The Malaysian Insider

ANALYSIS

JULY 4 — Malaysians are facing a quandary: just who or what should they believe in anymore?

Should they believe P. Balasubramaniam of July 3, who tossed a confetti of allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a statutory declaration.

Or should they believe P. Balasubramaniam of July 4, who retracted the explosive allegations and said that he had been acting under duress when he told the whole world that Abdul Razak Baginda told him that Najib had a sexual relationship with Altantuya Shaariibuu.

He betrayed little sign of duress yesterday at the news conference. Initially he allowed Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his lawyer to hold court and spill out salacious details of the statutory declaration.

After warming up, he took questions from reporters, enjoyed some refreshments later.

Twenty-four hours later, he showed up at a hotel with a new lawyer and a new statutory declaration. After saying that he had been acting under duress, Balasubramaniam stayed silent not even explaining just what kind of duress had been applied on him to defame the DPM.

He may have left the news conference without answering any questions but this cannot be the end of the matter.

If he was forced to frame Najib, then he and those behind this scam must be held accountable. Anwar cannot just shrug his shoulders and say “I don’t know’’. If Najib was framed, then he deserves to be exonerated completely.

On the flip side, Malaysians also need to know the circumstances which led to Balasubramaniam retracting his original statutory declaration.

His lawyer said the private investigator – who was hired by Razak in October 2006 to help him deal with Altantuya – was summoned by the police a few hours after he released the statutory declaration.

Did the police intervention have any influence on his retraction?

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi cannot stay as a disinterested bystander. The level of confidence and trust Malaysians have in their leaders and institutions is probably as low as it was in 1998 when Anwar was sacked from government and jailed.

The events of the past 24 hours will only serve to deepen the sense of distrust. Just who should Malaysians believe anymore?