Malaysian Prime Minister’s Mystery Holiday

By admin-s Last updated Aug 14, 2014

“He has never flown on either MAS or AirAsia in seven years,” a political observer in KL said. “Mahathir did, Abdullah Badawi did. But Najib has never once flown on either one.”

John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel

So much to see, so little time…

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is due to return from his two-week holiday on Friday, presumably tanned, rested and ready to resume command.

In the midst of a national crisis over the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17. Najib went to the Netherlands on August 1 for a press conference that won him praise across the world. He was given credit by international agencies for his deft personal maneuvers behind the scenes with Ukrainian rebels in the attempt to reclaim the bodies after the doomed airliner was shot down over disputed territory on the Ukrainian-Russian border on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

That disaster followed the loss of MH370, which disappeared without a trace in March over the Indian Ocean.

From there, he went on holiday, with no public record of where he might have gone. Requests for information from Najmuddin Abdullah, Malaysian Airlines’ public relations head, about the premier’s travel arrangements met with no response. But other sources say while there had been requests for the Prime Minister to fly Malaysian Airlines to demonstrate his confidence in the national flag carrier in the wake of the horrific incidents, he and his wife, Rosmah Monsour, flew on a private jet. It isn’t known who owned the private craft.

“He has never flown on either MAS or AirAsia in seven years,” a political observer in KL said. “Mahathir did, Abdullah Badawi did. But Najib has never once flown on either one.”

Requests by email, telephone and text to the prime minister’s personal aide and press secretary, Azlin Alias, asking for the prime minister’s holiday itinerary also went unanswered.

But after the press conference, according to well-placed sources in Malaysia, the prime minister and Rosmah flew to Paris. They were reportedly joined by Chinese playboy Taek Jho Low and the former prime minister of Qatar, then are believed to have gone on to Sardinia in Italy, to Cannes on the French Cote d’Azur, then back to Sardinia with what was described as a large entourage of Chinese Malaysian tycoons. From Sardinia, the group flew to Rome before returning to London.