Has Najib let rakyat down?

No prime minister in Malaysia's history has ever tried to correct his image at the expense of his party or his coalition partners.

COMMENT

When a prime minister shows he is helpless, is he not letting down the rakyat?

The fact is no prime minister in Malaysia’s history has ever expressed helplessness in facing challenges that have come up during his tenure.

No prime minister has ever sought refuge in compulsions in dealing with crucial national matters.

No prime minister has admitted to the failings of his Cabinet colleagues while trying to absolve himself.

No prime minister has ever tried to correct his image at the expense of his party or his coalition partners.

As such, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must realise that he is occupying a seat that was once occupied by a great visionary and statesman – his father, Tun Abdul Razak.

Razak faced many challenges in his life. But he never said he was helpless.

The same office was held by humble but strong-willed Hussein Onn, acclaimed for his discipline and against all corruption. He, too, was never helpless.

Neither was Tunku Abdul Rahman, a leader whose mass base was astounding and who came to power after getting independence.

Najib not ‘chosen one’

Tunku was faced with confrontation with Sukarno’s Indonesia. He was faced with political crisis with Lee Kuan Yew and even within Umno he had to face people like Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was undermining him from inside.

He had to face racial riots and the separation of Singapore but he did not yield to the pressure of the syndicate.

He dug his heels and abolished privy purses. He was never helpless, even when he fought the Singapore leaders with all chips down.

Even Abdullah Ahmad Badawi never displayed helplessness.

When his time was up, he just went but did not blame political situations, colleagues and circumstances.

Perhaps all these leaders were from the political class now gone missing. Perhaps, too, they were made of sterner stuff.

But they all realised and respected the fact that prime ministers can never show helplessness.

What is Najib’s helplessness all about?

Simple: He didn’t earn his stripes. He did not get the “all-important” mandate to lead. He just “took over” the Umno presidency from Abdullah.

He became the nation’s sixth prime minister after helping Mahathir and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin to oust Abdullah, who was blamed for the Umno-BN’s weak performance in the 2008 general election.

Had the Barisan National got a two-thirds majority in 2008, Najib would not have been the “chosen one”.

Selvaraja Somiah is a geologist and freelance writer.