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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

NAJIB'S TACTICAL ERROR: No need to sue, just respond with facts, analysts tell PM

NAJIB'S TACTICAL ERROR: No need to sue, just respond with facts, analysts tell PM
KUALA LUMPUR - The prime minister would be showcasing better leadership by arming himself with facts to fend off accusations by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers instead of threatening them with lawsuits, analysts have said.
It is a “tactical error” on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s part to threaten lawsuits, said Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI) director Dr Lim Teck Ghee, claiming the move may not necessarily silence the prime minister’s critics.
Academic Dr Andrew Aeria said politicians have to deal with the “rough and tumble” of politics and should not be spending time battling allegations in the courtroom to save their reputations.
“I think the real effect is instead of addressing the real problem of the country, we’re just wasting court time,” the associate professor from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) told Malay Mail Online.
“If somebody made allegations, you respond. You respond by giving your facts and your side of story,” he added.
Najib recently sent two letters of demand to DAP MP Tony Pua and PKR MP Rafizi Ramli, threatening to sue them unless they retract their allegedly defamatory remarks on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and Putrajaya’s fuel subsidy removal respectively.

The threats to initiate lawsuits are rare and uncharacteristic of the second-term prime minister in a country where the top government leaders almost never sue other individuals, unlike Malaysia’s neighbour Singapore where government leaders including its prime ministers have a long history of subduing the opposition and dissenting critics through court cases.
Andrew compared Najib’s move to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, noting that the latter would typically issue responses as criticisms and allegations instead of launching lawsuits.
“I think Dr M is correct, when he was PM, he never sued, he just responded,” he said, referring to the country’s longest serving prime minister.
Lim also claimed the lawsuits could be part of the prime minister’s attempt to “silence his critics” in the federal opposition.
“On the PM suing opposition politicians, he seems to have lost all political sensibility and judgement. Such attacks on policy and personality are par for the course in any democracy.
“For the PM to respond as he has done will neither discourage the opposition nor will it help his reputation, whatever the court outcomes finally are,” he told the Malay Mail Online in an email reply.
Lim said lawsuits would instead reinforce the public’s perception of a “weak and incompetent leader who is unable to handle his critics except by distracting them with court cases in the hope of muzzling them.”
“This is puzzling especially since the PM can count on the mainstream media to take his side against the opposition on any issue at any time,” he added.
Taking a different tone from his fellow academics, however, political analyst Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin pointed out that Najib has legal rights just like any other Malaysian.
He also questioned the criticism aimed at the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional’s (BN) leader over the lawsuits.
“Legally, as a citizen he has every right to protect his rights against all forms of accusations and malicious statements by other citizens.
“Morally, as a leader he is expected to take any criticism fair or unfair. But what is the basis of that moral criticism? Just because he is in an opposing position?” the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) academic asked.
In June, Najib’s suing of a news portal, Malaysiakini, in his personal capacity stirred up a huge debate over his rights to sue and a perceived attempt to clamp down on media freedom instead of issuing clarifications.
He is not the sole politician to have sued politicians or media outlets.
Politicians from BN and PR have regularly crossed swords with each other in defamation lawsuits, while the federal opposition lawmakers have also sued media organisations such as Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia’s publisher for defamation. - Malay Mail

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