Najib blames slander as cause of BN's defeat

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed that the reason for BN's defeat in the 14th general election was due to slander by the coalition's opponents.

"An attacking campaign that is personal in nature, that spread slander and heat and make sweet promises that cannot be fulfilled has, unfortunately, cause Umno and BN's defeat in this general election," he told a gathering of his supporters in Pekan today.

Najib, who is also the Pekan MP, said winning and losing is part of any contest and he could accept it if the opposing side had a better agenda.

"Instead, it was not about policy or agenda, it was a campaign to sully leaders and to make sweet but empty promises.

"I feel slighted by this. Not because of the defeat but because of the misrepresentation of facts.

"This isn't fair in a democracy. It is not a contestation of ideas but we have bought into fake news," he said to some 500 people.

In retrospect, Najib said perhaps he should have adopted machiavellian politics.

"Perhaps I was mistaken, perhaps I should have taken an approach where the ends justify the means - machiavellian politics," he said.

Najib also questioned whether the 1MDB investigation against him was sincere.

He complained that police raids against him had even taken items belonging to his children.

"What does 1MDB has to do with my children's shoes?

"What do wedding gifts (for my children) have to do with 1MDB?" he said.

Meanwhile, Bandar Tun Razak MCA chief Chew Yin Kee blamed Najib and the 1MDB scandal for BN's defeat.

"It is well-known fact that the main reason for the defeat and the loss of federal power by BN in the general election was the scandals surrounding the outgoing prime minister Najib and his family members, especially the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion political donation," he said in a statement.

He added that other factors included the rising cost of living due to the goods and services tax (GST) which Najib introduced in 2015. -Mkini