It is a moment of truth for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
(Spoiler alert for the movie The Godfather).
Towards the end of The Godfather, Michael Corleone gives the impression that he is in a increasingly weak position.
This causes his enemies to plot against him, and prepare to mount an attack against him.
In the final sequence of the movie, it is revealed that Michael has been one step ahead of his enemies all along, and takes them all out in a swift series of operations all carried out on the same day. (If you prefer a less violent clip with the same concept, there’s always the Modern Family version).
In one fell swoop, he eliminates his competitors and those who would betray him, and consolidates his power as the Godfather.
With former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak now in jail, it feels like Ismail Sabri is in a similar position.
His enemies within Umno, many of them supporters of Najib, are baying for his blood.
They push for early elections, in which they would almost certainly not support Ismail Sabri to be the next Prime Minister, even if they win the elections.
At a gathering held soon after Najib’s incarceration, a hall full of Umno members openly boo’ed the sitting Prime Minister, from their own party. It is possible this is the first time this has ever happened in Malaysia.
It sure sounds like the drums of war.
Michael Corleone looked weak to his enemies, and it must be said that Ismail Sabri does not look particularly strong either.
He has made no move to clamp down on this dissent, and seems to prefer an air of ‘elegant silence’, reminiscent of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi.
The question is of course whether or not he has some Michael Corleone style tricks up his sleeve, or whether he is going to eventually let his enemies run roughshod all over him.
I can’t possibly pretend to have the answer, but from an outsider’s perspective, it looks like the answer to that question will determine how long he stays in power.
The degree, openness, and fervor of the rebellion within Umno against Ismail Sabri is noteworthy.
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has in previous months been fairly supportive of Ismail Sabri, performing her duties in a manner which would be expected for someone holding her position.
On the night of the Umno gathering however, she basically spoke in a manner that suggested outright rebellion against her boss - a manner certainly unbecoming of someone still holding her post.
Her comments unequivocally suggested that Ismail Sabri had erred and betrayed the party by ‘allowing’ Najib to go to jail.
She went even further to detail - right there in broad daylight for everyone to see and hear - exactly how Ismail Sabri should have prevented Najib’s jailing, by explaining how the Attorney General has immense powers, and is appointed by the YDPA on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Azalina even claimed (somewhat dubiously) that every other Prime Minister in the world installs ‘his person’ as the Attorney General, basically implying that the Attorney General should do whatever the PM wants him to do.
This of course is an extremely blatant mockery of how our judicial system should function, and reinforces calls for judicial reforms so that the people who make decisions regarding prosecutions become completely independent from the executive.
Najib of course is a textbook example of this.
When there were rumors that Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was preparing to prosecute Najib in relation to the 1MDB scandal, Najib simply fired him and replaced him with Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.
Azalina’s comments basically imply that this is perfectly fine, and is exactly the way things should be.
Let us be clear: this is not the way things should be.
This is the ancient, feudal way of trying to run a government - which is in absolutely no way different from the way a mafia organisation is run.
We do not want a system of gangsters where the only question is: who is the boss.
We want a functioning democracy, where institutions are imbued with integrity, and function in the interests of the rakyat.
As long as we do not have a clear separation of powers and a robust system of checks and balances, our country will contine to endure corruption after corruption - 1MDB and the recent LCS scandal being only two of countless examples.
Early indications are that Najib’s incarceration may be sparking a chain of events that will soon lead to an all out political war.
Ismail Sabri’s biggest asset is incumbency. Ever since the 80’s and 90’s the immense and excessive power that is concentrated in the office of the Prime Minister carries with it staggering power.
Only time will tell if and how Ismail Sabri will use this power to crush his opponents, whether he will be too politically weak to resist the machinations of those opponents, or whether he will find some sort of middle ground between these two extremes.
NATHANIEL TAN works with Projek #BangsaMalaysia. Twitter: @NatAsasi, Email: nat@engage.my. #BangsaMalaysia #NextGenDemocracy.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.