The Siege Within

Malaysian journalist Leslie Lopez’s first book, The Siege Within, delves into the writer’s own archives of previously unpublished material to go back in time and show exactly how it was possible for a Malaysian prime minister to envisage his treacherous crime, and then to execute the dastardly deed. From its most ‘innocent’ beginning in a north Malaysian state, Lopez charts how Najib and his warlords set up the investment fund for the sole purpose of stealing from it. Lopez’s literary debut goes on to show how 1MDB is not just about Najib.

The book brings into sharp relief the Machiavellian schemes of a prime minister who sat at the top for more than two decades, and came back from retirement to become PM again in 2022, at the age of ninety-two. The Siege Within paints Mahathir Mohamed as the chief architect of a political system that paved the way for a criminal such as Najib to lie, cheat and steal his way to power, a system which then protected him from scrutiny and prosecution.