Watergate Or Waterloo 2008-9

Is there a frighteningly close similarity between Najib Razak, the deputy PM of Malaysia, and ex-US president, the late Richard Nixon ? Or at least their paths to political ignomity ( or stardom ) ? Nixon was felled by the Watergate incident just after he was elected president for a second term. He had to resign not because he was part of the gang that carried out the Watergate burglary but because he was responsible for its subsequent cover-up. In Najib's case, he is likely to become the next PM of Malaysia by March 2009, when the UMNo general assembly will by then confirm him as the new UMNO boss. Things, however, may not be smooth-sailing for Najib. He has been implicated in more than one scandal in the country, the most serious being the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Altantuya was the Mongolian model who was executed by the special unit (STK) and her body destroyed by C4 explosives after a romantic liason between her and a top defence analyst went sour. Unconfirmed reports have circulated alleging that Najib was present around the time she was murdered but, more likely, while he was not at the scene, he almost definitely must have received information about the incident soon afterward. The private investigator who could have shed more light on the case including alleged incriminating phone calls between the individuals has disappeared. If Najib, who was then the Defence Minister, knew about the incident, he is or was dutybound to report it to the police. But the murder was revealed by the dead woman's sister and the trial has so far not reached any conclusion no thanks to the inept ways of the investigating officers whose work has been repeatedly challenged by the defence lawyers. There is little chance that Najib could ever be implicated in the case, unless someone steps forward with irrefutable evidence and even then at great risk to himself. Still, in the end, he will never be able to claim that he had a clean slate at the moment he took the highest office in the land. Nixon, he was not so fortunate. He left office in disgrace.