Najib, BN will be around next elections, says Kadir Jasin

Umno and Barisan Nasional will cling to power in the next general election through money politics, says a veteran newsman. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 26, 2015. 

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not going away any time soon, and neither will the ruling Barisan Nasional pact be replaced at the next general election, said veteran newsman Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.

Writing in his blog today, the former New Straits Times Group editor-in-chief said this was because ruling Malay party Umno would use money and power to garner votes, while instilling fear in the Malays that they were in danger of being “swept away” by the minority Chinese.

“There are enough people around the prime minister who believe that with money and political power, they can continue to marshal enough rural votes in the name of the survival of the bangsa (race) to cling on to power.

“Najib’s emotive use of ‘bangsat’ is bound to find currency with many rural Malays. Najib himself believes that if he could hang on to power until the next GE to lead BN to victory.

“So those who think that Najib will be done away with soon and BN will be gone in the next GE better think twice. 

“For as long as he can get half of the pak cik, mak cik, Orang Asli, rural folk and Felda settlers to side with him, Umno would be returned to power and his position would then be unassailable. He would be vindicated.”

He said all Najib needed to do in the meantime was to ensure that no criminal action was taken against him, and BN lawmakers were kept in check to avoid either defections or a vote of no-confidence.

Citing as example the September 16 “red shirt” rally which the organisers could convince people to join, Kadir said, there was nothing to stop the same modus operandi being used to win the next general election.

“Najib’s motto – money is king – sells well with the poor Malays in the villages and Felda settlements. With continued depression in commodity prices and rise in the cost of living due to the fall of the ringgit and the imposition of the GST (good and services tax), the power of money is even stronger among the rural poor. Impoverishing the people has its merit.”

Najib did not need the “clever Malays” or the urbanites, knowing that he could not spook nor threaten them into submission by spreading fear, he added.

However, Kadir said, Najib, his party and the government were losing on the media front as the mainstream media were losing readership and in financial dire straits.

He said their integrity and reporting standards had fallen with their defence of Najib and his government crumbling in every suit they lost.

In contrast, independent media, such as Malay daily Sinar Harian and business publications under The Edge media group, were gaining ground, with more people also going online to use blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

“Attempts by Najib and his backers to use these platforms, starting from the 2013 GE, had not been a sterling success. Instead, their sites are being used by the people to pour scorn on them.”

- TMI