KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Najib Razak said his resignation from Umno posts did not mean he should not speak out on current issues, after former minister Nazri Aziz told him to distance himself from the party.
Najib said he felt obliged to respond to accusations against the administration he had led.
“I am also entitled to defend my policies and to clear the perceptions and some of the manipulation of facts and figures by the new government,” Najib told reporters today.
“I think that’s only fair. Self-defence is a right given to any individual and citizen, that is why I am exercising my right to explain our policies and the reason why we have done certain things,” he said.
Yesterday, Nazri questioned Najib for being vocal, saying the former Umno president was making it hard for the party to move on in the wake of its general election defeat.
He also said it was time for Umno to stop associating itself with Najib.
Najib had actively campaigned for Barisan Nasional in the recent Sungai Kandis by-election. He has also been issuing statements criticising various policies of the Pakatan Harapan government.
Najib today said he had not interfered in party matters following his resignation from Umno after the May polls.
“I have not interfered in the administration of Umno, for example, in the appointment of office bearers, and in deciding the candidate for Sungai Kandis,” he said, adding that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has his full support.
He said he was only carrying out his duties as an MP.
Najib said he had to explain issues such as the national debt and claims that billions of ringgit from the goods and services tax (GST) was missing.
“It is not missing and I’d like the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) to do a full investigation and come up with a report as soon as possible. There are many other issues like GST versus the sales and services tax (SST),” he added.
He said as an elected representative, he would continue to speak up for the people.
“But as far as the Umno administration is concerned, Zahid is free to do as he deems fit, and I will support the decisions of the new Umno leadership.”
Najib said he had campaigned for Umno during the Sungai Kandis by-election on the invitation of the BN candidate, Lokman Noor Adam.
“I was not keen to go, but I was invited and he (Lokman) implored me to come down,” he added. – FMT
I’m not meddling in Zahid’s Umno, says Najib
FORMER Umno president Najib Razak does not see his frequent statements on national issues as interfering with the party’s new leadership.
He said new president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is free to decide on matters relating to the party, such as election candidates and office-bearers.
“But, I’m also entitled to defend my policies, and to clear misconceptions and the manipulation of facts and figures by the new government.
“To be fair, it’s self-defence, it’s a right granted to any individual and citizen. That’s why I’m exercising my right to explain my policies and reasoning as to why we did certain things,” the former prime minister told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
He was asked about former Supreme Council member Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz’s statement that he should dissociate himself from Umno and let Zahid lead the party.
Today, former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin backed Nazri, urging Najib to distance himself from the party.
Pekan MP Najib said he backs Zahid as Umno president, and will give full cooperation to the latter.
“I’m also an MP, so occasionally, I will speak in Parliament because that’s my duty. I was voted in by the people.
“But as far as Umno’s administration is concerned, they are free to do as they deem fit, and I will support the decisions of the new leadership.”
Since losing power, Najib has frequently taken to Facebook to criticise the new government’s policies, such as scrapping the goods and services tax and replacing it with the sales and services tax, and the postponement of big-ticket projects he signed on as prime minister, like the East Coast Rail Link and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail.
Najib said it is his right to defend himself and the administration he led.
“I will use that right to give clarifications on the past government’s policies. Especially when there’s manipulation of facts,” he said, citing the national debt figure and the alleged RM19 billion shortfall in GST refunds raised by the new government.
Najib is facing seven charges in relation to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Three are for criminal breach of trust, three for money laundering and one for misusing his position.
Although he stepped down as Umno president following Barisan Nasional’s shock defeat in the 14th general election, Najib remains active in the party, and even campaigned for the BN candidate in the recently concluded Sungai Kandis by-election.
While some party leaders have called this a “mistake”, he has said he never intended to campaign, but was asked by candidate Lokman Noor Adam to do so.
“I was not keen to go down, but I was invited. On that reason, because he has stood by me, that’s why I decided to go down, but it was not my original plan.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
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