Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin has outlined the reasons that differentiate Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Abdul Razak, with regard to ousting them from power.

Among others, he cited their better halves.

Kadir, who is close to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said compared to Abdullah, who is fondly known as Pak Lah, Najib would be a tough nut to crack.

"Pak Lah did not have an ambitious wife," he added in an obvious swipe at Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor, who often courts negative press for her alleged extravagance.

Kadir took another jab at Rosmah and her family when arguing that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is the natural choice to succeed Najib if the latter steps down.

"His wife is likeable and his children are rarely seen or heard of. The only one the public knows is Najwa Mahiaddin because she is a singer and songwriter," he said in a blog post.

'DPM is scandal free'

The former News Straits Times group editor in chief said it was easy to show Abdullah the exit because he did not have many apple polishers or "jemuan " (shameless people).

"He had health issues. His did not have a support base as strong as Najib.

"Umno divisional, state and federal leaders were then less hypocritical and there was still some ' perjuangan ' (struggle) left,” he added.

As for Muhyiddin, Kadir considered him the best person to take over from Najib and stands a good chance of consolidating Umno as well as returning Malay support.

"He hasn’t been embroiled in a major controversy of the proportion of 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad),” he said, adding that Muhyiddin hailing from a religious family could also work to his advantage.

However, Kadir said Muhyiddin might not get the stamp of approval from non-Malays because he openly acknowledged that he is Malay first and Malaysian second.

"So he may not get full backing from the non-Malay parties of BN, but he can count on the support of the ' anak negeri ' parties in Sarawak," he added.

PM is Pakatan's 'silver bullet'

Agreeing with Mahathir, the veteran newsman said if Najib survived this challenge, it would come at the expense of BN losing in the next general election.

"The redrawing of election boundaries could be to the advantage of BN in the rural areas but may no be enough to offset voters’ rebellion," he added.

Should he resign, Kadir pointed out that the opposition would lose its "silver bullet".

"Things would be worse for the opposition if Muhyiddin succeeds in improving the affairs of the state. 1MDB will remain a major systemic risk but the new prime minister stands a better chance of sorting it out because he is not directly involved in creating the mess.

"Pakatan Rakyat can hope to build upon its sterling 2013 performance only if it thinks and acts beyond Anwar Ibrahim, and play down ideological differences among member parties and concentrate on issues that they can agree on, especially the economy," he added.

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