by Din Merican*
August 5, 2008
Malaysians are most concerned by a recent article written by a “Concerned Malaysian???, which appeared on August 2, 2008 in a widely read web-blog, Malaysia-Today. It relates to the widely speculated re-appointment of Tan Sri Ghazali Sheikh Khalid as Malaysian Ambassador to the United States.
This is the second time that Malaysia-Today (MT) has carried a commentary on this re-appointment of Ghazali Sheikh Khalid who bears heavy baggage from his last ’stink’ in Washington DC.
Concern of Serving Officers in Wisma Putra
A second tour of duty of this nature is raising a hue and cry in Kuala Lumpur, both at Wisma Putra and in the Malaysian Civil Service on the two fundamental grounds.
First, it is about the manner in which this re-appointnent is being made and its implications for the morale of professional foreign service officers, not to mention the very institution of Wisma Putra itself. Re-appointing a retired Ambassador to a senior position abroad is a slap in the face of deserving, serving officers.
Second, there is much concern in many quarters in Malaysia–no less so in the United States–regarding Ghazali Shiekh’s re-appointment as our representative in Washington DC, given his rather dim track record during his previous posting in the same capacity there.
No less serious is the trepidation and risk that Ghazali Shiekh Khalid’s re-appoinment is a grave misjudgment on the part of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.
Links to a Jewish Lobbyist and now a felon
Ghazali Sheikh Khalid has been clearly identified as a conduit for Malaysian GLCs (government linked corporations) and other benefactors to make illegal payments to the notorious Jewish lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, to secure an appointment for the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, with President George W. Bush in 2002.
Abramoff was investigated, tried and convicted and he is now serving time in the United States.
During the US Senate investigations, numerous leading American newspapers, The Washington Post among them, reported that there was a clearly established money trial including documentary evdience by way of invoices, from the Malaysian Embassy in Washington DC to Abramoff. Funds were also reportedly channelled to various right wing think tanks.
No less serious were slanderous allegations concocted to project Anwar Ibrahim as an Islamic extremist. Even attempts were made to obtain false testimony against Anwar from a limo driver in Washington DC. Many also believe that the Embassy was fully aware of shenanigans which were being hatched in Kuala Lumpur for the Anwar trials in 1998.
It would be recalled that questions about the Embassy’s possible involvement including Ghazali’s was raised in our Parliament in 2005, but no satisfactory answer was provided by the then Foreign Minister, Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
Details, as pointed out above, of the Abramoff Affair and its link to the Malaysian Embassy in Washington DC were covered widely by articles and reports in the United States. They include The Los Angeles Times (February 16, 2006) entitled ??? Malaysia reportedly paid US1.2 million to lobbyist???; The National Journal, an influential magazine covering inside affairs in the White House and in the US Congress, carried an article on September 30, 2006, captioned “K Street Scandal: The Fallen???; The Washington Post in June, 2007 published a special report entitled ??? Investigating Abramoff???, giving a complete account of Abramoff’s dealings.
Illegal Payments by Malaysian Government
These and other articles, besides reporting on illegal payments, also cited the involvement of Abramoff in meetings with the Malaysian Ambassador and Presidential Advisor, Karl Rove, to help arrange the Mahathir-Bush meeting of 2002 in the White House.
Transfer of US1.2 million by Malaysians to Abramoff
These write-ups are truly damning expose of the illegality, intrigues and hypocrisy of the Mahathir Administration and our then Ambassador in Washington, using various GLCs and other benefactors to channel US1.2 million of public and shareholder funds to Abramoff through the American International Center, a bogus think tank that an Abramoff partner, Michael P.S. Scanlon, set up at a Delware beach house.
Those articles alleged that several other lobbying firms and think tanks also received Malaysian funds. They include Abramoff’s own firm, Greenberg Taurig, and other firms such as Bell Haven which, in turn, paid yet other lobbying firms, such as Harbour Group, Alexander Strategies Group and Westerb Strategy Group.
Visit US Senate Website
Details of these and other arrangements exposed in the US Senate Committee’s report which can be perused in the Senate’s website.
Further investigations into the corrupt activities of Abramoff are ongoing and the probability of Malaysian business ethics being exposed to the American public and the rest of the world should this affair be brought into the US courts is very high. Indeed, it is a very distrubing prospect!
Possible Indictment of Ghazali Sheikh
Although Ghazali Sheikh may avoid being indicted for what are seen as illegal activities inconsistent with his diplomatic status, there is a high risk of the media in the US publicising his past.
In fact, there have been attempts in the power centers of Washington DC to expose this criminal Abramoff scheme to the extent of even calling Ghazali Sheikh to testify in the United States. It is no secret that there are Democrats in both Senate and House of Representatives who would want Ghazali Sheikh to account for his connections to the convicted Abramoff, who continues to be under investigation for other criminal activities.
Unauthorised Lobbying
Officers at Wsima Putra have long known that since his retirement in 2006, this former Malaysian Ambassador to the United States had shamelessly been lobbying hard in the Malaysia corridors of power, past and present, without regard to whatever the cost to the Malaysian Foreign Service and his own self esteem.
The incumbent Prime Minister’s singling out this particular retired diplomat is causing considerable frustration, disenchantment and anger, to say the very least, among able and future diplomats, who see the prospects for their further career advancement shut, not to mention undermining the reputation of an important institution of state as well as ignoring the serious consequences that are likely to follow should Ghazali Sheikh be re-appointed to Washington DC.
Foreign Minister Dr. Rais Yatim
It is indeed noteworthy that this said reappointment must be view one that goes against the professional judgment of Foreign Minister, Dr. Rais Yatim, who is committed to restoring the standing and integrity of Wisma Putra which had been seriously impaired by his predecessor–an institution which once was a leading light in the country and the region.
One does not know the views of Foreign Minister, Dr. Rais Yatim, of course, but knowing the man himself, he would certainly oppose this re-appointment as he can foresee the controversy and problems that can arise, not only in terms of Malaysia-US relations with the next American Administration that will take office in January, 2009 and, worse still, Malaysia’s image abroad.
It is rather disturbing that according to Malaysia-Today in its August 2 posting, MITI (MInsitry of International Trade and Industry) sources confirmed that Ghazali Sheikh took the opportuntiy of the recent 8th Round of the US-Malaysia Free Trade talks ( July 14-18, 2008 ) held in Washington DC to meet US officials there to lobby the Bush Administration to support his re-appointment.
Endangering Malaysian national interest
Ghazali Sheikh’s backdoor diplomacy must surely compromise Malaysian national interest as he will be beholden to American interests, thus he will be incapable to honestly and effectively represent Malaysia. There is no such thing as a free lunch, particularly in the US.
Worse still, such lobbying, even before Wisma Putra has officially sought Washington DC’s concurrence to Ghazali Sheikh’s re-appointment is unheard off in diplomatic practice. I recall that when I was in Wisma Putra in the 1960s, my colleagues and I were incessantly reminded to abide by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Practice, and not to deviate from the norms of diplomatic practice.
Possible Breach of Official Secrets Act
Ghazali Sheikh’s lobbying in the US may well be a breach of our Offficial Secrets Act as he had communicated with a foreign government on a sensitive matter concerning the government’s intent to make a diplomatic appointment. This is the extent of his desperation.
Smear Campaign against Anwar Ibrahim
Furthermore, Ghazali Sheikh is alledged to have used his recent visit to Washington to smear Anwar Ibrahim over the recent “Sodomy II???, as he once apparently did as Mahathir’s Ambassador. Such actions are indisputably unprofessional and unbecoming of a public servant who must remain above the fray of partisan domestic politics.
An ambassador is expected– as others and I have been to do–to defend Malaysia’s national interest and never to be dragged into gutter political partisanship.
Rais Yatim-Condoleeza Rice Talks in Singapore
Ironically, Ghazali Sheikh was apparently engaged in muck raking in Washington at the very moment that Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim was meeting US Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Annual Ministerial Meeting in Singapore to soothe the fallout from the detention of PKR de factor leader, Anwar Ibrahim, over his alleged sodomy.
The long and short of the reappointment of Ghazali Sheikh is that US officials and others in the power centers in Washington DC are at best chagrined and disturbed over his behavior and conduct.
The consensus among Americans and Malaysians in the US is that they would rather that the Malaysian Prime Minister not proceed with his intention to re-post Ghazali Sheikh as the new ambasador to Washington DC in the best interest of Malaysia-US relations, not to mention Malaysia’s image.They believe that there is a clear and growing danger that Ghazali Shiekh’s re-appointment may once again bring bilateral relations to a hostile and acrimonious state as was the case under Mahathir. This is a course that Abdullah Badawi must avoid at all costs.
The New US Administration in 2009
These “American friends of Malaysia??? as well as our citizens living, working and studying there believe that Abdullah Badawi should not begin our relations with the new US Administration on a sour note. It is, therefore, incumbent on the Prime Minister not to proceed with Ghazali Sheikh’s re-appointment as the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States.
By way of background, Ghazali Sheikh Khalid was never a political officer in its true sense. I am told that most of his positions in Wisma Putra and abroad have been administrative in nature. He, therefore, had to rely on his connections and close to certain key ministers of the Mahathir Administration for career advancement.
In fact, Ghazali Sheikh lobbied to be Secretary-General of Wsima Putra but he was rejected by Abdullah Badawi, then transitting from Wisma Putra to the post of Deputy Prime Minister, and the new Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar did not want him to be in that key post, preferring the professional and sedate Tan Sri Fuzi Razak. As consolation, Ghazali Sheikh was then sent to Washington DC.
That he should now be considered for this key position as Ambassador to the world’s remaining superpower seems to suggest to me that there are dark forces operating on the 4th Floor, Prime Minister’s Department who see Ghazali Sheikh Khalid as a willing accomplice in their latest attempts to discredit Anwar Ibrahim and block his political moves towards Putrajaya. I need not mention who that dark character, a Darth Vader like character, is.
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*Din Merican was a Foreign Service officer with the then Ministry of External Affairs (1963-1965) under Permanant Secretary Dato’ (now Tun) Muhammad Ghazalie Shafie. As Assistant Secretary (Political) in Southeast Asia Division of the Ministry, he was desk officer for Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam) and Burma, and aide to the Permanent Secretary on regional security issues.