Category: Najib Razak

by Bridget Welsh
Guardian
Tuesday 14 April 2009

After appointing a lacklustre cabinet, Malaysia’s new prime minister refused to answer questions from the media

Malaysia’s sixth prime minister, Najib Tun Abdul Razak took office earlier this month, replacing Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In Najib’s first week, he failed key tests that show he can be his own man. He lost important by-elections, failed to address persistent scandals and selected a cabinet of lacklustre appointees that has not evoked confidence. He ran away from the press, declining to address basic questions about his government.

This poor beginning raises serious questions about his leadership and calls into question his ability to deliver on the reforms that are critical for Malaysia’s future. Continue reading “Najib’s disappointing start”

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet failed to live up to the hype of “lean” though it may be “mean”, setting a dubious Cabinet record of using the “back door of Parliament” to bring into the government the biggest crop of defeated candidates in the previous general election – namely Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin which does not speak well for the government’s commitment to accountability and democracy.

If Najib wants the Cabinet to be really “lean”, he should have slashed the 32-strong Abdullah Ministers by at least one-third!
All the blurb about downsizing Abdullah’s second 67-strong Cabinet (32 Ministers and 35 Deputy Ministers) has not really borne fruit, as Najib has produced a bigger 68-strong Cabinet with 28 Ministers and 40 Deputy Ministers although there are four Ministers less.

Najib has appointed even more Ministers and Deputy Ministers than Mahathir’s last Cabinet after the 1999 general election, when there were only 27 Ministers and 27 Deputy Ministers, together with 15 Parliamentary Secretaries.

Najib’s unveiling of his Cabinet has set another record, being the worst public relations (PR) disaster in the nation’s history.
Najib’s P.R. advisers should be sacked for it was completely overshadowed by the ghost of murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu after the morning’s High Court conviction and death sentence for policemen Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar for her C4 murder. Continue reading “Najib Cabinet not “lean”, may be “mean” – announcement overshadowed by ghost of Altantuya”

The end of the murder trial of the century in the Shah Alam High Court this morning, with policemen Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, and then blowing up her body in a jungle clearing on Oct 19, 2006, is not going to end public fixation with any Altantuya-Najib nexus in national and international circles.

The question that is inevitably asked is who could be behind the two Bukit Aman Special Action Squad (UTK) cops’ C4 murder of Altantuya.

Those who had thought that the end of the Altantuya murder trial, with the conviction and death sentence pronounced on Azila and Sirul, would end national and international fixation with any connection of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the Altantuya murder case cannot be more wrong.

While Azilah and Sirul would appeal against the mandatory death sentence upon conviction under Section 149 of the Penal Code, their conviction and death sentence have not lessened but intensified public demands and necessity for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into swirling allegations of Najib’s involvement in the Altantuya’s C4 murder case. Continue reading “Death for Azilah/Sirul – intensify demand for RCI into allegations of Najib’s involvement in Altantuya C4 murder case”

The country is inundated with rumous and speculations about the first Najib Cabinet which may be unveiled tomorrow.

According to one report, as many as 10 Umno Cabinet Ministers may be dropped and among those named in this category are Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, who has already tendered his resignation, and Second Finance Minister Datuk Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Tourism Minister Datuk Azalina Othman, Energy, Water and communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique, Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin and Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik.

The Najib Cabinet is expected to be leaner than the Abdullah Cabinet.

MCA is reported to be demanding that a new post of a Chinese Deputy Prime Minister be created while MIC wants to have a second Cabinet appointment.

The first Abdullah Cabinet appointed after the Barisan Nasional landslide general election victory in March 2004 was a great disappointment – laying the seeds of the failure and downfall of the Abdullah premiership. Continue reading “Najib Cabinet – can it pass the test of being clean and the slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”?”

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been sworn in as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, fulfilling the most famous political prophecy of RAHMAN on the first six Prime Ministers, although time will tell whether Najib will be the shortest-serving Prime Minister marking the end of the line of UMNO Prime Ministers in the country.

What is incontrovertible is that never before in the nation’s 53-year history has the ascension of a new Prime Minister in Malaysia been surrounded by so many questions, doubts and allegations raising serious questions about his suitability, credibility, integrity and legitimacy as in Najib’s case, not only among Malaysians transcending race, religion, political affiliation or region, but also internationally.

For the past month, Najib’s ascension as the new Prime Minister has been reported extensively in the international press and foreign countries, but there has not been one serious write-up which had not referred to the grave allegations hounding and haunting Najib, in particular the serious allegations about the C4 murder case of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shariibuu and the French submarine mega-defence commission.

These personal dilemmas of Najib have from today become national nightmares as they concern the honour of the highest political office of the land and that of the nation.

Is Najib just going to ignore these serious swirling doubts and allegations about his suitability, credibility, integrity and legitimacy as Prime Minister and soldier on regardless or is he finally going to end his denial and address these issues in a credible manner as by setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to put these doubts and allegations to rest, once and for all?

The timing of Najib’s takeover as Prime Minister could not have been worse, coming hours after Malaysia had been placed in the four-nation blacklist of non-cooperative tax havens by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) for breaching international tax standards – as Najib had taken over the finance ministry since last September.

With the country facing the worst global economic crisis in a century, Malaysia needs a Prime Minister who can rally and mobilise Malaysians as one people to tide through a grave recession looming in the months ahead. Continue reading “Najib’s first test as PM on his “One Malaysian” concept – halt Umno’s irresponsible, destructive by-election campaign labelling majority of PR voters as anti-Sultan”