Aspan: PM Najib needs to follow his own advice

Najib can draw inspiration from his speech on the importance of knowing Islam's true message.

KUALA LUMPUR: One would hope that Najib Razak was advising himself when he spoke of the importance of knowing the true message of Islam, political observer Aspan Alias says in a blog posting that analyses the Prime Minister’s address to welcome the new Hijrah year.

“He said all the right things, but the question is whether he has himself obeyed the injunctions of Islam,” Aspan writes.

He acknowledges that the speech might have been prepared for Najib by his writers, but he urges him to heed its contents and to search his soul to determine whether his administration aligns itself with Islamic teachings.

Aspan poses several questions, including the following:

• Is it Islamic to squander public funds?
• Was the Prime Minister being true to Islam when he decided to make himself an important decision maker for 1MDB?
• Does Islam sanction the act of displacing officers in the Special Task Force on 1MDB to thwart investigations into the company’s affairs?

Aspan also says Najib must explain why certain individuals fled the country in the wake of investigations into 1MDB if they have nothing to hide in the issue of money laundering.

He accuses Barisan Nasional BackBenchers’ Club Chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad of trying to divert the public’s attention from important issues by accusing Najib’s critics of harbouring personal agendas.

He says Shahrir should in fact help in the hunt for alleged fugitives like SRC International Managing Director Nik Faizal Ariff Nik Othman Kamil and SRC Director Suboh Mohd Yassin.

“Shahrir should also do some research in Singapore to find out why the political donation had to be sent to the city state and has now been frozen by the authorities there.”

Aspan says it is precisely because Najib is in a position of leadership that he feels it is important to remind him of the obligations of a leader according to Islam. He says he’s anxious to dispel any impression that Islam sanctions the abuses that the Prime Minister has been accused of committing.