Najib may be hit by Malay tsunami in next election, says ex-minister
(TMI) – With public confidence in him at an all-time low, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak may face a Malay tsunami in the 14th general election, former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin said.
He said Malaysians did not trust the government’s financial management due to the scandals surrounding the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and this had been further exacerbated by Putrajaya’s recent proposal to raise the age to withdraw the EPF (Employees Provident Fund).
Zainuddin added that the government’s propaganda unit, the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), was seen as unprofessional and taking sides in the conflict within Umno.
“My opinions may be considered unfounded, but as an ordinary citizen, meeting with people at the mamak restaurants every morning and evening, meeting all kinds of people and still having trusted sources, I can inform Najib honestly that public confidence in him is at a worrying level and it upsets me.
“I see that a Malay tsunami may happen in the coming election,” Zainuddin wrote on his blog.
Zainuddin said Najib was repeating the mistakes of his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, by being overconfident and introducing policies that “challenged” Malaysians, as well as failing to heed former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
These policies were the goods and services tax (GST), lowering and hiking petrol prices “for popularity and temporary profit”, forming the “useless” National Unity Consultative Council and creating the 1Malaysia slogan, which Zainuddin said was not as meaningful to the people as Dr Mahathir’s “Malaysia Boleh”.
Zainuddin added that many Malaysians could actually afford to pay the GST but opposed it anyway because they were unhappy with the government.
