Is Najib still licking his wounds?

The Prime Minister seems to be experiencing some sort of lethargy since the 13GE and he should snap out of it and get cracking on his promised initiatives to bring the nation forward.

COMMENT

Pakatan Rakyat seems fatigued now although it has been more than three months since the13th general election but that is only understandable.They are disappointed at losing to BN and also due to the overly long election campaign because of the uncertainty of the polls date.

However, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s first 100 days in office (which fell on last Wednesday, Aug 14) seems to indicate clearly that he too, is suffering from fatigue and this is surprising indeed as he is the victor of GE13.

According to PAS Parit Buntar MP, Mujahid Yusof Rawa, perhaps PM Najib is fatigue due to not winning the popular vote. The Merdeka Centre research revealed that BN won quite a good number of seats through postal votes and advanced voting.

“That has always been their weapon and more so this time BN is in power due to the postal votes and advanced voting,” said Mujahid.

Below are the figures from the said research with the figures in brackets showing the high percentage of postal votes and advanced voting in BN’s favour:

1 Segamat (93.3%)

2 Bagan Serai (82.6%)

3 Muar (87.2%)

4 Pulai (88%)

5 Jerai (74.2%)

6 Balik Pulau (89.5%)

7 Machang (79.2%)

8 Labis (89.75%)

9 Kuala Selangor (71.7%)

10 Kuala Kangsar (76%)

11 Hulu Selangor (83.9%)

12 Sungai Besar (75.1%)

13 Kulim-Bandar Baharu (88.8%)

14 Pasir Gudang (89%)

15 Tangga Batu (86.4%)

16 Titiwangsa (78.9%)

17 Tasek Gelugor (68%)

18 Bentong (89.9%)

19 Cameron Highlands (91.3%)

20 Merbok (80.5%)

21 Ketereh (81.6%)

22 Setiawangsa (81.9%)

23 Mas Gading (72.3%)

24 Keningau (78.4%)

25 Beaufort (71%)

26 Baram (89.2%)

27 Tenom (87.6%)

Although Najib seems to be experiencing some sort of lethargy, there should be no excuse for it. Instead he should plunge into the top job with zest and gusto now that he has won another term. The rakyat are still awaiting his initiatives to bring the nation forward.

Therefore seeing his lack of energy in his first 100 days, it is better for the citizens to act as watchdog to the government by speaking up if they make a wrong move. However if they do something right, we should commend them.

PAS Information chief, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has remarked that in Najib’s first 100 days as Prime Minister, the latter has yet to solve a few big issues and one of them is the rising crime rate.

“There should be more police personnel in enforcement and operations duties. Currently many of them are assigned to administrative jobs. More police personnel should be engaged in important duties instead of desk jobs,” said Tuan Ibrahim.

Lacklustre 100 days

He also commented about the drop in the value of the Ringgit and said that BN’s victory in the 13th general election did not bring in as many investors as one would have thought.

“The investment market just returned to normal mode simply due to the fact that GE13 is over and the uncertainty over the results are gone,” added Tuan Ibrahim.

He remarked that all the rhetoric about national reconciliation has yet to bear fruit and the people are still waiting to hear the good news pertaining to Najib’s plans to foster racial harmony and unity.

“The price increase of foodstuffs and fast-moving-consumer-goods after GE13 continue to burden the poor and this price increase is due to the government setting up a high ceiling price for the said goods which enabled the sellers to take advantage by raising their prices to the ceiling. Weak enforcement is also another reason for the high prices,” said Tuan Ibrahim.

He is of the view that all these malaise afflicting the nation is because the BN government is still caught up with its failure to secure 2/3 majority in Parliament and urged PM Najib to pull his socks up and get things going for the good of the nation and its citizens.

The chief of PAS’ women’s wing, Siti Zailah Yusof was more blunt in her assessment of the Prime Minister’s performance.

The Rantau Panjang MP from Kelantan lamented that Najib’s first 100 days in office which fell on Aug 14 just went off without any significant landmark achievement for the good of the citizens. She labelled it as “a failure to govern the nation well” and Najib’s first 100 days seemed lacklustre and clouded by a lack of direction and focus – as if he is blundering in the dark.

She commented that although the Prime Minister has promised the rakyat peace and stability during his GE13 campaign, he has failed to deliver in terms of citizens’ security because these days people do not feel safe going out especially those who work in the night shift.

A friend of this columnist who owns a mobile phone shop in KL has informed that these days she closes the shop at 8pm. as business slows down a lot after 7.30pm. Last year she closed the shop at 8.30pm, sometimes even at 9pm. She mentioned that now the office workers do not hang around having a drink to chit-chat after work but go straight home.

Siti Zailah noted that Malaysians are still facing the same problems as before, such as a slowdown in economy, inflation, crime and corruption.

“The shootings from late July to mid-August is one of Najib’s main failures in governing the nation and many of his promises, for example the one on National Reconciliation has yet to come to fruition. There is also the problem of leakages and wastages in national expenditure. Where is all these leading to?” questioned the MP from Kelantan.

Therefore, have we got a choice? With the man at the helm seeming tired and fatigue for no reason whatsoever, we the citizens have to step up and take on a more active role in guiding the nation in the practice of good governance by speaking up on issues concerning the nation and the rakyat.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.