Knives are out for Najib

Friday, October 17, 2008

Critics slam him even before he becomes PM

The Electric New Paper, Singapore (15/10/08)
: Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will have to brace himself for a rough ride once he takes over the premiership.

Already, critics have slammed him, sceptics have poured cynicism and a portion of the public surveyed remain unconvinced if he makes a good leader.

The latest character attack against him was in the form of an article on a blog founded by detained blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

It alleged an abuse of power by the DPM and exposed a series of SMSes allegedly exchanged between DPM Najib and a senior lawyer who represented his former close friend, Abdul Razak Baginda.

Abdul Razak has since been charged for abetting two police officers in the killing of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

Mr Najib also faces a contest for power from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who also fired a salvo yesterday, challenging DPM Najib to table a new budget as the present one proposed by PM Abdullah Badawi on 29 Aug was out of sync with the country's economy.

Then, Mr Najib faces a power scramble for the number one party post from Umno stalwart Tengku Razaleigh.

Even if he gets past that, he still faces a Herculean task of uniting an Umno that has been weakened and fractured by in-fighting.

Said NST's deputy chairman Kalimullah Hassan in a commentary: 'Like it or not, DPM Najib has to make unpopular decisions because the rot set in long ago... long before Datuk Abdullah became prime minister.'

Though DPM Najib, being a son and nephew of two Malaysian prime ministers, has an impeccable political pedigree, he is plagued by scandals and not trusted by ethnic minorities in the multicultural country.

The 55-year-old is expected to win a vote to lead Umno when PM Abdullah steps down next March.

Political scientist Shaharuddin Badaruddin told AFP: 'Najib will have to deal with the issues in his past which will be resurrected, and don't forget that many of Abdullah's supporters will now most likely throw their support for Tengku Razaleigh.'

Over the weekend, DPM Najib picked up 28 nominations for Umno president while Tengku Razaleigh has yet to get a single one as party divisions meet over the next few weeks.

Recent poll

This may be a good start but a recent poll showed 44 per cent of voters do not believe he will make a good leader.

Past issues haunt him such as the 1987 political crisis, when DPM Najib - then chief of the party's Youth wing - was linked to threats to bathe a keris, or Malay dagger, in the blood of minority Chinese.

Later, he was also accused of giving large commissions to close associates in an arms deal. The government has denied these.

Will it get easier for him and for Malaysia? Political watchers and market analysts have mixed views.

Credit Suisse, in a statement, said the nominated successor is likely to usher in policies to help Malaysian companies.

Said Su-Yin Teoh, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in Kuala Lumpur: 'Najib's very early days in the Finance Ministry tell us that he does 'understand' the market and does make decisions promptly.'

Others fear it will be less open. Said political analyst Ong Kian Ming: 'We expect it to be more decisive as well as more repressive, what with Dr Mahathir Mohamad's guiding hand featuring prominently.'

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