COMMENT | Who yearns for the dawn of another Najib era?

COMMENT | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak will most likely return to the political fray if he is found not guilty of the corruption and money-laundering charges linked to SRC International Bhd. Come the 15th general election, he may stake his claim again to the throne he left in disgrace in 2018.

Perhaps, Najib thinks if Dr Mahathir Mohamad could do it - becoming prime minister for the second time - he could also repeat the act. The strongest argument he could advance in his favour is that all the charges were politically motivated.

If he is freed, he would probably go on a nation-wide tour to explain his innocence followed by an all-out attack on all those he believes had engineered his downfall.

He would try to convince the electorate, especially the Malay vote-bank, that he has been a victim of a vicious campaign to discredit him but that God was on his side, and now he is ready to reclaim the mantle of a national leader.

Najib would make a pitch to the Malay heartland that he would champion race and religion and ensure that his second coming would bring back greater glory days for the indigenous people.

But the driving force in his comeback campaign would be fuelled by the fire of vengeance. If he wins, all his political foes, including Mahathir, would have reasons to fear retribution. After all, politics is dirty; it is the one weapon that can ruin a person when it is misused...