M FOR MALAYSIA

Division is a recurring theme in history, and so it has been for Malaysia. For the six decades since the country won independence, the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition maintained its grip on power through racial campaigning that favoured the dominant party of the coalition, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

In 2015, news broke that the personal bank accounts of the then-prime minister, Najib Razak, had received suspicious deposits of RM2.6b (more than US$620m). A year later, the Wall Street Journal ran an exposé on the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund, exposing suspicious financial transactions and uncovering evidence of money laundering, fraud and theft on a grand scale. A lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice alleged that at least US$3.5b had been stolen from 1MDB.

Najib denied any wrongdoing and rejected calls for his resignation. His administration allegedly arranged for the leaders of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Central Bank of Malaysia to “retire” after rumours broke that the two government agencies were building a case against 1MDB. Draconian laws were used to shut down Malaysian publications