And so, according to Attorney-General Apandi Ali, Prime Minister Najib Razak is innocent of any wrongdoing either in the matter of the RM2.6 billion deposited in his personal bank accounts or in the approval of a government guarantee on the RM4 billion loan given to SRC International by Retirement Fund Incorporated.

The case that has been haunting the Prime Minister for the better part of a year is now closed. With that, the ringgit will reverse its decline as investors regain confidence in the system, oil will once again go up to US$40 per barrel and BR1M will increase to RM1,000 per year for every family. Or so some would like to believe.

Apandi’s announcement would likely have provoked outrage by the time you read this column, so sure are so many Malaysians that there has been wrongdoing in both dealings. The opposition – minus Abdul Hadi Awang, of course – would have launched salvos questioning Apandi’s integrity and attacking the government’s tactics in protecting the Prime Minister, given that it was widely speculated that the previous AG was about to bring charges against Najib on these very matters when he was unceremoniously removed.

Perhaps, it’s time for the rakyat to have a meeting of minds. Do we, as a society, believe in the integrity of our institutions and therefore willingly accept Apandi’s pronouncement? Do we trust the political system? Can we depend on either side of the political divide to give us closure? If we answer “no” to these questions, then perhaps now, more than ever, is the time for civil society to play its role as the conscience of the people.

Call Apandi’s decision rushed, call it suspicious, call it whatever you like. The reality is that, in the eyes of the country’s chief legal officer, our Prime Minister is guiltless. To continue propagating the belief that the Prime Minister is in fact a criminal would be an act of civil disobedience.

There are only so many avenues left to people who still believe there’s enough evidence to charge the Prime Minister with some crime or other. They can protest, they can petition, and they can wait till the next general election to install a new government that will prosecute Najib. But then, as one veteran journalist and political observer has asked, will there even be a next general election?

Whichever way we decide to deal with the situation, we must do so as a united front of Malaysians, or else we will remain as we are now, a million voices shouting into the wind, with none getting a word in.