Malaysian Politics: Najib’s Art of Doing Nothing

Gua Musang UMNO MP Tengku Razaleighsaid it best once when he warned that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak “will not do anything new”.

“I know this boy very well,” added Razaleigh when asked for his comments by the media on Najib taking over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2009, a year after 2008 general election results which were disastrous for their ruling BN coalition.

Razaleigh’s words on Najib are now coming back to haunt us. Regarded as the ‘Big Squatter’ because he has no mandate of his own, Najib was picked because his party had no better choice at hand. UMNO’s lack of talent has foisted on Malaysians a role model that transparency advocates shudder at and privately warn may take the country backwards by 5 decades due to his open endorsement for corruption and active pursuit for mega-deals that are one-sided in favor of his own cronies and those of UMNO elders, such as Mahathir Mohamad, in whose good books he wishes to be.

The art of doing nothing

Najib proved this again with disgraced Wanita UMNO Chief Shahrizat Jalil, refusing to ask her to resign from the Cabinet and allowing her to stay until her Senatorship expires on April 8. Najib has also fended off attempts by factions in Wanita UMNO to make Shahrizat quit as their Wing’s chief.

Why is Najib so protective about Shahrizat? Has it to do with a purported RM1.7million luxury-apartment ‘wedding gift’ to his daughter who recently married into a powerful Kazakhstan family?

Najib’s excuse is that not a single charge has been preferred against Shahrizat. But pressing charges are the prerogative of the Attorney-General, whom even the man in the street knows will take his orders from Najib.

Does it makes sense that Shahrizat would not know what her husband and their three children are up to when the rest of the country is up in arms at their purported thievery in the National Feedlot Centre debacle.

These questions continue to hound the cattle breeding project awarded to a private firm set up by Shahrizat’s husband, Salleh Ismail, and their 3 children. The family is accused of plundering from a RM250million government soft loan granted to develop the NFC project. The scandal has become known here and abroad as Malaysia’s Cowgate.

Indeed, Najib is choosing the line of least resistance. On Friday (March 23), after a key Wanita meeting to discuss Shahrizat, he was accused by UMNO watchers of passing the buck so that he could point the fingers of blame elsewhere, away from him, not realising that for one finger pointed at Wanita UMNO, three will be pointed back at him.

Shahrizat stands impeached, directly and indirectly, for Cowgate. Her deputy, Kamilia Ibrahim (left), is right – Shahrizat has to go. The hand that rocks the cradle cannot be seen to be unclean. Do Malaysians want future generations to grow up breast-fed on the principles that corruption is fine, so long as you know the right strings to pull!

This is what Najib is endorsing by throwing his support behind Shahrizat’s quest to stay as Wanita UMNO chief. Some say he has no choice because Shahrizat has information about his Kazakh connection that will embarrass him deeply, putting his already precarious hold on the UMNO leadership further at risk.

Whatever his motive, Najib has done absolutely nothing so far about Shahrizat continuing to remain as Wanita UMNO Chief and is not likely to do anything. To the urban voter, Najib remains the glorified government clerk that he has always been and intends to remain so for as long as possible so that he can collect, at the end of the day, a fat pension for himself and wife, Rosmah Mansor. Already, the people are upset at his lack of action and leadership in crucial issues and the near zero progress made in the economy.

Forced to eat words on economic growth

Just days ago, Najib was forced to trim 1 percentage point off the 2012 economic growth forecast to 4-5% from 5-6% and this is significant because his overly rosy prediction was made less than 6 months ago.

Was he trying to bamboozle the people that Malaysia’s economy was on the rise again when he made the prediction? Indeed, Najib’s honesty is in question.

The proposed National Public Debate with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is another example where Najib does not feel constrained to do anything to harm his own chances even if it clearly benefits and is desired by the populace.

Even so, he seems too vain and mindful of his ‘face’ to swallow being called a coward and as such, has gone to unnecessary lengths leading nowhere to show why it is Anwar who is not qualified to debate with him rather than take head-on the question of why doesn’t he accept the challenge then. But if the Opposition Leader is not qualified then who is?

Anwar’s latest acceptance to a fresh challenge initiated by WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, taking on a three-cornered debate with Najib and fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin has cast further doubt on Najib’s credentials and political ‘manhood’.

It swivels the gun back onto him, so to speak. However, as usual, Najib will seek refuge overseas. In early April, the PM will resume his official visits overseas – this time to China. And he can be expected to spend and lavish on himself and his entourage first class fare and lodging, all on taxpayers’ expense, as he has done in past trips.

A confused nation: GE-13 likely to be held after UMNO polls?

Najib will leave behind a nation confused and wondering when the 13th general election will be held. Over the past few days, he has hinted that GE-13 will be “soon” but seasoned watchers are sure he is “bluffing again”.

Chances are very high Malaysia’s national polls will be held only after the UMNO internal elections due to take place later this year. With a mandate given to him to choose who will make it to the BN’s list of winnable candidates for GE-13, Najib holds in his hand a power weapon to ‘blackmail’ the UMNO warlords into renewing his term as their party president and thereby Prime Minister.

UMNO is the dominant or boss party of the 14-member BN coalition and if GE-13 is held before the UMNO polls, the odds are very strong that Najib will be ditched unless he delivers a stunning victory by winning two-thirds of the Parliament’s 222 seats – a feat he himself has admitted is beyond his ability given the current public mood against his government.

Most likely scenario: Delay after Delay

While Najib has not taken the initiative so far to dissolve Parliament to pave the way for the 13^th General Election within two months, he can still spring a last-minute surprise. But pundits are betting that Najib, being Najib, will just allow Parliament’s five-year term to expire automatically in the absence of dissolution.

In which case, the Election Commission will have 60 days to call for GE 13 and the most likely scenario to be played out will be one of thick-skinned delay after another, warned the pundits.

According to them, they expect the EC to follow the script written by the Najib camp and inform the Caretaker Prime Minister of their recommended GE date. But Najib will not respond. In ‘frustration’, after informing the PM of the various alternative dates, the EC will finally have no choice under the circumstances but hold the GE on the last day of the 60 days-period.

Hung Parliament

When the election results come in, and if it becomes apparent that Najib’s stated ‘greatest fear’ – a hung Parliament – has emerged, pundits do not expect him to do anything either. He will wait for crossovers from the other side to be arranged by the moneybags around him, Mahathir Mohamad and Daim Zainuddin, so that he can continue to be Prime Minister.

Mahathir and Daim will of course panic at the thought of losing the UMNO gravy train and will move heaven and earth itself to make sure that UMNO at least remains in the saddle. They would have to deal with Najib later and for sure, it will not be easy to oust him although they can call as many Extraordinary General Meetings as they wish.

Najib is not Badawi who fled with his tail between his legs the moment Mahathir stamped his feet and bent down pretending to pick up a stone to hurl at him. Najib has the backing of his strong-willed wife Rosmah Mansor, plus the UMNO warlords on his ‘winnable list’ who won seats would not wish to rock the boat.

In which case, it would actually be smarter for Mahathir and Daim to save their money and let go of the Federal Government to the opposition. But the question remains, would they be able to dismount from a roaring and hungry tiger? Would not the new Pakatan Rakyat federal government go after them to return all their ill-gotten gains from past years?

Simple BN majority

Apart from a hung Parliament, Najib may secure a simple majority to continue as Prime Minister. Mahathir and Daim would then face the very same difficulties of trying to dislodge Najib, unless by then the entire UMNO party is also fed up to the hilt of Najib and Rosmah, and would rush to vote them out.

If Pakatan wins, King may be ‘asked’ to favour UMNO

Then, the probability that Pakatan Rakyat as the national opposition alliance and government-in-waiting will come in with a simple majority. Again, Najib can be expected to sit back and do nothing while Mahathir and Daim scramble to meet with the King and convince him that Pakatan is not a registered coalition.

So, if the various PR components are considered separately and individually, UMNO-BN will claim to hold the single biggest block of seats in Parliament and should be allowed to form the Federal Government, albeit a minority one. The possibility of a no confidence motion being moved by the opposition against Najib in Parliament can always be dismissed by the Speaker on the grounds that even if specific, and a matter of public interest, it could not possibly be considered “urgent”. Looks and sounds ridiculous? The fact is this happens all the time and is happening in Parliament right now!

Fast-rising doubts

With Najib now blaring out ‘alerts’ of GE-13 around the corner every other day, why are doubts rising that he is in actual fact doing the opposite and engineering the Mother of all Delays. Three recent incidents tell us why.

The most recent is of course the Shahrizat debacle and Najib’s refusal to deal with it, which not only means he is endorsing corruption – in itself a turnoff to voters – but such a decision also splits Wanita UMNO down the line.

There are more members who want Shahrizat out than in and they will be unhappy and disgruntled. This provides a perfect excuse for Najib to explain to the UMNO Supreme Council why he cannot possible call for GE-13, not when a key unit of the party is in disarray. Conveniently, he will omit to mention his role in helping to stir the disarray.

The second is Najib’s recent repetition, for the umpteenth time, that the Federal Government has approved RM 350 million since 2008 for Tamil schools. The fact of the matter is that these schools have not received even a sen so far and are unlikely to get any. Next is his announcement that 100 top Indian students will get Federal Government scholarships every year to pursue Master’s and Doctorate programmes provided that they get First Class Honours Degrees at the Bachelors level.

A First Class Honours Degree at the Bachelors level is not the criteria at any university in the world to pursue Masters or Doctorate Programme. So, why raise the bar that high for only Indian students?  Anyone who makes such frivolous and vexatious statements cannot possibly be serious or sincere about anybody else. They are only interested in themselves.

Likewise, Najib’s various statements on a High Income Economy – they can even announce a Minimum Wage like in Thailand (RM1, 500 per month) – but his alphabet soup of programs from the GTP, ETP, NKRA, KPI are all hype on paper and not working at all. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and the 1 percentage point or 100 basis points chop in the GDP growth estimate to 4-5% from 5-6% previously certainly tasted toxic.

Luckily, the economy is in autopilot mode thanks to continuing private sector initiatives, the increasing role of India and China in the local economy and Malaysians themselves in general. The fact is for Malaysia to be where it currently is economically, the people don’t need Najib, the UMNO-BN Government and massive corruption.

But when the chips are down and illicit outflows far exceed what Malaysians can produce, they will need a proper and good set of guiding hands very soon. Anwar and Pakatan are a fairly good choice when compared to ‘Big Squatter’ Najib and his BN coalition.

 Malaysia Chronicle