What Najib should have done long ago

Najib needs to get rid of the deadwood, recalcitrant, disloyal and incapable people in government, especially the ‘old dogs’ of the previous regime. Hire the best and pay good money. And fire them on the spot if they fail to perform or demonstrate disloyalty. Then the people will give you their vote.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“Former minister Wahid Omar to be appointed Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) executive chairman,” said Free Malaysia Today two days ago. Free Malaysia Today went on to say:

Former minister Abdul Wahid Omar is expected to head the national unit trust company Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), reported The Star today.

The report, quoting sources, said Wahid’s appointment as executive chairman would inject more vibrancy into the fund that serves as a savings and investment arm for the Bumiputera community.

“Wahid’s entry is likely to see the departure of Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid and Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman from PNB,” said the source, adding that Wahid’s appointment would mark the first time PNB has had an executive chairman.

Ahmad Sarji, 77, has been the non-executive chairman of the fund since 1996 while Hamad, 65, has held the president and group chief executive officer (CEO) positions since 1998.

Many names have been bandied about to replaced both Ahmad Sarji and Hamad, but all have been internal names. If indeed Wahid is appointed, the former Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) president and CEO would be the first “outsider” to helm PNB, said the report.

Wahid’s previous stints in the corporate world included in Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), as well as the UEM group.

Two days ago, when I read that report above, the first thing that entered my mind was ‘there go the old dogs’. And when I say ‘old dogs’ I, of course, did not mean it in a derogatory sense (because Malays hate dogs somehow while I absolutely love dogs) but as a metaphor.

I mean what else but to call them ‘old dogs’ when these personalities are remnants from the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad era. And anyone older than me I would regard as an old dog while those as young as my children (age late-20s to early-40s) I would regard as ‘fresh blood’.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should have done this back in 2009-2010 when he first took over. Having those from the Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration still in his government is bad enough. But having those who were around since or before the time of Mahathir is suicide.

It is time Malaysia does what they do in the US. The instant a new President takes office the entire government is revamped. In the US they hire and fire at ease. And Donald Trump is probably the master of hiring and firing (so wait till he takes over, if he takes over).

This was what Free Malaysia Today reported today:

If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday.

Christie, who is governor of New Jersey and leads Trump’s White House transition team, said the campaign was drawing up a list of federal government employees to fire if Trump defeats Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election.

“As you know from his other career, Donald likes to fire people,” Christie told a closed-door meeting with dozens of donors at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, according to an audio recording obtained by Reuters and two participants in the meeting. (READ MORE HERE)

So, Wahid Omar will be taking over PNB to replace the old dogs? Well, that is good because PNB is too important to the country to entrust in the hands of bureaucrats, especially old and tired ones. It is time this happened, and it is time more of this happened. Najib should hire the best and pay top dollar for the best. But then he must be equally quick about firing as he is about hiring.

Malaysia has a penchant for rewarding loyal and retired old dogs with Chairmanships of important agencies, GLCs, and so on. This has to stop. Once you retire you retire, loyal or not. Crucial and strategic positions must be given to young, vibrant, intelligent and innovative people. Tired old dogs who struggle to stay awake at meetings should just be allowed to retire gracefully.

More importantly, those who plot against you should be disposed of. Look at what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is doing to those plotters. And while he gets rid of the plotters he is also cleaning house and is getting rid of the corrupt, inefficient, recalcitrant, and deadwood. And all those working against him have to go, Erdogan is making sure of that.

Okay, maybe Erdogan faced a more serious military revolt. But never the mind. A revolt is a revolt whether you use the pen, keyboard, gun or sword. It is merely a different method of assassinating and Najib is as much a target for assassination as Erdogan is.

All strategic positions in the government must be in the hands of loyal and capable people. Get rid of the plotters and half-past-six people. Kick them out and tomorrow they will call for a press conference and will announce they are joining Pakatan.

Good. Let all the scums of the earth go join the opposition. Can you imagine the opposition infested with the likes of Muhammad son of Muhammad who escaped jail in Australia because he speekee no Inggeris?

Najib has just two years more to go before the next general election. Two years is not a long time but long enough if you seriously want to do something. Currently Malaysians are quite divided whether to support Barisan or Pakatan. What Najib needs to do is to show the voters that he has a ‘Dream Team’ behind him and the people may give him another five years till 2023.

Currently, Malaysian politics is actually at the crossroads. Pakatan no longer has more than 50% support like in 2013. I would say each side has about 40% support with about 20% floating or atas pagar. And all it takes is a 5% swing to determine the government because the finish is going to be a close call. And a 10% swing can determine not only who gets to form the government but whether with a large or small majority as well.

So let us have more young, vibrant and intelligent Wahid Omars taking over from old dogs from the Mahathir era. Hire them. Pay them good money. Give them a target. And fire them on the spot if they fail to perform or they are disloyal. If Najib had done this back in 2009-2010 then a lot of problems he is currently facing could have been avoided.

Oh, and stay tuned for the latest development on the matter below.