The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting

it has been called one of the largest kleptocracy cases in the world a Brazen fraud scheme that tainted the top levels of Malaysia's government at the center was one Malaysia development bad or 1 MDB a Malaysian State investment fund chaired by then prime minister najib razak the fund was created in 2009 to finance Economic Development projects with the help of financier Joe low and Wall Street Bank Goldman Sachs 1 MDB raised billions of dollars in bonds but instead of forging Partnerships and advancing growth for the country najib low and other associates allegedly stole 4.5 billion US from one MDB over several years when the fraud was uncovered in 2015 it sparked massive protests in Malaysia everyone's come out here today is because of one issue the government is too rotten and the people coming here is actually just request the government to be clean for a time it seemed like changes had been set in motion najib Fell From Grace and his barisa National Coalition was voted out concern for the economy politicians across the Spectrum pledged to clean up the government but since then observers say the anti-corruption momentum has stalled with far-reaching political consequences the issues of corruption and anti-corruption have not gone away and 1 MDB foreshadows them so where are we now while 1 MTB was a Malaysian fund the stolen money was laundered through the Global Financial system investigations are ongoing in at least six jurisdictions including Malaysia the US Singapore and Switzerland the money was allegedly funneled into shell companies and paid as bribes and kickbacks Millions were also used to buy luxury property a super yach a private jet and fine art as well as to finance the Hollywood film The Wolf of Wall Street and other projects meant to boost najib's popularity in Malaysia five separate court cases have been brought against najib over one mb's mismanagement the charges range from abuse of power to money laundering and criminal breach of trust najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing a raid of his home turned up heaps of cash jewelry gold bars and luxury goods belonging to najib and his wife rosma Mansour who was also jailed for bribery in a separate case najib was found guilty in in the first case and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence but he was acquitted in the second case and his three remaining cases are still in progress meanwhile najib has sought a royal pardon in a last ditch attempt to get out of jail despite his conviction he remains deeply popular with parts of the electorate the fact that Malaysia continues to ask the question of whether or not na you will receive a part and this is something that is highly politicized speaks to the challenges that it and the difficulties that of a system that is where corruption is caught up so deeply in maintaining and securing political power net has alleged that 1 mb's real Mastermind was Malaysian financier low Tech Joe better known as Joe low low who has also denied any wrongdoing has been at large since 2016 and is considered one of the most Wanted white caller fugitives in the world while several other key figures have been prosecuted disputes remain with Goldman Sachs which helped 1 MDB arrange its Bond offerings the bank was investigated by the US Department of Justice for violating America's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 2020 Goldman reached a deal for a $3.9 billion combined settlement with Malaysia but the current government has said it wants to renegotiate the deal prompting the bank to sue meanwhile Malaysia's government is still paying back 1 mtb's debts the cost of corruption is not only a political cost where a party loses power it's also for ordinary Malaysians who have to endure the um the costs of the excesses of corruption by having to pay out of their tax dollars instead of things in benefits for them they have to pay the debts of the company over the years the debt including principal and interest has swelled to 53 and A5 billion ring as of March 2023 Malaysia still had 9.7 billion ring left to pay so how did 1 MDB affect Malaysian politics so there's been a culture and practices of norms of uh you scratch my back I scratch yours in uh in the in the political economy that is you know has been going on for decades corruption in Malaysia didn't start with 1 MDB but the sheer scale of the Scandal was a turning point najib's party the United malaise National Organization or omno was ousted in 2018 for the first time since Malaysia's Independence his onetime Mentor former prime minister mahath Muhammad came back to power on a pledge to clean up politics once and for all we are not seeking Revenge what we want to do is to restore the rule of law but observers say that few structural changes have materialized one of the biggest concern why corruption is a bit uh in Malaysia is because political parties need to have funding for the elections which is also why 1mdb happened the first place in other words Naj needed a war chest for his election campaign but up to now the bill for political financing act has not yet been tabled or at least has not yet been passed in Parliament observers say that reforms have been styed by the co9 pandemic and sustained political instability fragmented nature of Malaysian politics has meant that there hasn't been consistency there hasn't been the political will there hasn't been the um uh significant attention to meaningful attention to cleaning up the system in the 2022 general election voters continued to demand change the current prime minister Ana Ibrahim was elected on promises to bring about reforms but the administration was recently criticized when corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed zahid hamidi with whom Ana shares power in a coalition government were abruptly dropped late in his trial the decision spoted intense debate about whether accountability had been sacrificed in favor of [Music] politics [Music] [Music] I'm less optimistic uh than I would have been five years ago or even a few years ago from the perspective of anti-corruption reform I think uh the withdrawal of the zahi charges really has created a lot of cynicism and so especially when you know charges are are pulled away um and withdrawn the impact of that means that uh it sends a message that these things are not as important in 2022 Malaysia scored 47 out of 100 on International Watchdog group transparency International's corruption perception index reversing 5 years of progress but umno's fall has also had broader consequences the mainstreaming of ethnonationalist religious and populist narratives in Malaysian politics due to the realization l m Mal ground that the 1mdb Scandal was probably like the final STW in showing that the the amno elites hasn't really uh use their power and resources to uplift the mle East with elections becoming more comp competitive most of these voters have switched to right-wing parties under the opposition perikan National Coalition which is now the second largest Coalition in government these include the religiously conservative Malaysian Islamic party or pass and bratu which Champions a Malle nationalist ethos perikan National has promised clean and stable government and to create jobs but it has also been accused of employing racial rhetoric hate speech and disinformation with not to be left out is that they have capitalized on the critical role and the issue of managing insecurity uh so by feeding populist agendas by portraying thems as the the warrior the stable agent they have been quite successful um in this regard observers say that the window for the government to make meaningful reforms may be narrowing because if you have the B of the malays who are not going to support his administration I think Malaysia will just further go down the road of polarizing identity politics which you see many other countries and that definitely will make be governance or reforms a lot harder still hope for change endures [Music]

Channel: South China Morning Post

Views: 92,566

Keywords: 1MDB, 1MDB scandal, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, Anwar Ibrahim, Goldman Sach, Kuala Lumpur, Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia, Najib Razak, charge, corruption, crime, debt, election, finance, fraud, fund, government, investment, jail, kleptocracy, money laundering, prime minister, protest, reform, royal pardon, scmp, scmp video, south china morning post, state, Jho Low

Id: 4hyQRv16j5U

Length: 11min 20sec (680 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 05 2023