Rumours have it in recent months that an amnesty addendum that would allow former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to serve his sentence at home is in the making, but no one has come forward to confirm this, not even the central figure of this whole thing, the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is now facing widespread criticism, with the Opposition accusing him of betraying His Majesty by not executing the amnesty addendum.

Perhaps the PM has his own considerations, but the timing of the Pahang Palace’s confirmation of such a mysterious addendum is indeed interesting.

The Pahang Palace issued a statement confirming the existence of the amnesty addendum on January 4, barely a day after Istana Negara issued a statement on the issue.

The question now is: Is this amnesty addendum in compliance with the procedures? Why has the government tried to conceal its presence? And why is it not executing it?

Who least wants to see Najib out of prison? Why is PAS so enthusiastic in getting Najib out?

Opposition parties, in particular PAS and Bersatu, have been vociferously slamming Anwar for not carrying out and hiding the royal edict.

Umno has even expressed dissatisfaction with party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for stopping party members from holding a rally outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on January 6 in support of Najib.

This means the country’s political situation will remain unsettling until the Parliament is dissolved, and betrayals, collaborations, and more betrayals will continue to undermine political stability.

We need to watch out for subsequent developments in the relationship between PAS and Najib, as well as their implications on the stability of the Unity Government and within Umno itself.

Meanwhile, DAP finds itself stuck in a dilemma in the midst of intense Malay politicking. Whatever it does, it stands to lose. Tun Mahathir and PAS President Hadi Awang are all the more ready to seize an opportunity to throw all the blame on the party!

Anwar, who has already consolidated his hold to power, must race against time to fulfil the reform promises he and his government pledged in the last general election, failing which they will not only be difficult to win the support of the Malays, but may even gradually lose the Chinese vote.

Let’s first talk about this amnesty addendum. The edict was allegedly issued by former King Sultan Abdullah on his way back to Pahang after the Pardons Board meeting, not a decision of the board.

However, with the Court of Appeal approving Najib’s application for judicial review, the question of whether the amnesty addendum is in compliance with the procedures will now be left to the High Court judge to decide.

While the addendum and house arrest are most positively important to Najib, what he really wants is a full pardon not unlike what was accorded to the current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Najib is expected to formally apply to the head of state, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, for a full pardon.

In other words, Najib wants to return to politics, and his supporters are counting down to such a day.

This is invariably a mounting task, though not completely impossible. And the outcome will very much depend on the intent, sincerity and political will of all the stakeholders!

The amnesty addendum is akin to a genie trapped inside the box. Now that the box has been opened, it becomes a key detonator for the former PM to stage a comeback.

At the same time, the PAS Youth has planned to lodge police reports nationwide, accusing the government of defying the King’s order, and is prepared to stage a massive rally in an attempt to bring down the Unity Government, while showing goodwill to Najib and conveying the message that “PAS is with you” to build momentum for his release from prison.

While many believe that the “green wave” is subsiding, I beg to differ!

PAS, in essence, is actually constantly training its troops and keeping the green wave warm by constantly hyping up various political issues.

For example, the party has been harping on the issue of waving Chinese flags, from Teluk Intan to Johor Bahru, with the ultimate motive of convincing its supporters that the DAP and the local Chinese community are promoting communism in this country, hence to undermine the Unity Government.

PAS is known to have incited a plethora of other sensitive issues in this country – from the baseless accusation of secularisation, to Hannah Yeo’s alleged promotion of Christianity through her autobiography, Christmas event organised by Nga Kor Ming’s ministry, the KK Mart “Allah” socks controversy, the inclusion of bak kut teh and Chinese new villages in national cultural heritage, Chinese signboards, waving of Chinese flags, Chinese education charity shows sponsored by Tiger Beer, relationship between Lim Kit Siang and Chin Peng, accusations made against non-Muslims and non-bumiputeras as the root of corruption, gambling ban in Kedah, halal certification for restaurants, alcohol ban at Chinese primary school auditoriums…the list goes on!

Such incidents have grossly frustrated the Malaysian Chinese community. And PAS’ objective is none other than to shore up the green wave!

In the face of such wicked antics, we might wonder what the local Chinese community has done to deserve such a strong distrust.

The disunity among the Malays today is essentially the work of the Malays themselves. What has the Chinese community got to do with it?

PAS’ wild political ambitions are no secret to Malaysians.

To take full control of the federal government, PAS has drawn up long-term plans.

Although the party needs the non-Muslim vote to achieve its goal, it is well aware that this remains an unreachable luxury in the near term, and is consequently determined to focus on firming up its Muslim support instead.

PAS has set its sights on much bigger things ahead instead of trivial short-term gains. It can forgo the prized PM post for the time being, but will continue to infiltrate the civil service system through the ruling federal government, patiently waiting for the day to reap the political windfall.

Such patience and strategy have allowed the party’s influence to slowly expand.

Against this backdrop, they willingly accepted Tun M and Muhyiddin as prime ministers, and are now feigning loyalty to Najib and mobilising to help get Najib out of jail and return to politics, in hope of riding on Najib’s influence to put PAS back in Putrajaya again.

This, is Malay politics in its full glory!