Commentary: How Rosmah Mansor became Najib Razak’s Achilles’ heel
Should Malaysia head to the polls this year, the opposition is likely to use the former prime minister’s wife to undermine his position and smear UMNO, James Chin says.
(CNA) – As Malaysians celebrate the new year, the political class is increasingly feeling bleak about the state of Malaysian politics.
Most if not all, think 2022 will be another terrible year of political uncertainty. Everybody I speak to seems to think the only way out is a quick general election (GE).
The hope is, the GE will give one side a clear majority so that Malaysia’s politics can be settled. The current administration under Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and the previous government under Muhyiddin Yassin, only had a fragile majority of fewer than three MPs more than the opposition.
This led to constant political bickering and posturing. The opposition, along with factions within the ruling coalition, kept trying to undermine the government.
Related to the GE is the return of Malaysia’s power couple to the public spotlight: Najib Razak and his famous wife, Rosmah Mansor. Both were featured prominently in the news as 2021 drew to a close.
Najib was in the headlines when the court of appeal upheld his conviction and earlier when UMNO won a landslide in the Melaka state elections.
