Dr M’s antipathy towards Najib festering for months, say his men
The Malaysian Insider – 18 hours agoRELATED CONTENT
- Dr M’s antipathy towards Najib festering for months, say his men
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s antipathy towards Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has simmered for the past four months, say those who know the long-serving former prime minister, adding that it was a matter of time before it blew out in the open.
But whether it would have an effect on Najib both as Umno president and his ability to govern the country remains to be seen, they said, noting that Najib was too well entrenched in the Malay party for anyone to challenge him.
While some Umno politicians believe Dr Mahathir’s word still carries far and can sway the minds of the party’s ordinary members and supporters.
But many agree that Najib needs to respond wisely to his predecessor and former benefactor.
As what starts as an irritant could spawn into a major headache just like what happened to his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who stepped down from office in 2009.
Benefactor turned detractor
A Kedah Umno leader claimed that Dr Mahathir’s dissatisfaction with Najib had boiled over about four months ago.
“Members who went to see him would get an earful of his criticism towards how Najib was running things,” said the Kedah leader, who requested anonymity.
Some of the policies that the 89-year-old strongly disagreed with included the way national oil company Petronas was running its vendor system.
According to the Kedah Umno leader, Dr Mahathir complained that many Malay vendors were being sidelined in favour of foreign companies.
The Petronas vendor issue was taken up by the Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM), which like Dr Mahathir, is campaigning against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
“He also complained that the police had their powers taken away and it made them less effective against criminals.”
In a post yesterday on his blog, Dr Mahathir criticised Najib for repealing the Internal Security Act and Restrictive Residents Act.
In a post yesterday on his blog, Dr Mahathir criticised Najib for repealing the Internal Security Act and Restrictive Residents Act.
The ISA allowed the government to detain anyone, including suspected criminals, without trial. Critics, however, point out that the ISA had been used against political dissidents.
Veteran journalist Datuk A Kadir Jasin revealed that Dr Mahathir would often try to pass on complaints to Najib on foreign businessmen who struggled with red tape.
“In the early stages, Tun would make an effort to see Najib about these problems.
“But over the years, he realised that the person he thought would listen to him was not really listening,” Kadir told The Malaysian Insider.
Dr Mahathir, he said, had high hopes for Najib and had brought him up and protected him from his enemies within Umno.
“Najib had been his number one preference (to take over) after Anwar (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim). But he needed someone who could stand up to PAS.
“That is why he ultimately chose Abdullah,” said Kadir, who used to head the New Straits Times, a pro-government daily with close ties to the Umno leadership.
Kadir had been in charge of the paper when Dr Mahathir was prime minister.
Will the successor survive this time?
The last time Dr Mahathir was upset with a successor, he hounded him out of office, as was the case with Abdullah, who served between 2003 and 2009.
Dr Mahathir literally gave Abdullah the reins of the country in 2003.
But when Abdullah’s policies were blamed on Barisan Nasional's (BN) worst ever electoral losses in the 2008 general election, Dr Mahathir did all he could to oust the former Kepala Batas MP.
In 2009, when Najib took over, it was expected that the Pekan MP would correct Abdullah’s mistakes.
Now that Najib has received an even smaller mandate than Abdullah and Dr Mahathir is making public how upset he is, will Najib go the way of Abdullah?
A Selangor-based Umno leader claimed that Dr Mahathir still enjoys wide support in the party, especially among its rank-and-file.
The former prime minister’s opinions are also well regarded by those who vote for Umno.
“Tun is a good communicator, especially when he argues about something. He always sets out the facts and our supporters like this,” said the second Umno leader who requested anonymity.
However, he believed that Dr Mahathir’s criticism was not meant to undermine Najib but to give him a heads-up.
“It’s more a wake-up call. It is for Najib to not be complacent and that he needs to work hard in order to bring back support for Umno and BN.”
Kadir, however, believed that Najib’s position in Umno was secure as there was no one to take him on.
“(His criticism) could weaken Najib, but he would still be the prime minister at the end of the day. But he may be a less credible prime minister.”
Political scientist Assoc Prof Datuk Mohammad Agus Yusoff has another way of looking at Dr Mahathir’s criticism.
“He should criticise, just like every Malaysian has the right and the responsibility to criticise government policies,” said Agus of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
“Dr Mahathir is basically being another check and balance to the government.” – August 19, 2014.
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