Najib is here to stay, says report

Forbes report says Najib has not only withstood attacks against him following corruption allegations but is now moving into the offensive.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak has not only weathered the storm of corruption allegations against him but appears to be on the offensive now.

A report in Forbes notes that attempts by his detractors to shame him into resigning over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal have not worked.

Najib, it said, had used the resources available to him as prime minister and head of the Barisan Nasional and Umno to effectively stifle any challenge, including removing those seen as threats to his hold on power.

In recent weeks, he appears to be moving from defence to offence, especially with the BN’s resounding win in the Sarawak State election. During his recent two-day working visit to London he was at high-profile events where he made his presence felt and lambasted his critics back home.

The Forbes report concluded that Najib “is here to stay”.

The report observed that on July 2, 2015, the Wall Street Journal had alleged that USD700 million (RM2.6 billion) had gone into the personal bank accounts of Najib and that on Aug 3, 2015, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said that the USD700 million deposited into Najib’s accounts came from donations, and not from the debt-laden 1MDB.

Many, the report said, felt that Najib could not possibly survive this disclosure, with several suggesting that he was a “dead man walking”.

However, Najib made some deft defensive moves that ensured he continued to stay in power. These included:

• Removing Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, who was tasked to lead a high-powered multi-agency team to probe the matter and who is alleged to have been preparing charges against Najib;
• Removing Muhyiddin Yassin, who had publicly raised the issue of 1MDB and the millions in Najib’s personal accounts, as deputy prime minister and suspending him as Umno deputy president; and
• Promoting four members of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee that had been vigorously pursuing the 1MDB issue. “And after replacing the chairman of the PAC, it performed to expectations with the final report taking the heat off the prime minister.”

Meanwhile, the Forbes report said, the then Bank Negara Governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, came under intense attack from certain people. Among other things, it was alleged that some of her family members were being investigated over a water contract, and a commission on the takeover of Southern Bank by CIMB bank. Both Zeti and the police denied there was any such investigation.

The report added that Najib’s administration also began clamping down on the already limited civil and political rights of Malaysians. It said the director-general of immigration recently announced that Malaysians who criticised the government overseas could be banned from travelling for up to three years.

“All of these are designed to have a chilling effect, particularly among Malaysia’s middle class – one of the most vocal groups since the general election of 2008, both at home and abroad,” it said.

Saying the Sarawak election was a purveyor of things to come, the report added that, to win the next general election, Najib would “skew the electoral system further; break up the opposition; demonstrate that they are incapable of cooperation; ensure that Sabah and Sarawak remain in the BN orbit, (and) win enough rural and marginal seats in the peninsula”.