Najib’s choice: glory or infamy?

Is the 1Malaysia concept merely an illusion and Najib is nothing but a dream peddler?

COMMENT

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is on a precipice. Make no mistake about that. One wrong step and he is a goner. Why is that so? None other than because those closest to him seem to want to put a damper on his plans and vision.

Take the 1Malaysia slogan which Najib is bent on promoting as a unifying force for racial unity and harmony. But Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin throws a spanner into the works by saying that he is Malay first and Malaysian second.

This certainly does not bode well for Najib. Still, the prime minister has no choice but to keep quiet in order not to seem at odds with his deputy.

He has said that Umno is not a racist party but the other Umno warlords seem to be targeting the Chinese and DAP as wanting to grab political and economic power.

This is a clear indicator that Najib is a lone voice in his idealistic dreams of being the leader of Utopia. He must wake up to the fact that there are dangerous elements in his own camp who seem to be thwarting his every move. And this is sending out conflicting signals to the rakyat.

Another “frenemy” (a deadly term used to describe someone who is also a friend as well as an enemy) of the prime minister is none other than MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek who is bent on disparaging hudud law.

Najib is working hard to portray himself as a Muslim leader but as MCA’s Chua is so against hudud, it will dent Najib’s Muslim leader image because if you are a Muslim leader, how can you not support hudud?

Of course, there are political pundits who say that BN’s two-pronged strategy is this:

Umno will use DAP/the Chinese to frighten the Malays; and

MCA will use hudud to scare the Chinese in order to maintain their hold on power by presenting their respective parties as the best political choice.

Be that as it may, Najib must not forget that the rural Malays will also question why as a Muslim leader he is allowing MCA to bad-mouth hudud while at the same time always proclaiming that Umno is the only party which can champion Islam!

The rural Malay folks can see that his words and his actions are definitely not in sync.

Najib needs to be firm

The prime minister has to be decisive. He has to weed out all those who do not seem to share his dreams of an Utopian Malaysia.

He has to take a firm and forceful stand to see that everyone in his camp vigorously promotes 1Malaysia.

All those who bash the non-Malays must be severely dealt with and there must be no more of those who dare to promote the “I am Malay first and Malaysian second” line.

If Najib does not take steps to rein in the hate-mongers and war hawks in his party, then he is nothing but a leader with empty talk and he will go from hero to zero.

This is where Najib has failed. 1Malaysia is more like 1Najib with the “1” showing Najib to be the sole believer in his own ideals.

Is he living in a dream world? Why is it that he has failed to see the rot in his own camp? How can he be credible when those in his own party are bent on instilling fear, hatred and animosity in the citizens via Umno scaring the Malays and MCA scaring the Chinese?

Najib has always tried to endear himself to all races, but his men are issuing hate-speeches against the Chinese. His men’s actions are in direct contrast with his words. Why this confusing stand from his own party? As head of Umno, is he not able to command and elicit a unified stand from his party men?

1Malaysia shows Najib to be the lone wolf in Umno. He must have the courage to forge ahead with political reforms and transformation instead of just mouthing these words every now and then.

He must not give in to ethnocentric Malay NGOs. Otherwise, 1Malaysia is merely an illusion and he is nothing but a dream peddler.

Has Najib got what it takes to execute his plans? Does he dare to forge ahead or is he held back by fears of lack of support? Even schoolchildren these days are chanting “1Malaysia, 1Malaysia” but when they grow up, they may say, “Now what was that all about?”

Lack of clear-cut policies

Najib must carve out his own destiny, implement his ideals and fulfil his dreams of making Malaysia a great nation.

But he must also realise that he is being bogged down by those around him. The choice is his to be known as a glorious statesman or to go down in history as a weak leader manipulated by all those (political advisers as well as party warlords) around him who can sabotage him by giving bad advice on the implementation and execution of policies as well as through their own cunning devices.

His inability to control the likes of Muhyiddin, Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan and other ultras in Umno from going off-tangent with his 1Malaysia slogan is clear evidence that he is not in control.

The prime minister has therefore significantly displayed his weak leadership skills and these warlords are hovering over him like vultures as they go on preying on the non-Malays.

Najib must wake up to the fact that his 1Malaysia slogan will be perceived as mere rhetoric if he does not put it back on track.

No doubt there are some political observers who have maliciously opined that Najib has assigned to the warlords the task of wooing the Malays by bashing the non-Malays.

Whether there is any truth to this observation is anyone’s guess, but Najib is certainly not doing himself any favours by his lack of clear-cut policies and contradictory stand which sends mixed signals to the more discerning members of the public.

In the ongoing Umno general assembly, Najib said that there should be no backstabbing by anyone. Perhaps so. Hopefully, he will not live to see the day when he has to say: “Et tu,…?”

Selena Tay believes in Pakatan Rakyat’s reform policies. She is an FMT columnist.