‘Why insult the voters?’ - Najib asks Kadir

 

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak took a swipe at veteran journalist Abdul Kadir Jasin after the latter took to social media to vent his disappointment on the Malacca state election result.

“Pak Kadir, why come to the point of insulting the voters? Are you angry?” Najib said on Facebook in response to Kadir’s post.

Kadir earlier had vented on his frustration over the Malacca state election result and said Malaccans may have been “condemned centuries ago to live in darkness and subjugation forever”.

He said BN’s victory in Malacca was not an outcome to be honoured or humoured as the turnout was low, at 65.85 percent and the resurgence of “kleptocratic BN” could nullify all efforts to reform the government and rid the country of corruption.

“Hopefully, the folly of the Malaccans in endorsing the kleptocrats and members of the court cluster will not become a nationwide pandemic.

“Maybe the Malaccans had been condemned centuries ago to live in darkness and subjugation forever,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.

Kadir Jasin

His remark drew the condemnation of others, including Najib and Umno supreme council leader Puad Zarkarshi.

“Such narrow thinking Kadir. Blaming Malaccans who exercised their democratic rights to choose a stable government. Malaccans don’t want to enter the lizard hole twice.

“Malaccans are tired and bored with empty and unrealised promises, lying government, selective prosecution, weak majority, and instability.

“That is why they gave a two-thirds majority to BN. So who’s the fool? Malacca or Kadir Jasin who still cites Najib every day? Malaccans will live in darkness if they’re still under Harapan,” Puad rebuked.

Aside from his attacks on BN, Kadir in his post also mentioned Harapan’s poor performance in the election, saying a new leadership is needed for the coalition.

“The dismal showing by Harapan reinforces the widely held view that its ageing leadership can no longer fire the imagination of the voters.

“As much as we want to see the BN and Umno liberating themselves from the clutches of the corrupt, we also would like to see Harapan being led by younger, baggage-free leaders.

“It’s heart-wrenching to see bright young leaders growing old and becoming disenchanted because the incumbents are unwilling to make way for them,” he said.

Kadir added that the future for PN and Bersatu is unconvincing, and he will not be surprised if PAS gravitates back to Umno after its poor showing in Malacca.

BN retook Malacca with a two-thirds majority in the state election held on Saturday, winning 21 seats in total, while Harapan won five seats, down from 15 in the previous GE.

Federal opposition leader and Harapan president Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR was wiped out, while DAP and Amanah saw its seats reduced by half.

PN, on the other hand, managed to secure two seats thanks to Bersatu, while its two other component parties PAS and Gerakan failed to win any seat.  - Mkini