RPK: 1Malaysia will be Najib’s downfall
Raja Petra, who for long had been writing on the alleged involvement of Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor in the death of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, however, said he would give Najib due credit for trying to make the 1Malaysia concept work.
By K Kabilan, Free Malaysia Today
FMT EXCLUSIVE KUALA LUMPUR: Exiled blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin says that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will be toppled by forces within Umno if he continues to press forward with his 1Malaysia concept at the expense of “Ketuanan Melayu”.
Saying that Najib faces a huge problem in selling the 1Malaysia concept to his Umno colleagues, Raja Petra said the Umno culture would not allow the premier to stray away from the party’s politics of warlords and patronage and the need to protect the Malay interest.
“Umno knows that its future depends on Malay voters. So the Malays must come first. And 1Malaysia does not serve the Malay interest.
“If Najib tries to go against the flow, then Umno will kick him out like they did (former premier) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,” Raja Petra told FMT in an exclusive interview.
The blogger, who left Malaysia in the middle of last year in the face of criminal charges against him, said while 1Malaysia was an attempt to bring change, many Umno people, however, had no understanding of the concept.
1Malaysia concept is Najib’s brainchild to unite Malaysians and was introduced as soon as he became the prime minister last April.
“Even Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) does not understand it as well, as he admitted. Is 1Malaysia going to end up like Islam Hadhari — a misunderstood concept that died a natural death and which no one speaks about any longer today?” asked Raja Petra.
He added that for Umno leaders, the Ketuanan Melayu concept was more important and that they (the Umno leaders) would go to the extent of urging the government to invoke preventive laws, such as the Internal Security Act, to protect the rights, privileges and interests of the Malays.
“We need to detain without trial anyone who questions Malay rights and privileges, but those in Kamunting are not Chinese who question Malay rights. Most of the detainees are Muslims. So how do we reconcile this statement?
“This means, to the Umno people, Ketuanan Melayu is more important. And 1Malaysia runs contra to Ketuanan Melayu. We can have only one or the other. We can’t have both. But Najib wants both,” he said.
He added that 1Malaysia has to fail for Ketuanan Melayu to succeed.
