Concerns Muhyiddin’s indictment could look like political vindictiveness
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| Muhyiddin Yassin has become the second prime minister in recent memory in Malaysia to be charged with corruption, abuse of power and money laundering, allegedly for looting funds appropriated to combat the Covid-19 coronavirus, which sickened 5.04 million people and took the lives of nearly 37,000. The arrest either makes Malaysia a rarity in Southeast Asia for its ability to break the curse of impunity from prosecution for high-ranking officials, or it identifies Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as a vindictive leader out to jail his political enemies. Either way, it presents a touchy political situation for Anwar, who supplanted Muhyiddin as prime minister in November after his Pakatan Harapan coalition narrowly beat out Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional coalition in a divisive general election. Anwar twice spent long periods in prison on charges of sexual perversion which international rights organizations charged were trumped up to damage his political career. With six crucial state elections coming in May, allegations that his government put the screws to Muhyiddin and members of the opposition coalition for political advantage could be deeply damaging. Anwar’s multiparty coalition is fragile and could fracture if it were to lose its seats. Although there is considerable worry inside Anwar’s government that it will look like vindictiveness, they say there is voluminous proof that officials used the Covid-29 crisis as an opportunity to stuff their pockets with stolen money…
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