Dr M’s sustained attacks eroding support for Najib
Party cannot ignore Mahathir’s attack, says Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin.
Free Malaysia Today
It appears that calls for Prime Minister Najib Razak to step down are growing louder all the time.
While on the surface Najib may appear to have the support of the members of his cabinet and party, rumblings of discontent behind the scenes cannot be ignored altogether.
The chief agitator is none other than former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed.
In a blog post yesterday, Mahathir once again called on Najib to resign.
He listed numerous “failures” of the Najib administration:
* Failure to build the “crooked bridge” from Johor Bahru to Singapore
* Refusal to proceed with the double-tracking and electrification of the railway line from JB to Padang Besar, which he claimed would have cost RM14 billion, instead spending some RM12 billion to connect Ipoh and Padang Besar.
* Employment of foreign consultants to advise him on how to run the country at the cost of another RM7 billion.
* Setting up of a new agency to plan the development of the country – again at huge expense – while ignoring existing government machinery.
* Reduced opportunities for Bumiputeras in public universities and business.
* Adopting in substance the loathed “Malaysian Malaysia” slogan.
* Causing crime rates to escalate by abolishing the ISA and freeing those under restricted residence.
* Spending billions by “giving money” to people, associations and the corporate sector.
* Organising large-scale “I love PM” rallies.
* Losing the support of the Malays and the Chinese at the general elections in 2013.
* Possessing a “personal behaviour” – including a “lavish lifestyle – that is “just not right”.
* Failing to explain the mammoth losses sustained by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Amidst such a sustained attack, it would appear that cabinet colleagues, Umno members and other personalities have begun to question their own support for the Prime Minister.
Outspoken Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin concedes that Umno cannot ignore Mahathir’s attack altogether.
“Fact is, Dr Mahathir is still influential among Umno people,” he was quoted as telling The Malaysian Insider.
That influence stems from a “glorified goodwill” which Mahathir possesses having been party leader for such a long time, adds Oh Ei Sun of Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, as reported by Singapore-based Today Online.
