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Bangkok: A corruption scandal rocking Malaysia has had more twists and turns than a bestselling thriller, appearing to plunge one of Australia's most important allies in Asia into political turmoil and threatening to upend decades of one-party rule.
For much of last year, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak appeared to many non-Malaysians to be a dead man walking, his seven-year rule coming to a humiliating end.
How could the leader of a democratic nation remain in power after a corruption investigation discovered that $US700 million ($990 million) had turned up in his personal bank accounts, with him stonewalling for months on where it came from or where it went?
If it was true the money came from Saudi Arabia's royal family, as claimed on Tuesday by Mr Najib's loyal Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, it would be one of the biggest known political donations in history, almost equalling what Barack Obama raised to fight the entire 2012 US presidential campaign.
Mr Najib's critics say it seems implausible that the House of Saud would firstly dispatch such a large amount of money that was not needed and secondly that Mr Najib would five months later send back $US620 million of it unspent, as Mr Apandi claimed in a statement to the media.
(Saudi Arabia has declined to shed any light on the matter).
But on Thursday the immaculately dressed 62-year-old Prime Minister was on national television delivering a budget speech promising to put more money into the pockets of Malaysians and to stimulate an economy hard hit by the collapse of world oil prices.
Two days earlier, Mr Apandi had ordered the country's anti-corruption commission to shut down its investigation into money transfers, declaring no criminal offence had been committed.
Although the decision prompted howls of outrage and derision from Mr Najib's critics – including some within his ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – the Prime Minister declared the controversy had been "comprehensively" put to rest and said it was time for Malaysians to unite and move forward.
The critics may have underestimated the British-educated son of a former prime minister who has long been seen as a close ally of both Coalition and Labor governments in Australia.
His hold on power appears to remain solid – for the moment – with the support of powerful UMNO division chiefs who have long benefited from largesse that flowed through the party's ranks.
The Prime Minister has replaced critics in his government with loyalists, sacked the previous attorney-general, who had been investigating him, and cracked down on the media.
"Najib has the party and all major institutions locked up, he still has a great war chest [I presume] and he has an excellent defensive blocker team now playing a very strong game out in the field, headed by Apandi," Clive Kessler, an expert on Malaysia at the University of New South Wales, said.
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has accused Mr Najib of buying off UMNO division leaders, many of whom are said to act as "warlords" in their local fiefdoms.
But Malaysians have become inured to allegations of corruption and money politics during UMNO's six decades in power.
"Most thinking Malaysians know that the situation is rotten, but they do not know that they can do anything about it," Professor Kessler said.
Dr Mahathir perpetuated a system of self-serving politics during his 23-year rule, sometimes ruthlessly removing people in authority, including judges and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year jail sentence on politically motivated charges.
While Mr Najib has been the target of highly damaging investigations by international news organisations such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and a small London-based publication called the Sarawak Report, he receives dream coverage in Malaysia's government-controlled mainstream media.
Last week the Prime Minister was seen railing against Islamic State as officials of state agencies gave dire warnings of terrorist plots across the country. "This threat is very real and my government takes it very seriously," he said.
While Mr Najib has portrayed himself in international forums as a moderate, progressive and liberal Muslim leader, at home he has overseen increasing authoritarianism and Malay ethnic supremacism, boosting his support in the Muslim-Malay heartlands which have delivered victory for UMNO in every election since the country's independence from Britain.
"The next election is already being set up as an Islamically-driven ethno-populist plebiscite on the question, 'are you with Allah, UMNO and Najib, or against?'," Professor Kessler said.
"The question is whether it will all hold together until then."
