There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, just permanent interests.
– Carol Moseley Braun, ex-US Senator
TENGKU Zafrul Abdul Aziz is not a name known in Malaysian politics before 2020 although he was already a high flyer in the corporate world.
I concede I have not heard of Zafrul before he joined the government. When he was appointed finance minister in the backdoor Cabinet of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in March 2020, many of us were asking “Zafrul who?”
The adage that “a week is a long time in politics” certainly rings true for Zafrul; although in his case it’s over a tumultuous three-year period.
In his relationship with his former boss, Muhyiddin, Zafrul can also probably agree that “there is no permanent enemy or friend in politics”.
From being a trusted lieutenant in Muhyiddin’s Cabinet in 2020 to joining Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s team in 2022, Zafrul has moved full circle in his short political career, so to speak.
At a relatively young age of 47 when he joined Muhyiddin in 2020, Zafrul is now considered a key player in UMNO after getting a supreme council seat in the party.
I’m not sure of Zafrul’s former ties with Umno, if any, but I would expect him to be more indebted towards Muhyiddin and Bersatu since it was the Bersatu president who brought him into politics.
Instead, Zafrul worked his way into UMNO, earning the party’s candidacy to contest in Kuala Selangor in the recent GE15.
Although he was unsuccessful in wresting Kuala Selangor from Pakatan Harapan, Zafrul was recommended by UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for a cabinet post. He was re-appointed a senator to enable him to head the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
Muhyiddin’s arch-rival today is Umno and there is no love lost between him and Zahid. That Zafrul should now align himself with UMNO and Zahid surely didn’t go down well with Muhyiddin.
Observers believe that Muhyiddin has started to move against Zafrul, as if to teach him a lesson, and the former prime minister has his first opportunity when the MACC started its probe into the Jana Wibawa programme.
Jana Wibawa is a little known programme during the Muhyiddin administration and it has landed both the former premier, and his finance minister at the time, Zafrul, in the MACC’s crosshairs.
The programme —Jana Wibawa — was aimed at giving Bumiputera contractors a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, MACC sources have claimed that the programme also generated around RM300 million in kickbacks which allegedly ended up in Bersatu’s accounts.
Do we smell a rat here? Your guess is as good as mine. But let’s wait for the result of the MACC probe, that is if it is ever made public.
Emerging from the interview with the MACC, Muhyiddin maintained his innocence over claims that he had allegedly misappropriated billions in government funds.
He revealed he told the MACC that Jana Wibawa was Zaful’s idea and that the finance minister was in charge of the programme including choosing the contractors. However, Muhyiddin added that he had given the green light for the COVID-19 stimulus initiative to help Bumiputera contractors.
Muhyiddin also said MACC officers told him he was not a “suspect” in their investigation and that he was merely called in “several days ago” to explain certain issues related to Jana Wibawa.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki has ticked off Muhyiddin for his comments, saying that all those hauled up by the anti-graft agency have no right to make any public statement while investigations are still underway.
It’s pretty obvious that Muhyiddin is now shifting the blame to his former finance minister. If the MACC is able to unearth some misdeeds in the Jana Wibawa project, Zafrul’s neck will be on the line.
Surely by now, Zafrul should know that he is undergoing his first real “baptism of fire” in the political arena. Being indirectly told by his former boss that he should be responsible for any wrongdoing in Jana Wibawa is not very reassuring but most uncomfortable indeed.
And being summoned by MACC for questioning over alleged corrupt practices involving hundreds of millions is a bigger and more serious matter than fighting for a parliamentary seat in a general election. This is indeed the real “baptism of fire” for Zafrul.
Zafrul had gallantly declared that he would give his fullest cooperation to MACC in the probe, adding that he has nothing to hide.
Meantime, the public must be wondering why Muhyiddin was so quick to shift the blame, saying that he was not a suspect. Does this mean that his former finance minister is the chief suspect? But hey, who is the prime minister? Who?
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that approvals for the RM5.7 billion worth of rural development projects under the Jana Wibawa programme had been halted temporarily until the procurement and expenditure procedures set by the Treasury are followed.
I think it’s best to cancel the Jana Wibawa programme and allow the unity government to initiate a new plan.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
