Najib lied about supporting Mahathir in 1987

Anwar Ibrahim put pressure on Najib who was playing safe by supporting Tengku Razaleigh.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Information Chief Zainuddin Maidin, taking issue with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s speech in Tawau on Sunday, said the latter was “lying” when he claimed that he supported then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during the stiff 1987 Umno presidential election.

He added that he knew what was going on as he was then heading the Editorial Department at Utusan Malaysia.

“I checked Najib’s speech in Tawau with a former high-ranking Umno leader,” said Zainuddin. “The fact is that it was Anwar Ibrahim who put pressure on Najib, who was playing safe, to support Mahathir. Until then, he was backing Tengku Razaleigh.”

Wading into Najib’s pledge in Tawau that he would not concede and quit as Prime Minister on the grounds that he still had the support of the party and the people, Zainuddin added that he did not have the support of the Indians and Chinese unlike Mahathir. “Mahathir may have faced a divided party in 1987 but the fact is that overall he had the support of the people.”

“The position of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Parliament was strong.”

The same, he reiterated, cannot be said of Najib. “His meeting with the Umno divisional chiefs in Putrajaya on Monday evening would have to consider his weaknesses.”

“The transformation that he has been preaching did not result in an increase in the confidence and respect of the people for his leadership. Instead, there has been an erosion of support.”

Zainuddin expressed the hope that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin, among others, would stay the course demanding that Najib account for himself. “They should not appear only brave outside but afraid inside.”

He cited Mahathir, Syed Hamid Albar and Syed Jaafar Albar as examples of Malays of Indian (Mahathir) and Arab origin who have contributed more than others to the Malay cause. “We must pray for Mahathir, who is in Mecca, so that he will succeed in what he has set out to do.”