Najib’s visit to US may backfire with rural voters, says economist

This will happen if the negative response to the visit is widely disseminated to the grassroots, he says.

PETALING JAYA: A former World Bank economist says Prime Minister Najib Razak’s visit to the US may backfire in getting votes for BN in the coming general election.

This could take place if the negative response to the visit is widely disseminated to the grassroots, said Lim Teck Ghee.

Analysts have stated that most of the support for Barisan Nasional comes from the semi-urban and rural areas.

Lim said despite what the government may claim, even the people in the rural constituencies know that Najib’s image has been tainted internationally by the 1MDB controversy.

“Moreover, US President Donald Trump has a poor approval rating among local Malay Muslims because of his racist and anti-Islamic position,” he told FMT.

Lim, who is currently the chief executive officer of the Centre for Policy Initiatives, said the Prime Minister’s Office and the local mainstream media may claim the US visit has been a success.

“But the US and international media have focused on the prime minister’s possible role in the alleged money laundering linked to 1MDB and the authoritarian record of BN,” he said.

“The almost overwhelming negative response to his visit has also put the spotlight on the prime minister’s position on domestic issues such as human rights violations, religious extremism and political abuses.

“This will leave the prime minister even less wriggle room in the event of another controversy or crisis.”

Lim said the Najib-Trump meeting was held ostensibly to mark 60 years of bilateral relations between the two countries and it was basically a public relations exercise.

He said Malaysia did not gain in any way, apart from the reaffirmation of the US as a strategic partner in trade and an ally in foreign policy.

US critics of Trump have noted that the US president has a habit of embracing authoritarian rulers without regard for their subversion of democratic norms or gross human rights violations, said Lim.

He added that at the end of the day, the 14th general election, which should be held by August 2018, will focus on local and national socio-economic issues.

Najib in a meeting with Trump on Sept 12 had said Malaysia Airlines would buy 25 Boeing 737 jets and eight 787 Dreamliners, with another 25 737s slated for purchase in the near future.

Najib said the deal would be worth more than US$10 billion (RM42 billion) within five years.

At the same meeting, he also said the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) wanted to spend US$3 billion to US$4 billion on US infrastructure development and Khazanah Nasional also planned to increase its investment in high-tech companies. -FMT