THE way Lokman Noor Adam sees it, everybody is to blame for Umno’s defeat in GE14 except former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Malaysians are to blame for not recognising what a liberal and inclusive leader Najib was; Pakatan Harapan should be blamed for bringing about Najib’s downfall by harping on Rosmah’s excesses. Najib’s senior aide in the Finance Ministry believes this, even now.
Lokman, who is vying for an Umno Supreme Council seat, said PH captured Putrajaya by going after Rosmah.
Since they could not find enough dirt on Najib, they trained their guns on Rosmah – and it worked, he said.
“In 2013, did you hear anyone saying bad things about Najib? When the opposition attacked, they did not attack Najib because they could not find anything to attack him with. So they started attacking Rosmah. It is actually character assassination,” he told The Malaysian Insight in an interview.
That may have been true back then before GE13, but by GE14, the 1MDB scandal had given the opposition much effective artillery against Najib.
Lokman’s thinking gives insight into the blinkered worldview of those in the Najib camp, in the run-up to GE14 and, apparently, after GE14 as well. With some of its leaders and operatives stuck in denial mode, it may be difficult for the party to chart a recovery from the crushing May 9 defeat.
Lokman stuck to the Umno narrative that Najib had been cleared of any wrongdoing in connection to 1MDB, and said the recent police raids on Najib’s residence would lead to trumped up charges.
“I am very sure and strongly believe that they will not charge Najib in connection with this 1MDB problem. They will find something else. Mark my words.”
The former strategic communications director at the Finance Ministry stressed that as much as the opposition hammered at Najib, the former PM actually did a lot for all Malaysians regardless of race.
Contrary to popular belief, Lokman said Najib did a lot for the Chinese community, which had caused him to lose support within Umno and the Malay community.
“You have to understand why we lost Malay support. We gave face to the Chinese schools, we gave them allocations. Malays are very angry, they said ‘C’mon Najib they will never vote for you but you give them everything.’
“But the truth is, Najib also gave a lot of things to the Malays. You cannot please everyone. There are always those you can never please.”
In the long run, Malaysians would come to regret rejecting Najib, the former PKR man added.
“You have thrown away the best leader, who is a very tolerant and very liberal person. You have thrown him away. What choice do you think Umno will have now?”
In 1998, Lokman had defended Anwar Ibrahim when he was sacked by Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Lokman’s support for the deputy prime minister against injustice had won him the admiration of many then.
Twenty years on, his loyalty to Najib and Rosmah is more likely to earn him scorn than credit.
THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
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