‘Najib reforms good but limited’

Describing the premier as the one on 'knife edge', the American daily says Najib faces a struggle to stay in power.

PETALING JAYA: The raft of economic and political reforms pursued by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was good but limited, influential daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.

“While they [reforms] were good for the country, they may not translate into a victory for Najib,” it said when commenting on Malaysia’s dissolution of Parliament.

In an commentary titled “Najib on knife edge” published on the Asian edition of the daily, the WSJ said the fact that the prime minister waited for an almost full term to dissolve Parliament is one of the many signs that he faces a struggle to cling onto power.

The article contended that part of the challenges faced by Najib “comes from within his party” Umno, which it claimed is riddled with corruption and complacency after five decades of uninterrupted rule.

The daily said these faults have led the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to suffer a major electoral setback in the 2008 general election and forced the then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down.

It said since Najib took over in 2009, he has tried to reclaim public support by introducing a programme of economic and political reforms.

“This government deserves credit for responding to the public’s dissatisfaction with corruption, lack of domestic competition and repressive laws left over from the colonial period,” the article stated.

However, these reforms were limited, the article stated.

It said many of the young and urban voters think the pace of reform has been too slow, “especially in reforming the system of affirmative action for the ethnic majority Malay”.

“Malaysia’s system of holding back the dynamic Indian and Chinese minorities has turned it into a bastion of mediocrity in a fast-growing region.

“The country’s best and brightest leave because the cronyism and racial quotas in education and employment hold them back,” contended the article.

It said Najib probably recognises the need to move faster, but he cannot afford to alienate the Malay base.

The article, meanwhile, praised Pakatan Rakyat for managing to rule four states with outstanding records.

The opposition coalition has its own cohesion problems that will probably come to the fore if it wins this election, it noted.

But it has done a creditable job of ruling the four states under its control, undermining the government’s argument that only it has the chops to keep Malaysia stable and growing,” it said.