PM will overcome Dr M, says Malay pundit
Sayuti Omar advises Mahathir to back off or suffer shame.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Former premier Mahathir Mohamad will fail in his campaign to oust Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, a veteran observer of Malay politics has predicted.
In an article on his website, Merah Tinta, Mohd Sayuti Omar notes that Najib’s tone and general demeanour in his address to the nation yesterday indicated that he is determined to stay on in his position and is confident of support from the Umno leadership, including Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, whom Mahathir appears to be promoting as Najib’s successor.
Sayuti advises Mahathir to end his campaign if he doesn’t want “shame to befall” him.
He says he is certain of Muhyiddin’s support for Najib.
Reviewing Najib’s speech, Sayuti notes that the Prime Minister declared that Muhyiddin, the other members of the Cabinet and the Umno membership were behind him.
“That was a smart move coming from a brilliant strategy,” he says. “Najib indirectly tied Muhyiddin to his side, and I don’t believe Muhyiddin will now have the courage to oppose him.
“The materialistic impulse of Umno leaders, which they have nurtured through the decades, will prevent them from doing anything that will threaten their positions and power.” He says this is the legacy that Mahathir himself has left to Umno.
Sayuti devotes much of his article to an attack on Muhyiddin’s character.
“One can judge Muhyiddin from his non-reaction to the slanders thrown at Anwar Ibrahim in the late 1990s,” he says in an allusion to Muhyiddin’s identification with Anwar’s camp in Umno when the opposition leader was Deputy Prime Minister.
“Despite coming from a religious background, Muhyiddin kept his silence, simply observing what went on. Did he rise to defend Anwar? No. He didn’t do anything because he didn’t want any threat to his position as a minister.”
