DAP trashes Najib’s populist measures as ‘nothing new’

By Neville Spykerman, The Malaysian Insider

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s raft of populist measures announced today was roundly derided by the DAP as “easy talk” by a “Santa Claus”, and something which has been heard before by all Malaysians.

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang pointed out that the real test of the prime minister’s leadership would not be in the slew of goodies promised but in the delivery of promises.

Lim was particularly scathing in his judgement of Najib’s promise to take drastic action on the rising crime rate and corruption. He said that nothing short of firing the Inspector-General of Police would convince Malaysians that the prime minister was serious about fighting crime.

“In the two critical areas of crime and corruption, all he could say was that drastic steps will be taken to combat crime and graft, of which details would be announced later,” he said.

“Najib had been a Cabinet Minister for 23 years since 1986, serving before that for four as deputy minister and another four as Pahang mentri besar — and he has nothing to announce whatsoever on the two burning issues in the country, crime and corruption, after 100 days as prime minister.”

To mark his 100 days in office, Najib made a series of populist announcements in a televised address this morning, promising a partial cut in road tolls and fees for petty trading licenses, among the slew of measures.

He also outlined the key areas his administration would target, listing crime and graft as a top priority but declining to say what “drastic steps” he would take.

Lim said that even Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was now calling for a “New Deal” for all Malaysians, referring to a speech delivered yesterday by the Umno veteran.

In the speech, the former finance minister also gave short shrift to the PM’s economic reforms, and argued for a “Malaysian New Deal” without race-based considerations, in order for the country to be talent-driven and competitive.

Tengku Razaleigh also argued that Malaysians should evaluate 1 Malaysia against issues like “the fact of constitutional failure in Perak” and “the stench of corruption” in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

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