Najib’s only way out is to turn true reformist, but will he?
The revolt in UMNO will come from within because a lame-duck’s offer will not carry the weight it used to. Just ask the Ketua Bahagian of Cheras.
Umar Mukhtar
With the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyuddin Yassin signalling that he is jumping ship, the noose is set to be snug around Najib’s neck. Anybody who thinks would by now be concluding that this agonising wait for Najib to show that he has fighting initiatives and survival instincts is futile, not because Najib hasn’t got any angles, but he just may fail to catch our imagination with his dull, unimaginative friends and dwindling supporters who hitched along but not help to carry the weight of a sliding incumbency.
So while ruling out cosmetic changes and haphazard defences, Najib is still meanwhile Prime Minister with room to be imaginative. If he can’t stem a tide of accusations by vested interests, he should now place himself in the shoes of the Rakyat and find out what the Rakyat wants.
We don’t want him to go, for the simple reason that that will not solve our problems. If Najib had kept his ears to the ground instead of listening to obliging courtesans, he would have noted that we are not too excited with what will come after him. But then, we are also not fired up to defend him because he didn’t defend himself well to convince us to do likewise.
Sure, he has some well-placed support. But these are suspect. They do so because of non-holistic reasons and who will be like rats in a sinking ship scampering away to the higher bidder. We are not part of that installed insulation that was inherited through Mahathirism. It will leak soon, and while we sympathise with the PM, we are glad to see this insulation fail.
The revolt in UMNO will come from within because a lame-duck’s offer will not carry the weight it used to. Just ask the Ketua Bahagian of Cheras who just a few days ago was offered the chairmanship of a GLC. Yet he was at Dr. Mahathir’s birthday party, it seemed, and where Mahathir wished Najib a happy retirement. And his Division hosted Muhyiddin.
Najib has no choice but to listen well to the ordinary folks, if he wants to do good by us. We have absolutely no interest in this war by the oligarchies who invoke our lot as the reason for their fights and our lot never changes for the better, whoever wins. We have learnt and we say go to hell all of you up there. We want more. We want real changes. We want our children’s future as the main cargo, not as your collateral cargo and your last resort to appear caring.
Listen properly and you will hear that we are sick of your tantrums and your neglect of our simple struggles to make ends meet in challenging economic times. How we fear for our children’s education and future. How we fear that this beloved country of ours may not last the journey into the community of nations that have made it. Not your safety in private jets, not whether your son will get to be PM, not some stupid crooked bridge. Bullshit!
We want reforms. The only thing that sells like hot cakes since our independence. The only thing that matters, that can overcome any bribe, that we can leave to our children with pride. Too bad the salesman whom we asked to sell it was a rogue and who himself was astounded at how well it sold that he freaked out. But reformasi by any other name and by whosoever, is still valid to us.
Listen well, if you want to be our PM, that is. We will help you, since you are already up there. Just give us a signal, like reshuffling with guts towards a truly reformed cabinet, for example. Catch our imagination.
Ignore us at your peril, both sides! Or see you at PRU14. By that time, no amount of sugar-coating and inter-racial fears will overcome our everyday bread and butter issues which you seem to think BR1M or creating more millionaires can cure.
SUARA RAKYAT SUARA KERAMAT
