Is Najib politically weak?
KTemoc Konsiders
Is PM Najib Razak as politically weak as Bakri Musa reckons he (Najib) is?
Bakri Musa in his post at Malaysia Today titled Devolution and the rise of Adenan Satem believes Najib is, weak that is, but I reckon Bakri gave far too much credit to Adenan Satem.
Bakri Musa shows this by the following (I’ve just chosen 3 of his points to debate over, with the rest to be discussed in another post):
(i) He reckons Najib’s weakness has been caused by ineptness and insensitivity in dealing with state leaders, such as Adenan Satem, as indicated by even the absence of having a Department of Iban studies in a Malaysian university.
Was such a topic available in any Malaysian university during Mahathir’s time?
I reckon Bakri Musa shouldn’t allow his personal desire, such as the academic pomposity of having an Iban Studies Department in one of our uni, to cloud his judgement, wakakaka.
(ii) Bakri Musa also believes Najib’s lack of sensitivity with the Eastern States, especially a non-UMNO controlled state like Sarawak, has resulted in not having a Sarawakian on the Board of Petronas?
Well, was such a person on the Petronas Board during Mahathir’s time?
Why then is Adenan Satem now imposing various restrictions on Petronas management, administration and recruitment with regards to Peninsular Malaysians serving in Petronas Sarawak?
Firstly, we need to to recall his family relationship with the ‘King’ of Sarawak, namely its governor Taib Mahmud, the real power behind the CM, who had allowed/appointed Adenan to be CM.
So whatever Adenan might have said, you can bet your bottom dollar those have been on the directions or/and with the approval of Mahmud Taib.
And strangely, Bakri Musa himself gave away the real secret in saying Adenan has acted with far greater autonomy than Taib, “… declaring English to be on par with Malay in schools and the state’s administration, in defiance of federal policies. The surprise is the silence of UMNO chauvinists and Malay language nationalists. That can only happen with specific directives from Najib.”
Indeed, such utterances could only have been done with the approval of both Taib and Najib, who are the real political powers in Sarawak and Malaysia respectively.
