Najib can only rely on poorer states for support, claims ex-NST editor

(Malay Mail Online) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will only find support from among “ignorant” voters living in the country’s backwaters, a veteran newsman claimed.

Former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said he did not believe it when Najib claimed that he and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, could sleep well at night when all the Barisan Nasional (BN) president has done is tour Malaysia’s poorer states.

“He actually cannot sleep well even when sleeping on the same pillow with his wife.

“For example, he chose his own home state (Pahang) and followed by Sabah, Perlis and Sarawak because he knows it’s easy to get a huge audience to welcome him and cheer him in the rural states that are poor,” the now-retired journalist said in his blog post yesterday.

Najib also benefits from a roadshow in these states as the people there would largely be ignorant of the controversial issues faced by his administration, Kadir said.

“Roadshows to these poor states are also important to Mohd Najib because the audience generally do not know and do not understand big issues pressing his administration such as 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), Goods and Services Tax, the drop in the ringgit value and the national debt that is worsening due to a weak currency,” he said, claiming that Najib would merely have to deliver fiery speeches and promise benefits to the voters there.

The Najib administration has been under attack in recent months over the state-owned investment firm 1MDB, which reportedly chalked up debts up to RM42 billion.

Kadir said Najib’s roadshow selection mirrors the ruling coalition BN’s dependence on rural seats to hold on to power, with Sarawak having additional significance as an election for the east Malaysian state looms close.

“A huge victory for BN Sarawak is important for the continuation of Mohd Najib’s administration. But not in Peninsular and Sabah, BN central has no strong influence in Sarawak as BN Sarawak is formed of local state parties. BN central’s parties are not represented there,” he said.

In the 2013 elections, BN lost the popular vote but managed to cling on to Putrajaya, aided largely by a haul of 49 federal seats from east Malaysia – 27 from Sarawak and 22 from Sabah.

In its worst ever electoral performance, BN won 133 federal seats in the 222-seat Parliament, 21 seats more than the 112 seats needed to control majority.

The east Malaysian states have long been considered a vote bank for BN.