It’s hard to believe Muhyiddin (Mahiaddin) did not help himself to the RM530 billion Covid-19 stimulus packages which his regime allocated during the pandemic. It takes a thief to catch a thief. In this case, the experienced UMNO could smell a rat hundreds of miles away that Muhyiddin’s party – Bersatu or Malaysian United Indigenous Party – had swindled billions despite his short 17-month rule.

When Muhyiddin was controversially sworn in as the 8th Prime Minister on March 1, 2020, he did not have the minimum 112 MPs to form a simple majority government in the 222-seat Parliament. Therefore, he deliberately shut down the Parliament to prevent any vote of no confidence that could expose he actually had “scammed” the Agong (King) into swearing him.

Malaysia was the only country in the world that had declared emergency and locked up the Parliament under the pretext of fighting Coronavirus. Ruling with absolute power during a State of Emergency, there was absolutely no check and balance during Muhyiddin’s illegitimate 17-month rule. Worse, the backdoor PM could plunder the national coffer and nobody would know.

Even if his appointed finance minister – Tengku Zafrul – was not directly involved in stealing public money (which still subjects to investigation), it does not mean the clueless and incompetent minister had not committed negligence – blindly approved all expenditures and projects ordered by his boss. Unlike Muhyiddin, however, Zafrul enjoys certain level of protection due to his “royal connection”.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will now focus its investigation on the RM92.5 billion directly funded by the government after it was established that RM437.5 billion was not from the government. This means Muhyiddin’s backdoor Perikatan Nasional government did not actually help the people to the tune of RM530 billion as shamelessly trumpeted.