Najib: No undue force used on protesters

John Defterios, CNN anchor, caught up with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in London for an exclusive interview. Najib is in the UK to talk about cementing economic ties with Britain.

LONDON: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the recent street protests in Kuala Lumpur were basically all about politics.

“Because there is democracy in Malaysia. And we are committed towards electoral reform,” he told CNN anchor John Defterios in a exclusive interview here.

The transcript of the interview was issued through CNN International Press Office in Hong Kong today.

On July 9, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to support a civil movement Bersih 2.0 in its campaign for clean and fair elections.

Said Najib: “It will come up to see that we are all for fair and clean elections. And as you know, the last general election, you know, the ruling party lost five states. And we were deprived of two-thirds majority.”

On the arrests of more than 1,600 protesters, Najib said that it was quite mild. “They were released after eight hours and they were treated very well. There was no undue use of force.”

Najib also spoke about financial concerns regarding the euro zone and the US.

Defterios noted that Malaysia sent US$26 billion (RM78 billion) worth of goods to America last year alone. It is also a win-win scenario for trade with Europe, with the Eurozone importing about US$30 billion worth of Malaysian goods last year. Kuala Lumpur is also hoping to ink a free trade agreement with the EU next year.

Najib tells Defterios that the goal is achievable depending on market access and negotiations in that time frame. Below is the full transcript of the interview.

Najib: The whole situation in Europe is of global concern. What we like to see is a European solution. I think what is required is real leadership here. Leadership that can provide a very, very comprehensive convincing solution to the market, not a patch-up job; not, you know, something that you do just to rectify small problems.

Defterios: It is fascinating if you look at the same level of trade with the United States. Malaysia exports US$26 billion to the US in 2010, but a similar debt scenario, a US$14 trillion debt mountain. Have you ever seen such a gulf between Democrats and Republicans, which is hindering, not raising the debt ceiling, only, but a real solution to the long-term debt.

Najib: There is a deep divide between Republicans and Democrats and our sense is that they will reach the debt ceiling, come the deadline, but a solution will be, you know, a lot of prostrating, a lot of compromise will take place. And it is not really the kind of solution that gives you a sense of direction, clarity of direction and an effective long-term solution that is required.

Defterios: You had growth of better than 7% in 2010. Projections of 5% to 5.5%. Do the debt challenges in Europe and the US threaten that target for 2011?

Najib: Put it this way, if nothing unforeseen happens, we should be able to get between 5% and 6%. But there are concerns. There are uncertainties. You know, things could happen that you don’t expect. But barring something unforeseen, we should be able to get 5% to 6%.

Defterios: We have seen a bursting movement in Malaysia this last week, and some 20,000 protesters under the umbrella of electoral reforms. But what is really behind this? This is a generational gap? I mean, why such a high level of protest?

Najib: Well, John, it is basically politics. Because there is democracy in Malaysia. And we are committed towards electoral reform. And it will come up to see that we are all for fair and clean elections. And as you know, the last general election, you know, the ruling party lost five states. And we were deprived of two-thirds majority.

Defterios: So five of 13 states overall.

Najib: Five of 13 states and not a fair, clean election. We wouldn’t have lost five states. But we are committed to making better.

Defterios: Some would say you had (made) 1,600 arrests of some 20,000 protesters. Are you satisfied with the security response to that particular round of protests, yourself?

Najib: It was quite mild, you know, because although they were taken in, they were released after eight hours and they were treated very well. There was no undue use of force. And, you know, the demonstrators were dispersed using minimum force.

Defterios: How does the new economic model fit into this, Prime Minister? You have a per capita income of around US$9,000. You have aspirations by 2020 to get it to at least US$15,000. Does that play into this whole effort?

Najib: We must be focused in terms of what we need to do. I am very confident, because we have got very, very concrete plans, you know, to get there. This is not something which is quite macro, or quite abstract. It is something that is very, very specific. We have the numbers, we have the projects, we have the type of investment, and we have the number of jobs we want to create. And all of these things are for real.