The “for now” part, at least, is urgent now. Mind you, the reduced sentence was merely the tenderising process and I am sure Najib will get his get-out-of-jail card eventually or at the very least his house arrest, which for Malaysia and a man of his resources, means the same thing.

His acolytes in Umno are already plotting their next move, and no doubt the rakyat would be subjected to another “sandiwara” (show) very soon.

Rakyat’s trust eroding, kleptocrats getting away

With the way Madani operates, I am sure that the only people who will benefit from this are the illiberal forces of this country.

All the prime minister has done with this issue and the high-profile corruption cases is to muddy the waters. And rational Malaysians have to wonder why.

Indeed, when a convict – this would be the former prime minister – uses the current premier’s words as a point for his political persecution defence, you know you are in Madaniville.

“I believe Anwar’s recent remarks on flaws in the prosecutorial process strongly validate my longstanding concerns about the legal proceedings against me.

“For six years, I have maintained that these proceedings exemplify rushed and flawed prosecutions,” Najib told the court last week during the defence stage of his RM2.27 billion 1MDB corruption trial.

In justifying the dismissal not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for Zahid’s corruption case linked to millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim advanced the narrative that this was partly a political persecution by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The fact that Zahid, Najib, and every other alleged kleptocrat said the same thing points to the narrative that is being shaped by the mainstream political establishment when it comes to how it deals with kleptocrats.

Of course, when Anwar made those remarks, which occurred when Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor was acquitted of money laundering charges, he said - “Why (ask me about Rosmah’s case outcome)? Do you want me to interfere in the judicial process? I have my personal view and I have my personal reasons, whether I like it or dislike it.

“But we have to talk about judicial independence. How do you want judicial independence?"

How do I want my judicial independence? Well done, of course. But this has nothing to do with judicial independence.

Indeed when it comes to this addendum no matter what the prime minister says, there were operatives in the justice system who knew of this addendum and they all kept their mouths shut hiding the truth from the rakyat. This is a pattern when it comes to the justice apparatus in Madani.

As former MACC chief Latheefa Koya, who belled the cat in the Zahid case, reminded us - “Stop trying to fool the people by repeating endlessly that Zahid’s DNAA was the court’s decision.

“Article 145(3) is clear, the court had no choice in the matter. So don’t blame the court.”

Former Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan’s public statements in the Zahid case were prophetic.

“We saw the evidence. The judge found a prima facie case.

“You insult our intelligence and the judge for pursuing this line of argument.

“Don’t defend the indefensible and then talk about reform,” the lawyer said.

This is another self-inflicted wound that the men from Madani have engineered. What the prime minister has done is cast a shadow over every operative in his administration, but worst of all, he has given the PAS-led Perikatan Nasional a new narrative to hang their hat on.

Now we know why all these laws restricting free speech are in play. This is not about the opposition’s hypocrisy. Any rational person knows they are mendacious and hypocritical.

This is about how people can trust the good ship Madani and the person steering it.