Commentary
MAY 6 — IF Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s aim was to raise the political temperature surrounding the Altantuya murder trial, a case which has fallen off the radar in recent months, he has certainly become a martyr to his cause.
Charged with sedition for an allegedly inflammatory article he wrote on his popular website Malaysia Today about the trial, he refused to post bail.
While the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers are well within their powers in charging Raja Petra, he has now turned his case into a cause célèbre, taking advantage of the kind positive notoriety which will certainly draw more attention to his already wildly popular and influential website.
Malaysia Today is to Malaysia what the Drudge Report is to the United States.
Like the Drudge Report, Malaysia Today is basically a news aggregation site, in which the owner sometimes writes articles as well to break certain sensational stories before the mainstream press does so.
Raja Petra or RPK, if anything, has been entertaining his readers with tales of political intrigue at the highest levels.
It was on his website that he started publishing the Khairy Chronicles, a series of mostly unsubstantiated articles which accused Khairy Jamaluddin, the son-in-law of the prime minister, of naked ambition in wanting to eventually become PM.
Last week, it appeared Raja Petra had turned his attention on to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife.
There were few people or public institutions which escaped Raja Petra’s scathing attention in his critique of how the authorities had and are handling the ongoing Altantuya murder trial.
Both Najib and his wife were implicated by Raja Petra.
This was classic baiting by Raja Petra. Najib, through his press secretary, responded with a letter to complain about the treatment.
Raja Petra published the letter, and also argued his own points in defending his right to publish the original article.
But in engaging Raja Petra instead of ignoring the allegations, Najib appeared to have silenced, or at least prevented the story from going out of control.
However, by refusing to even post bail, Raja Petra has again brought attention on to the case, and pressure on Najib.
While it was Raja Petra who was handcuffed by police and marched off to the lock-up, it was Najib who had to face growing pressure in Parliament.
He was forced to answer allegations made by Leader of the Opposition Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail that a company controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda, the deputy prime minister's former close aide who has been charged in the Altantuya murder case, had been paid an exorbitant commission in the deal to acquire Sukhoi fighter jets and Scorpene submarines.
Najib expectedly denied any improprieties. But the heat is most certainly still on.
No comments:
Post a Comment