YOURSAY 'Najib is not known to be a risk-taker ever since he was elected as an MP at the age of 23. He is more of a fence sitter.'

Contest in a '1Malaysia' seat, Nurul Izzah tells Najib

your say Milosevic: This is a case of one dynasty challenging another. One represents a decaying force, the other by default looks good.

Just as Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar challenges PM Najib Razak, she should challenge herself to come up with clear, universal principles to frame a multi-racial, multi-religious society operating in a globalised world.

It's easy to play political games with Umno since they are decrepit, but what is the highest principle Nurul has formulated to deal with the right of each human being to be treated with respect and equality, including his/her beliefs?

I still cannot gain a deep sense of her father's beliefs, for as everyone knows he speaks different tongues to different audiences, and was pushed to be a reformer. The daughter should go beyond her dad, and stick out her neck to define her political philosophy bravely (not the usual easy populism).

Much of the rakyat wants change, but she should try harder.

Swipenter: Najib is not known to be a risk-taker/fighter ever since he was elected as an MP at the age of 23. He is more of a fence sitter and procrastinator.

He is not decisive and never stick to any principle, a teflon PM and a crowd pleaser with not much substance in deeds but plenty of hot air when making speeches.

All his speeches are written to suit the kind of audience he is addressing. So he becomes an ultra-Malay when addressing a Malay audience and a moderate urbane Malay when addressing a predominantly a non-Malay audience on even the same subject.

Just take a look at his track record as PM - say one thing and do otherwise. In a mixed urban seat like Lembah Pantai, he stands a very poor chance of winning.

Abasir: Swipenter, that sounds like the most fitting 'epitaph' for the country's first unelected Umno PM. It is an almost apt description of the man. It would be perfect if you had included a line or two about his 'morals'.

Reborn: Nurul should ask her father to go to Pekan. There he can show Malaysians that he is a better PM than Najib and can defeat him anywhere. This little girl is ‘kurang ajar', and thinks the polls are a game for her to play.

Bender: What's wrong with you, Reborn? I think YB Nurul posed a legitimate challenge. Najib is secured all these years in his Pekan constituency, scoring victory after victory without much sweat.

The reason for the victories does not lies with him as a candidate, but rather it's in the constituency itself. Not that there's anything wrong with such constituencies, except for the fact that it has 93 percent Malay voters, which translates into a sure-win for Najib while at the same time represents a mockery to Najib's 1Malaysia initiative.

I bet if Anwar were given such an easy inroad, he would be a no-sweat candidate as well. But let's not forget, the issue raised by YB Nurul is not about the easy inroad but rather that Najib is not putting the money where his mouth is.

And that is just shameful for a man who always blabbering about his 1-whatnot slogan, but never have the balls to make it real.

SusahKes: I don't think Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, will be the ultimate cause of Umno's downfall. Instead, it will be former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who would bear that mark over his head.

From the time he began the dismantling of the judiciary and other apparatuses of civil check and balance, Mahathir had unwittingly signed Umno's death warrant. He fed the cancer further by allowing a culture of corruption-infested cronyism to fill Umno's nebula.

It's common knowledge today that if Mahathir didn't resign as PM, Umno would have sunk in 2004. The mandate given to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was a signal for a fresh start and a goodbye kiss to the Mahathir years.

Rosmah and Najib - whatever scandal they pile up in their closet - is but a testimony to the culture that Mahathir encouraged. And with his incessant poking into the affairs of Umno and the nation, he is hastening the party's demise.

I only feel baffled that the real Melayu in Umno would allow a ‘not-so-tulen' Melayu to destroy their party.

Sincere Citizen: In 1976, Najib was selected to run for the seat in Parliament left vacant by his father's death.

The national outpouring of grief following Tun Razak's death and the respect for his father helped Najib win the election unopposed as member of parliament at the very young age of 23.

In 1986, Najib won re-election to the same seat. During the 1999 general elections, Najib suffered a major setback when he barely won re-election by a margin of 241 votes compared to a margin of over 10,000 in the previous election. Although a surprise to political observers, it was understandable given the political upheavals of 1999.

The 2004 general elections, which came a few months after Najib's appointment as deputy prime minister, saw him re-elected with a very large margin of 22,922 votes.

In the 2008 general election, Najib won with a majority of 26,464 votes. It was the largest majority for any BN candidate and he won handily despite a poor showing by the ruling coalition..

Sadirah: Najib represents politicians who are reliant on their speech writers.

There is nothing consistent in what he utters. Here was a man who could have used the 1Malaysia agenda to mould the multi-ethnic community in Malaysia but fails desperately because of the racial mould of his thinking.

He nearly lost in Pekan two elections ago and managed to maintain his position purely through postal votes. He would not have the guts to take on an urban seat and jeopardise his political future.

What I have so far seen of the man and his utterances only revel the low calibre of the politician he is in reality. Malaysia, where is the leadership?

Changeagent: Pekan has 93 percent Malay voters, 2.7 percent Chinese and one percent Indian. Najib will argue that he is already contesting in a mixed constituency.

 

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