Time for Najib to soul-search as calls to King not to appoint him grow
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
Calls to the King to give serious consideration to a unity government or other alternative rather than appoint incoming Umno president Najib Abdul Razak as Malaysia’s sixth prime minister are starting to gain ground.
Said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia: “A unity government – a form of power-sharing pact between the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat – would be the ideal at this current stage of national development and particularly in the face of the looming economic crisis.”
Zaid Ibrahim, the well-respected former Law Minister, too did not mince any words when he asked the King to consider alternatives other than the scandal-plagued Najib.
“There is no constitutional obligation on His Majesty to appoint the president of Umno as the prime minister. There are still well qualified members of parliament from Umno who can be appointed PM to bring us back from the brink,” Zaid said in a speech to the Rotary Club.
Both he and Ramon are the latest to openly join the large majority of Malaysians who do not wish the 55-year old Najib to assume the country’s top job. Others who have done so in the past weeks include prominent civil society groups, Islamic leaders and opposition politicians.
“A prime minister must have the confidence of the majority of the rakyat. For this to be the case there cannot be anything in the mind of the greater public that, correctly or otherwise, associates him with matters of criminality, wrongful action, improper conduct or abuses of power,” articulated Zaid.
Despite his familiarity, the distrust never went away
The overwhelming grouse that Malaysians have against Najib is that they don’t feel they can trust him, even though most of them have known him since he was 22 years old, when his father, the second prime minister died, and he was spring-boarded into the national leadership.
Protected by his mentor, Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysians could only frown at the eldest son of the late Tun Razak, when allegations of graft surfaced throughout his 33-year political career.
But as they say – spare the rod and spoil the child. If one were to gauge by the complaints of misconduct piling against him, Najib has only gotten worse with time.
Not only has he entangled himself in a high-profile sex-and-commission scandal involving the murdered Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaariibuu, he has also resorted to heavy-handed use of the police, the courts and even Parliament to protect him and keep him in power – just as his mentor Mahathir used to.
“I can only say that Najib is getting more and more worried because nothing is certain yet, except that the people are becoming more and more uncomfortable at thought of him leading the country,” said Pakatan Rakyat leader Tian Chua.
Six months ‘probation’ confirmed nation’s worst fears
Barely six months ago, Najib was the hope of his Umno party.
He played his hand well, taking advantage of the fact that the leadership vacuum in his party left members with little choice but to pin their hopes on him if his boss Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi quit.
Egged on by a Mahathir eager to return to power, an internal rebellion was hatched that culminated in Abdullah being forced to accept early retirement. The 68-year old Pak Lah is due to step down early next month, although his term will not expire until 2013.
But that fear in Umno which did border on mass hysteria at that time – brought on by its shock loss of a long-held two-thirds parliamentary majority – has since been dissipating bit by bit.
Malaysians, including Malays, have begun to appreciate the advantages of a functioning, two-coalition political system that provides checks and balances for the betterment of their society.
They have also started to fear Najib, who in a bid to stay on top on things has resorted to the hardline tactics of Mahathir and his former economic adviser Daim Zainuddin.
Knowing that his popularity was on the slide, Najib tried to regain the respect of his party by staging a power grab in Perak state against the wishes of the majority of the people there.
Despite the crisis intensifying, he did not recapitulate nor show any respect for the wishes of the majority. Instead, he further abused his power by directing the federal apparatus – the police, the courts and even Parliament – to carry out his political will.
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country
A slew of clampdowns, including a bold purge in his own Umno party to stop Abdullah loyalists such as Malacca Menteri Besar Mohd Ali Rustam from gaining ground, have since taken place.
However, instead of helping him, they have sparked even greater public condemnation. Suspending Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo from Parliament for a year for daring to question him about Altantuya too has lowered him in the esteem of the nation.
A crackdown against bloggers and netizens of cyberspace, where his unpopularity is so extensive it has become a major security concern, has been denounced by Amnesty International. So far, eight people have been charged for insulting the Perak Sultan for his role in the Najib-orchestrated power grab.
“This development is a serious blow to the freedom of expression in Malaysia. For a country that claims to be on the cutting edge of communications technology, this is a very troubling step backward,” said Amnesty International Asia Pacific director Sam Zarifi.
Said Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah: “BN has the numbers in Parliament to hold onto the federal government without reaching out to the Opposition, but without some kind of a unity government solution, at least in the interim, the Malaysian rakyat will not have a government that can do more than hang on grimly to a deteriorating status quo.”
Nothing that Najib does seems to be right, everything is wrong. It doesn’t not take a rocket scientist to know why. Hard as it may be for him to accept – the truth hurts – but the people don’t want him to be their prime minister, even though they have known him for 33 years.
Perhaps, it is time he acknowledges that relationship – that he is just another Malaysian, not super-born to rule just because of his father. And call it a day.
This would be his best contribution to his country as it sits on the brink.
