, as usual, has forgotten about the shameful episode of the royalty in Kelantan, the news about the model popped up again merely after a month her news was reported. However, this is not another allegation, but a vindication of the previous report that the police of Malaysia deemed as NO CASE. What a shame! I hope my Indonesian friends will not bring this up in my presence.

Now, Manohara's dramatic escape chronicle happened yesterday, and as I see it, this is no non-significant news as it involves the royalty. Amazingly, there was a complete news blackout from the mainstream newspaper about Manohara. Not even one of them reported about it. Obviously, the government was trying to save the royalty's ass.

Even if the news was not reported by the mainstream, in reality, it still happened and the people knew about it. The concerned parties will not easily let the royalty off the hook, of course unless immoral deal is being struck privately. Otherwise, I bet something has to be done.

Nowadays, PM Najib is in complete dilemma with the royalties, unlike Mahathir. During Mahathir's rule, because of the incident happened in 1993, the royalties in Malaysia were being clipped of their power, ending a kind of warlordism in our country, thus giving birth to new democracy favoring the ruling party. Actually at that time, the monarchs were unable to do much, as the government of the day solidly controlling 2/3 majority of the parliament, thus signalling that the people of the day was also undividedly behind Mahathir. Since Malaysians at that time were generally not monarch-lover (although now we don't love them as well), the monarchs were considered effectively lost the support from the people. In reality, whoever has the support of the people, he/she will become the king, regardless of the background. Furthermore, in a constitutional monarchy, support from the monarch is just a bonus, not a necessity if the ruling party has the majority support from the people, as being demonstrated in Mahathir's time.

As for Najib, it's different case. He is not controlling 2/3 majority of the parliament. In the peninsular, just a mere estimated 50% of the people voted for BN in the last election. Any recent public survey would also indicate that Najib is not popular among Malaysians. If a leader lose the support of both the monarch and the people, its consequence, as can be seen during Badawi's reign, can be pretty disastrous. Najib knew he has lost the confidence of majority Malaysian and to recover it will probably take years or forever. He does not have the time. BN lost another 4 states to Pakatan and if Pakatan manages them well, BN will probably never recover them from the grip of the opposition. Pakatan should not be given ample time to grow their root and build their fortress in the 4 new opposition states. BN has to recover the 4 states as soon as possible, ideally 2 years before the next general election to implement their version of goodness for the people in the hope of eradicating the negative perception towards BN and Najib himself.

The only way Najib can embark on this quest is to get the support from the monarchs. Like Perak, power grab could not have happened so swiftly without the help from the monarch. However, as human being is concerned, this cannot happen without a price, regardless of who is paying for it.

1. The monarch will ask for more power and benefits. This is vindicated when the Sultan from Negeri Sembilan demanding that immunity be granted back to the royalty.
   
2. Ruling party will have to relent on the monarch's demand, risking the return of a kind feudalism - possibly warlordism of the Sultans before 1993, though they may temporary get hold of a state
   
3. People will generally be the biggest loser

Getting back to the case of Manohara, if this happened in the era of Mahathir, no doubt this Tengku from Kelantan will be put into the jail because Mahathir will not give a damn to the royalty. In Najib's era, however, will be good indicator whether the government of Najib is held ransom by the royalty. If nothing is done even with such publicity, I am sure that Najib is held ransom and we have gone back to the era before 1993 where royalties roam the street without a slight risk of apprehension from the authority. Fearing the backlash from the people, their immunity will not be enshrined back in the constitution, but it will be an invisible immunity. A new kind of warlordism thus created. The royalties will become bolder and Malaysian shall braced themselves for more outrageous crimes committed by this group of nuts and see them shaking hand with Najib instead of going to jail.