Tide turning against Najib, says Zam
Former minister says ‘Red Shirt support’ for Najib does not reflect general views any more.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Former information minister Zainuddin Maidin believes that the tide is turning against Umno president Najib Razak in trying to hold on to his party position and as prime minister.
Writing in his blog, Zainuddin highlighted Cheras Umno chief Syed Ali Alhabshee’s statement calling for speedy investigations into “flamboyant businessman” Jho Low, who has been linked to Najib’s family and to questionable financial dealings and investments by government-owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
Praising Syed Ali’s statement as an act of bravery, Zainuddin said Syed Ali’s expressed impatience with the investigations into 1MDB reflected Umno’s subtle ways of bringing about change in the top leadership.
Writing in his blog, the former minister said Syed Ali’s article was a clear rebuttal of those who claimed that “all the while Umno chiefs have been nodding their heads and accepting all the excuses the leadership has been giving them”.
He said there were Umno divisional leaders who realised that “Red Shirt support for the leadership does not represent the general views of the people as a whole any more,” he said in a reference to a meeting of 160 Umno division leaders in March who attended a meeting with Najib in the midst of attacks from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Photographs of Najib surrounded by the Umno chiefs, all in red shirts and some with “I Love PM” placards, have been widely circulated as proof of Najib’s support.
