So unexpected was the July verdict that Malaysians were initially uncertain whether it represented a triumph for the judicial system or a judicial takeover of politics. For the first time in Malaysian history a senior political leader had been found guilty of corruption. 

The drama is complicated by the fact that in February, Dr Mahathir was himself ousted and replaced as prime minister by his former ally, Muhyiddin Yassin, at the head of yet another contrived coalition called the Perikatan Nasional (National Alliance). When Dr Mahathir brought a motion of no confidence in Mr Muhyiddin’s government, the latter suspended parliament, but brought it back briefly in May.

By winning a vote to change the speaker with the narrow margin of two votes, Mr Muhyiddin fended off a vote of no confidence. However, his hold on power is tenuous. It was achieved by bringing both UMNO and its main rival party, PAS (the Malaysian Islamic Party), into power and offering government posts to a record 70 parliamentarians. 

Some Malaysians fear that the return to government of UMNO, the party they voted out two years ago, could result in the judicial authorities being pressured to drop further charges against its former leader. They wonder, too, what will become of the reformist agenda of Dr Mahathir. He promised to revise the long-standing economic practice which has favoured the country’s majority Malay community over Chinese and Indians – the so-called bumiputra policy – in favour of a more meritocratic system.

Moreover, the inclusion of the staunchly Islamic PAS could result in acceptance of their demands for the imposition of Islam-based laws, which would not be well received by the country’s large non-Muslim minority communities. 

While Dr Mahathir tries to regain power through a new party, Mr Muhyiddin has won popular support for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, and from Malaysia’s minorities by inviting non-Malays into the Bersatu party he now heads.

Shortly before the court delivered its verdict in Mr Najib’s case, the American Goldman Sachs bank – which was implicated in the scandal – agreed to pay the Malaysian government US $3.9bn in what appeared to be an admission of wrongdoing for bond sales it made on behalf of 1MDB. Two senior Goldman Sachs executives have been indicted in the US on charges related to the purchase of bonds. It is not clear whether the sum paid includes the US $600m Goldman Sachs is said to have charged in fees, which Malaysia called ‘excessive’.

There are two other major players in this drama: a politician and a businessman. When he won the premiership two years ago, Dr Mahathir promised to pass the mantle to another former deputy prime minister and rival-turned-ally, Anwar Ibrahim, within two years. Some believe the coup against Dr Mahathir in February aimed to prevent that happening. Mr Anwar, now aged 73, endorsed Dr Mahathir’s plans to ease the so-called bumiputra policy.

The second figure is Low Taek Jho, a 38-year-old Malaysian financier and associate of Mr Najib who, according to the US, was the mastermind behind the scam to syphon off money from the sovereign wealth fund. Jho Low, as he is better known, is wanted by judicial authorities in Malaysia, Singapore and the US. He is believed to be hiding out in China. It is not clear whether China has given him protection but as long as Mr Low is missing there is tension in China-Malaysia relations. On taking office in 2018, Dr Mahathir downsized Malaysia’s ambitious infrastructural plans, which China had promised to finance, to avoid too great a degree of indebtedness to the larger nation.

Some joke that the political-financial drama being played out in Malaysia these last five years would make a good sequel to The Wolf of Wall Street, the financial thriller allegedly made with misappropriated Malaysian money. Others wonder whether it isn’t really Malaysian politics and justice – and the country’s ethnically biased bumiputra policy – that are on trial.  At present, the justice system appears to be winning.