MP Ariff says Najib lacks smarts

He can't grasp the bigger picture of nation building.

PETALING JAYA: Raub MP Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, in his continuing attack on Najib Razak’s leadership of the country, has said the Prime Minister lacked intellectual rigour.

That is why, said the DAP man in his latest blog entry, Najib “can’t grasp the bigger picture of nation building, which requires more democracy where it is needed, order when it is appropriately required [and] a corruption-free civil service”.

He mocked Najib’s transformation programmes as “acronymic initiatives” and “a series of marketing gimmicks”.

“After five years, the country has not transformed into what the various acronyms promised. The country is divided along racial, religious, and social lines; the security of this country breached so many times,” he said.

He also accused the Prime Minister of neglecting to take “tough measures” when necessary, such as when Jakim officials defied civil authorities.

“Najib should have these people arrested,” he said. “Not doing so has created uncertainty over the laws of this nation. This is not an Islamic state. I am sorry to say this to my Muslim brothers in Malaysia.”

Ariff alleged that Najib has done “nothing” about the “non-extraordinary” growth of the economy, rising public debt, the “astronomical” growth of public debt and the rise of “religious bigotry and pettiness”.

He noted that the international media saw Najib as inadequate when comparing him to newly installed Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. “That’s humbling to us Malaysians,” he said. “Jokowi was a furniture trader. Najib is a scion of an aristocratic family, the product of British education, yet pales in comparison with Wak Jokowi.

“While Indonesia is adopting openness and meritocracy and more democracy, Malaysia is reversing. Malaysia is introverted, becoming more tight fisted and petty. The main reason for this reversal is the weak leadership of Najib. He is assertive on the wrong things and not on the fundamentals of nation building. He is expansive on the petty things and not on the factors that really contribute to the nation’s advancement.”