Najib like Hang Tuah, only missed after he is gone: Puteri Umno chief

 

Former Umno president Najib Razak is like the legendary Malay warrior Hang Tuah who is missed after he is gone, according to Puteri Umno chief Zahida Zarik Khan.

In her policy speech at the wing’s assembly in Kuala Lumpur this morning, she said Najib - who is a serving a 12-year prison sentence - is a victim of character assassination and the ultimate aim was to weaken Umno.

Zahida said the Umno-led BN government was defeated in the 14th general election because of its adversaries’ relentless personal attacks against Najib as he was the party’s “most effective weapon”.

“But look at the results of the seven by-elections that followed after the general election as well as the Malacca and Johor state elections.

“The most effective weapon we had was this person whom we called ‘Bossku’ and he was the leader most feared by our foes. With only his Facebook account as a weapon, he had caused two prime ministers to fall.

“Getting rid of ‘Bossku’ was the most important strategy to weaken Umno and BN. And they have succeeded,” she added.

Umno failed in offense

Zahida also linked Najib’s imprisonment to Umno and BN’s dismal performance in the 15th general election.

“I am not blaming anyone or trying to nitpick about what has happened. (But) was the plan to hold GE15 after ‘Bossku’ was imprisoned from us or was it something that had been strategised by our enemies?” she asked.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and those aligned to him had been instrumental in pressuring former premier Ismail Sabri Yaakob to hold an early polls.

Zahida said Umno has been successful in creating leaders but failed on the offensive front.

She said Umno members were weak in defending their leaders against personal attacks unlike its foes who would go all out to defend their leaders.

“Look at them (Umno’s enemies), they lost in many elections but did not pressure their presidents to step down.

“We do not want to be like crabs inside a bucket where when one of us tries to get out, others would bring it down.

“We should find ways to support our leaders to make them stronger, not weaken them. Any action that can weaken our party must be avoided.

“This is why Umno ias becoming weaker by the day. We only appreciate our leaders when we have lost them.

“This was what happened to the ‘Bossku phenomenon, which our enemies understand very well but was underutilised by us.

“Like the tale of Hang Tuah, who was only missed when the people were in difficult times,” she added. - Mkini