Najib will stay until youth leaders step up
The lack of leadership material in the country means a shift in power is near impossible.
Scott Ng, Free Malaysia Today
Prime Minister Najib Razak will likely remain Prime Minister for the foreseeable future, even after the next general election. Whether he’s besieged by controversy or not, a weak leader is only as weak as his opponents are strong, and with each passing day, it seems increasingly clear that Najib’s opponents just don’t have what it takes to depose him.
With news that G25, the group of eminent Malay figures who emerged as a response to growing conservatism in the country, has rejected an overture by Muyhiddin Yassin and Mahathir Mohamad, it looks like Najib’s enemies no longer have the clout to remove him.
Among all the Prime Minister’s detractors, it is the man who handpicked him that has been loudest in the call to remove him, and whatever his agenda, many Malaysians have entrusted him with their voices. It’s his endless campaigning and refusal to be silenced that has led to the anti-Najib sentiment bubbling at the top of public opinion. Many consider him the only man with the credibility in Umno to affect any change against Najib.
However, G25’s rejection means that the moderate and liberal Malays are not willing to support Mahathir and his agenda. With Umno and the conservatives looking more impregnable by the day, it seems like the elder statesman’s campaign is beginning to run out of steam. With the outcome of several international investigations remaining as the last moving gearwheel in Mahathir’s plans, it is unlikely Najib will be removed before GE14, or even after it.
