A Poltroon In Putrajaya: Why is Najib so afraid to face Anwar in a debate?

On Saturday, Najib Razak was challenged for the 3rd time by Anwar Ibrahim to a debate. There has been no response from him. Mr.Najib, it would seem, prefers to skulk in the shadows and throw stones. There is a word for such people; they are cowards.

Mr.Najib, surrounded by supporters and and propagandists from the mainstream press like The Star, NST and Utusan, has brave words to say about Pakatan’s proposed policies. He has no compunctions, casting self-respect and dignity aside, to behave like a juvenile schoolboy and shout mealy-mouthed insults at Anwar Ibrahim from a safe distance. But Najib refuses to face Anwar Ibrahim in open debate for he has not the courage to do so.

Poltroon means Coward

It is unfortunate for Malaysians that they are cursed with so cowardly a Prime Minister. If Najib had any confidence in his own policies, he has no reason to fear their examination by the scouring knife of reasoned argument. We may conclude that Najib’s policies, in the crucial areas of political reform and in the economy will not stand critical scrutiny.

There is no real reform being undertaken in the area of political freedom at all. Najib and his ‘team’ are merely engaged in shuffling legislation around and playing with semantics while all the while continuing to maintain a draconian grip on the nation. Mr.Najib may keep his false ‘Peaceful Assembly’ Act. He can spare us his theatrical pronouncements, as he did on Malaysia Day. There is no substance to them. Mr.Najib is a fraud!

Fraud

On the economy, Najib has been even less truthful to Malaysians. He refuses to admit that his economic policies have failed and that growth will slow in Malaysia in 2012. He will not tell us the real rate of inflation, which is not the 3.3% that Bank Negara pretends it is. He even refuses to admit to the impact of the global and Asian slowdown on Malaysia’s net exports, preferring to pretend that we live in a rarefied vacuum.

Mr.Najib’s ETP projects are not worth the paper they are written on and his GTP is a sham. Some of Mr.Najib’s ETP programs are not even in Malaysia! What use is an airline MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) project in Hyderabad to the growth of the Malaysian economy? Pemandu, under Idris Jala, is little more than a collection of numbers massagers, making them add up to whatever you like. Idris Jala was last in charge of MAS where he showed all kinds of nice results until he left. He raised profits not by improving operations or increasing sales but by slashing routes and selling buildings. Once he left, the numerical house of cards that he had built crashed and MAS has returned quickly to red ink. The same will happen to Malaysia if Najib is allowed to continue to manage the economy after the election.

If Mr.Najib disagrees with this analysis, then let him debate with Mr.Anwar. He will have an equal opportunity to question Mr.Anwar’s policies as Mr.Anwar will have to question his. But Najib will not do this, and Malaysians will be the poorer (literally) if we elect his sordid BN for another 5-year term.

Malaysia Chronicle