Najib to speak on 1MDB at parliament today

Sorry for being off-line for too long.

It is long breaks like this that will eventually lead to speculation and possibility of permanent retirement. However, no such plan yet. Neither is there any plan to give up on blogging in favour of other media platform.

Taking a breather to follow Parliament proceeding.

Also right Quadratus Lumbarum and Latissimus Dorsi giving us a hard time when using the laptop. High time to install the PC bought last year but not used yet. 

Supposedly, there was to be a vote of no confidence on Dato Najib either directly or via rejecting of the budget. The manner Lim Kit Siang got himself suspended and PKR could not put the motion properly only indicate it will not happen.

Tun Dr Mahathir also have been rather quiet since the first generation IPPs which include that of YTL were given a 3-year extension.

Tun M's public presence was only kept alive by his blog updates. Is he frustrated that the vote of no confidence will not happen? Could he instead be working on bringing down Najib at the UMNO General Assembly in early December?

Thus, that could be the reason behind the rumour of a plan to disciplined 7 highly critical esteemed members of UMNO. Tengku Dato Adnan statement confirmed of possible disciplinary action.

Since it was started by some pro-Tun bloggers as pre-emptive strategy, it will not likely to happen. This is despite talk that there are 140 UMNO Division Chiefs supporting the move.

It is just not Najib to do such a thing. As some of his loyalist claim, he is too nice a guy. It is the people around him that have been doing the mean stuff on government officers, grassroot UMNO leaders and members, and such.

Quite sure he would have planned something too.

And there is also the 3K or the 3 defenders of Najib from Kota Belud - Dato Rahman Dahlan, Dato Salleh Said Keruak and Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

BN Director of Communication, Rahman Dahlan can be smart at times with his words. But at times, his attempt to be extraordinary can end up being too smart as his quote yesterday on leaving work at 4 AM to avoid toll.

Salleh got noticed as a staunch defender of Najib and that placed him at the right place and at the right time for a Federal ministership. Though his arguments are simple, politically logical, and communicable, he is bordering on overdoing that it can end up backfiring.

It is Pandikar that have been stealing the show at Parliament. Yesterday he gave the lifeline needed for Tony Pua to get out of the debate with Arul. In an emotional manner, Pandikar threatened to quit should the debate continue.

He claimed it is against the Standing Order thus improper of Tony Pua and Arul to be debating when both are involved in the PAC investigation as member of PAC and witness, respectively.

But then, where have Pandikar been in the last one to two years when Tony Pua have been acting as, in the words of Arul Kanda, "judge, jury and executioner" on the 1MDB issue.

Surely, there will be a lengthy debate on Standing Order. It is customary of Parliament to be heated whenever Speaker makes a decision or interpretation on Standing Orders.

From the last two weeks of observing Parliament, MPs still tend to get heated in debating over Standing Order than the actual content of budget. 

Najib's budget planned for 2016 was excellent. That is the opinion of one of the 7 critically vocal leaders as in Tengku Razaleigh. Thus other than politically motivated sabotage on government, what will be the basis for opposition and if there is any, detractors  of Najib to reject the budget?

It is ridiculous that Malaysians stressed so much on the budget as though it is the main determinant on the direction of the economy. Off course, government spending is important component of the economy but there is still the private sector and individual spending.

The budget is only a legal requirement for the total spending by government to need prior approval of Parliament. The amount to be spend, senario, projection, planned allocations, etc need to be presented. That is all to it.

It is hardly about new policies setting because most of government policies mentioned in the budget have been presented in other Parliament session or public statements.

In more developed economies, market does not give much attention on their government budgetary plans. So why do Malaysians put budget as the main economic event of the year?
 
To most Malaysians, their concern on budget is not about how government will allocate money for the year to face the challenges or exploit opportunities available in the drive for nation building. They are most concern of what they can get directly out of it.

Ironically, most of the gains for rakyat in the budget come in the form of tax incentives but the majority do not appreciate it. Not when less than 2 million Malaysians pay tax.

The business community are looking at what development plan of the government to go in. A case of herd mentality.

As a result, the questions or debates on Budget in Parliament are quite petty, not deep or significant enough. There are no serious debate on the macroeconomic strategies but mostly on the weakness in implementation or nit picking fault finding claims of inconsistencies.

Since media place so much attention on budget, it has become a political circus for MPs to get themselves the attention on TV. So the budget questions and debates is filled with endless insinuation and allegations on vogue issues of the day - 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion. 

So today, PM will speak on 1MDB in the winding-up debate on budget in his session on policy. It is expected to be merely on the surface since the focus will be on budget.

What is heard thus far Najib has got his act in place and had been cool throughout the ordeal. Heard he is also very confident.

That is contrary to what peoples' impression of Najib. They say he is looking tired, stressed and frail. Sometimes words like that is useful to give the perception he crumbling under pressure. Since the public has presumed him as guilty despite no sufficient proofs to take him to court, rumours like that serve the political purpose.

Whatever he say, it will be cynically refuted by Tun M and scrutinised by the pro-Tun supporters and opposition. Is Najib ready to reveal his card today?

* Edited 11/5 7:00 AM