PETALING JAYA: An analyst has credited former prime minister Najib Razak with being a consistent voice against the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government despite the controversies that have dogged him since Barisan Nasional’s (BN) defeat in the May 9 polls.
Awang Azman Awang Pawi of Universiti Malaya said most people did not want to see a political narrative dominated only by PH.
“The people want checks and balances in the country’s administration,” he told FMT.
“Najib is not the strongest opposition as he is shrouded by many issues and court charges, and often blames the purported lies and slander of PH for Umno and BN’s loss in the last general election.
“But at least there is a voice continuously trying to express his views, even if it is not convincing.”
Awang was responding to a two-hour session recently held by Najib at the Putra World Trade Centre, where the former leader told a crowd of some 1,000 people that lies and falsehoods had led to his coalition’s defeat in the 14th general election.
He said PH was blaming him and 1MDB for everything that was wrong with the country and attacked the new government for failing to fulfil its election promises, citing the higher studies loan and the pledge to bring down the price of petrol to RM1.50.
However, he denied saying that 1MDB was not a factor in BN’s election loss, following criticism from Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin and BN secretary-general Nazri Aziz.
Awang said Najib had freedom of speech, adding that the people could evaluate for themselves the relevance of what he said.
He suggested that the former prime minister could be trying to stay relevant following his fall from power.
“Najib knows that if he does not speak up in the media, he will be very quickly forgotten, more so when he has so many charges against him.
“This is why he feels that he needs to stay alive by giving all sorts of views on the current issues affecting the country.”
He said Najib might even be mistaken for the opposition leader, a role currently held by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. At least Najib was consistent in his views, he added.
On the rousing response the former prime minister had received at the session on Saturday, Awang said this showed that Najib still had a large following despite those who had deserted him after the election.
However, he added that some of those present at the session might simply have been curious to see how Najib was doing after losing power. -FMT
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