YOURSAY | Mixed reactions to Nazir's amnesty plan to fight graft

YOURSAY | Are you trying to justify a royal pardon for brother Najib?

Amnesty, 'shoot to kill' anti-graft plan if another Razak son in power

Vijay47: Nazir Abdul Razak, your promises of reform and cure sound so empty as to not in any way inspire us or offer assurance. The baggage you come with is so firmly welded to your shoulders that mere words would hardly suffice to remove it.

When I refer to your legacy, I do not mean merely the recent ones; they go as far back as 1969 when you must have been an innocent babe. That is not to suggest that you yourself are pristine white, your hand, even if not up to the elbows, is to some extent at least tainted.

Thus, to welcome you as a knight charging forth to bring about a new Malaysia would be as intelligent as accepting the wolf and his rosy plans of making the chicken coop a new hope for all.

Dizzer: I see I'm in a tiny minority but surely Nazir is right. Many of us have been calling for a truth and reconciliation approach to the sickness plaguing Malaysia. The mechanics would have to be agreed upon and the worst offenders jailed.

When a significant proportion of those with power (and a majority of the electorate) see corruption as an entitlement then something radical is required to halt the slide into oblivion.

Yes, the optics of another Razak poking his oar in is not great, but the idea of a consultative democracy where the people rather than the elites have a genuine say in the direction of the country makes sense to me.

Indigo Trout2522: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Just look at Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) where the richest and powerful citizens would be sentenced to years in jail for corruption. Look at Singapore, where corruption was rampant in the 50s. Now, you don’t find much corruption.

Here, corruption begins at the top, the rich and the powerful politicians. It is rampant.

Now, begin with those who are already investigated and charged. Lock up those who are already found guilty, including those in the highest positions.

Have a strong independent investigative and prosecution agency such as Hong Kong’s ICAC, and a strong and truly independent judiciary. In South Korea and Taiwan, the top and most powerful politicians and officials would be sentenced to jail for years.

Will Malaysia have the guts to do it?

Only after having a strong and independent ‘ICAC’, judiciary and Parliament, followed by the enactment of strict laws, can we declare an amnesty.

The rakyat are watching these corruption trials closely. If these individuals are freed even upon being found guilty, whatever you say or propose is just meaningless and just talk. So, start from the top and you will find corruption will slowly be wiped out.

Steven Ong: Nothing, no matter how right or good it is, is going to work in a situation where privileges and discrimination policies are sanctioned by the state.

One can look at those who are successful at managing their country. There are no elite privileges or double standards among their citizens. The prime minister takes public transport like everyone else.

Can all Malaysians agree to this? If not, don't complain.

Malaysianmalaysian: "When there are so many people involved (in corruption), you must have some amnesty. If not, everyone will block (your effort to clean up the system)," said Nazir.

But, of course. What about the suffering of the rakyat? Just try buying vegetables for a week on the salary of an ordinary rakyat, Nazir.

Being born with a silver spoon means never experiencing the reality of people's lives.

MarioT: Nazir, you said we are not a failed nation but one on the path of decline. Yes, it is true but going at the rate of decline, reaching a failed nation status, will not take long.

Political reforms are necessary to put the nation on the track to being an economic powerhouse in Asia by fully utilising our rich diversity of human resources.

Sixty years of total dominance by one racialist party has led to many blatant cases of abuse of power and a free hand to corruption of immeasurable and unimaginable proportions and nepotism.

If this nation continues to practise segregated monopoly from politics to issues involving every strata of the society, it would not be long before we fall into the pit of failure.

Beman: Having a law and enforcing it fairly are two different things. The rakyat biasa (ordinary citizens) and the orang-orang besar (big shots) were treated differently when they broke Covid-19 regulations.

If this "shoot to kill" anti-graft law is in place, well-connected powerful people may still mostly get away with corruption involving millions or billions while most of those facing the firing squad are the low-ranking officers.

Gotcha: Those involved must be charged and sentenced to jail as the amount involved is really huge. There should be no forgiveness, please.

One must understand that if Pakatan Harapan had not won the 14th general elections, our country would have now been robbed trillions of ringgit by the Umno regime. Just look at the court cluster now.

OrangePanther1466: Nazir, are you trying to justify an amnesty (in the form of a royal pardon) for big brother, Najib? His crime is unpardonable as it is brazen and as his moniker says it, without any shame or remorse.

Anyway, I commend you and your fellow members for the effort to make Malaysia a better place. You have the odds stacked high against you.

You have to ween the Malay mindset first as they comprise 70 percent of Malaysians. Dr Mahathir Mohamad realised that much earlier on but he failed to change their mindset.

Without a paradigm shift in mindset, away from feudalism, affirmative action and entitlement to one where values and ethos of hard work, discipline and integrity, to name a few, are embraced, it would be a mammoth task to move forward.

This will be a multi-generational effort but at least it is a start.

Koel: Nazir, all this is the usual Umno rhetoric without substance. Put your money where your mouth is and solve the national problem of your brother, twice found guilty.

Persuade him to return the nation's money - something the courts have found him guilty of. If not, these thefts mean that at least two generations of Malaysians are burdened with the repayment of loans.

Is the Razak family willing to make good on the huge amounts that have gone missing?

And also ask your brother and his family to pay their taxes - apparently that too is in the billions. So, literally, please put the money where your mouth is.

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