KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 9): The police said they will call up several people including Bersatu member Badrul Hisham Shaharin (also known as Chegubard) and blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris (Papagomo) for questioning in connection with the “Dubai Move”, a purported plot to topple the current government.
The police have so far received 43 police reports nationwide on a clip circulating online about the opposition having toppled Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government, the Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain told a press conference on Tuesday.
Based on the police reports, the police have opened an investigation paper into the matter, and will investigate it under Section 124C of the Penal Code, which deals with any person who "attempts to commit an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy", which is an offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
The prime suspect of the investigation at this juncture is Raja Petra Kamarudin, who had been speaking about the collapse of the government “for more than 10 days”, said Razarudin.
The IGP, however, said there is nothing the police can do about Raja Petra’s claim that Perikatan Nasional (PN) had supposedly secured 124 statutory declarations (SDs) from Members of Parliament to overthrow Anwar’s government, as the blogger currently resides in the UK.
“Maybe we won’t get Raja Petra, because he is in Manchester, but we may call Papagomo, Chegubard, and Salim Iskandar, who is a social media influencer,” he said.
On Dec 30, 2023, Community Communications Department deputy director general (community communication) Datuk Ismail Yusop reportedly claimed that the Dubai Move emerged during the vacation of several opposition leaders and government figures in Dubai.
Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor then alleged on Sunday that PN had acquired enough SDs to overthrow Anwar's unity government, a claim which Anwar declined to respond to, saying "if it's a big case, then we will respond".
A day later, Anwar's senior political seretary Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin filed a police report on the Dubai Move, claiming it was headed by several opposition leaders, but did not name any.
Razarudin further said that Raja Petra does not have any “locus standi” to be making comments about political allegiances and parties — unlike heads of political parties or their deputies — and that he was only attempting to undermine Malaysia's democratic process.
“This will cause unrest and undermine parliamentary democracy. It will also scare foreign investors from coming to Malaysia if they are under the impression that the government is going to topple,” the IGP said.