NOT BREAKING NEWS! NOT A MUST READ! - Just moral authority and other moralities

The number one priority of PM Najib is transforming Malaysia. What does he require? He requires first of all, a team of leaders. By leaders we mean people/characters that make up his cabinet. What kind does he need in order to keep up with his transformation agenda?

He needs an effective and determined leadership team with a shared vision. They(team members) must share his vision of a transformed society- little or nil corruption, little or no poverty. All those things his says about NKRA and KPI's. Then he needs to have an effective administration. Then he also needs a population with social discipline.

He thus needs an effective and determined leadership team, a first class civil service and a responsive and disciplined populace. By disciplined we mean those who subject themselves to the rule of law and not to the rule of man over man. We shall talk about this later.

First, the question of leadership. A leader, it is said must have the moral authority. That means his person can never be soiled or impeached. He must have an unimpeachable character. Where do we find such saintly characters?

We must begin at the top. Let me begin by asking, what correlation is there between Zaid Ibrahim's partiality to alcoholic beverages with his ability to lead and manage? That is, we assume Zaid still has this habit although as we know he is already an Haji and Muslims usually have good thoughts about one who has attained the status of Haji.

The answer- there is none. Let me quote some examples. Bill Clinton was a much maligned character in his personal capacity- his dalliances with Lewinsky and one Paula Corbin Jones would have destroyed his ability to govern. They would have undermined his moral authority to govern. He was in fact impeached over some of these indiscretions. But that didn't impair his execution of US foreign and domestic policies.

Benjamin Netanyahu who was condemned for appointing an under qualified chief judge or something was accused of corruption. But that didn't stop him from effectively containing the Arab threat. (Not that I agree).

Three, the pervasive stench of corruption and cronyism associated with the Suharto regime for example, didn't seem to affect adversely, Suharto's moral authority to govern. Indeed Tun Dr Mahathir lamented the humiliation visited upon his friend Pak Harto by successive Indonesian governments. This means, at least to me, people are willing to dismiss personal failings when assessing the ability of a person to manage and govern. Or really, the question of morality is singularly expedient.

This brings me to my point. Unless we are blind and deaf, PM Najib assumes the post as the PM with the most controversies surrounding him. The allegations surrounding the murder of Altantuya, his ill-deserved reputation as a playboy PM, the many financial scandals that occurred at the Ministry of defense most of which occurred during his watch could be used as reasons disputing his moral authority to govern and administer.

But as the above examples show, these negative blights do not impair one's ability to manage and govern. A further point I wish to make, if we are now ready to admit this concession on our PM, all those things said about Zaid at the HUlu Selangor elections were really non issues. Whether he drank or not, that don't impair his abilities.

Now, the cornerstone of an effective government is the moral authority of the PM. We have shown that those allegations and maybe even fanciful aspersions are not prejudicial to his abilities to govern well. Be that as it may, he must take all steps to allay suspicions and hushed whispers and murmurs.

As the moral authority that underpins an effective government, PM Najib must not trivialize those scandalous allegations by adopting a carbon copy of the infamous elegant silence. He mustn't dismiss these as trivialities. He must once and for all extinguish all the frivolities by authorizing a definitive legal closure. For example, you just can't ignore all those talks concerning one Deepak the carpet seller's transactions with private eye Bala as the product of an elaborate joke.

As Jack Lord in Hawaii Five -0 famously said: Book them!