Umno man says call for Najib to quit has lots of support

Despite receiving many brickbats following his open letter last week calling for prime minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down, Umno grassroots leader Syed Rosli Jamalullail (pic) is heartened by the support received.

In his second open letter to Najib, the Umno Taman Chempaka information head said he was not alone as many have supported his actions and agreed with his views.

"I have received a lot of phone calls and messages from both party members and the public supporting me but they are afraid to come out openly to say the same thing. 

"I understand, but to quote Tun Dr Mahathir 'we must be brave to the voice out the shortcomings of the leadership to save the party and nation’," he said in the letter, referring to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who still has considerable influence with the party rank-and-file.

Since his first letter, Syed Rosli has been called various names like traitor and enemy within the party, but he shrugged them off, saying his criticism against the leadership was because he loved the ruling Malay party as well as the Malay community, Islam and Malaysia.

"It is those holding high posts in the party and government who are traitors if they are corrupt, dishonest and untrustworthy. Who am I to betray the party and the country?" the branch leader said, urging people to pray to Allah to protect the party and the country from corrupt and dishonest Umno leaders.

Syed Rosli caused a stir last week when, in a rare show of defiance, he said Najib needed to leave before the next general election to rejuvenate Umno.

He said the party had become weak and was losing not only Malay support, but also voters of Barisan Nasional's component parties, especially from the Chinese and Indians.

"If Datuk Seri truly loves Umno and Barisan Nasional, the best thing is to step down.

"Help us to become strong again by leaving," he said in the letter.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin blasted Syed Rosli over the letter, describing him as the “lowest of the low” in the party hierarchy.

He said he could not understand why news portals had highlighted Syed Rosli's open letter, saying the Umno man had no position in the party.

“If you want to make a story out of something, at least quote somebody who is credible, not somebody (like) Syed Rosli. I think he is the lowest form of creature in Umno,” he was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.

Syed Rosli was one of two Umno members who had challenged Khairy Jamaluddin for the Youth chief post last year. During the contest, he called Khairy a "Bangladeshi" just because the youth and sports minister was not born in Malaysia.

Voices of discontent have been growing within the Malay party, with Batu Kawan Umno division deputy chief Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan lodging a police report on the controversial state sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB).

In his report earlier this month, Khairuddin called for a “detailed and comprehensive” investigation, urging the authorities to interrogate 1MDB’s directors as well as representatives of any company implicated in its scandal.

In an interview with The Malaysian Insider, Khairuddin had denied that he was part of an internal plot in Umno to weaken the party president and prime minister.

Najib is the chairman of the 1MDB advisory council.

Khairuddin's action caught the attention of top party brass, with Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor advising him to retract the report, while Penang Umno distanced itself from Khairuddin's action, saying that he had acted on his own.

1MDB – Najib's brainchild – is a strategic development firm. The company had recently come under much scrutiny after several opposition leaders highlighted the fund's massive debts, dubious land deals and secrecy over its transactions.

Dr Mahathir had also publicly criticised Najib and questioned the fund, asking Putrajaya to explain how 1MDB benefited Malaysians, as it incurred a RM38 billion debt within just five years of its operations.

- TMI