The self-sabotaging Najib

In his address to the nation, he once again failed to answer questions Malaysians are asking.

COMMENT

Our Prime Minister finally broke his silence last Tuesday night and tried to convince the nation that his government is on the right track. He showed off positive figures on the Government Transformation Programme, boasting that it has delivered 87% of 573 Key Performance Indicators set for 2014. It was an obvious attempt at putting on a game face in the midst of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s onslaught.

Impressive indeed, Prime Minister, impressive indeed, if we take those numbers at face value. However, giving us the GTP numbers does not answer the questions that have been raised by Mahathir and countless others.

Najib instead blew his own horn, never stepping on ground on which devils fear to tread, coming off once again as incapable and unaccountable to the people.

How many times must we ask about 1MDB, about the increasing racial and religious tension in Malaysia, about the GST before we get concrete answers from the man at the top? The calls for answers grow stronger every day, and it is mind boggling that Najib can brush them off like so much lint on his custom tailored suits. The opacity of his administration only makes his claims at transparency increasingly laughable, and his continued ducking of the issues chips away at any support he may have left among the people.

Thus, this is the only conclusion we can draw: our Prime Minister is a lost cause. If there was any doubt on whether Najib or Mahathir would win the battle they are engaged in, that doubt has been cleared in the light of his failure to acknowledge his desperate position. Good intentions for the nation or not, Najib has failed once again to make a case for himself on a national stage.

As a nation, we are more divided than we ever have been at any time in our history, or at least since May 1969. The cost of living has skyrocketed with the implementation of the GST. The 1MDB remains a source of concern, with billions of ringgit apparently disappearing down a black hole. The BR1M is a joke if it is meant to lower poverty levels on a meaningful scale, and Vision 2020 looks dimmer than ever.

The Prime Minister had a chance to establish himself as the top dog and to clear doubts from the minds of the people with regard to his suitability for his position. The people expected more than the usual self-praise evident in government addresses. As the Prime Minister, with access to a multitude of media platforms, he could have asserted himself in a convincing way to alleviate the fears of his supporters. But no, he chose to run.

Despite his loud declaration that he will not step down, Najib’s grip on the Prime Ministership is slipping, and slipping fast. Mahathir or no Mahathir, he’s done for. He is doing a good enough job of sabotaging himself that it is only a matter of time before he loses the position he so dearly loves. No amount of stubbornness and tantrums can change that.