Najib the "lap dog poodle" of Dr M's: Debate exposes the real coward in BN is Umno

As expected, after making a grand show of support for the Great Chinese Debate between the MCA and DAP, Prime Minister Najib Razak found himself forced to crawl away tail between the legs after ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad slammed the door on the possibility of a similar contest between Najib and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

"Najib has proven what I warned all along, he is just Mahathir's lap dog poodle. Who better to take on the PM of any nation than the Opposition Leader of the same nation? Even the mahasiswa (undergraduates) know this, but Ku Nan, the Umno sec-gen, can only refer Anwar to Saiful? This only shows the low class mentality of the Umno leaders," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Ku Nan is also belittling debate, which is a communications tool and a public policy used at all levels, from schools to universities right up to the highest levels of government and politics. Should we now refer Najib to have a debate with Altantuya otherwise her soul won't be able to rest in peace? It will be very interesting to watch the people's reaction. Najib's fear of Anwar and Dr M is very clear to for all see."

Najib should then debate Altantuya through her father

Tian was referring to Tengku Adnan, who a day ago rushed to protect Najib from accusations of cowardice by trying to point the gun at Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the complainant in a trumped-up sodomy case against Anwar, whom the courts have already declared innocent and free of guilt. Nevertheless, with the Pakatan Rakyat resurgent, Najib's government is appealing the verdict and trying to put the Opposition Leader behind bars before the 13th general election, widely expected to be held later this year.

Altantuya Shaariibuu was a 28-year-old Mongolian woman murdered in Malaysia in 2006 by two of Najib's former bodyguards. She was allegedly involved in Najib's procurement of two Scorpene submarines and had purportedly been his mistress before he passed her onto his friend, Razak Baginda. She had come to Malaysia to chase for her share of a RM570 million commission that Najib has been accused of taking from the vendor of the submarines, DCN.

It was to cover the corruption behind the deal that Altantuya was believed to have been murdered, and it is startling that while the court found the bodyguards guilty, there was no stated motive and the defense lawyers were even barred from asking their clients if they had been paid to assassinate Altantuya.

"I don't see any need for the debate between Datuk Seri Najib and Anwar, but if Anwar wants to debate, I can arrange for him to debate with his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan," Ku Nan had in an interview posted on UMNO-Online Tuesday.

Ku Nan was responding to a formal letter of invitation to Najib to debate Anwar from PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasutionl. His shockingly ungracious reply is bound to boomerang especially since student leaders in the country have been petitioning for a debate between the country's top 2 Malay leaders.

"It reflects the level of the Umno sec-gen, flip flopping from initial remarks and ignoring Anwar's innocence which has already been declared by a proper court of the land. Umno continues to be stuck in the low-level politics of the past," PKR communications director Nik Nazmi told Malaysia Chronicle.

Top Malays leaders in Umno less brave than even Chua Soi Lek

Ku Nan had in the aftermath of the Lim Guan Eng-Chua Soi Lek debate on Saturday congratulated his BN colleague and also indicated that more debates would follow. However, Mahathir Mohamad stepped in and Ku Nan was left to scramble to change his stance.

Showing a distinct lack of confidence in Najib, Mahathir said an Anwar-Najib debate would not be useful as Malaysian were not mature enough to gauge the political worthiness of the contestants. "The Malaysian public is not yet that mature. This is not America. And even in America, the debates all expose how stupid the candidates are, that’s all,” Mahathir told reporters late on Monday.

The Najib fiasco underscores the lack of talent in Umno. Anwar is a gifted orator and so is Guan Eng, who despite a clearly uneven playing field managed to outclass Soi Lek, who resorted to using an unruly crowd to cheer for him and jeer at Guan Eng. Even so, the step forward in democracy was hailed by many in the BN.

"In August 2008, Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon also took on Lim Guan Eng for a debate at the DBP (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka) auditorium, several months after he was defeated in the general election. Many other BN leaders such as Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow, Minister in the Prime Minister's Deparmtent Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Shabery Chik had also debated with opposition leaders before," Bernama reported Gerakan deputy president Chang Ko Youn as saying.

Apart from Umno, the other party that rushed to condemn the debate and declare that it would not participate in any such contest was the MIC.

From such a snapshot, it certainly looks like the Chinese leaders in the BN are braver than their Malay counterparts in Umno, despite the latter's penchant to hold rowdy street protests, brandishing the keris or Malay sword and threatening to shed the blood of others to defend their community's 'sovereignty' and 'supremacy'.

Malaysia Chronicle