Will Najib survive Dr Mahathir’s attacks?

Stephen NgPublished: Apr 7, 2015 3:32 PM | Updated: Apr 7, 2015 7:21 PM

COMMENT It has taken several months for Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prepare his onslaught.

Chances are that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will not survive his sixth month following his sixth year in office. Najib is also the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.

COMMENT It has taken several months for Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prepare his onslaught.

Chances are that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will not survive his sixth month following his sixth year in office. Najib is also the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.

Although Dr Mahathir may have lost his popularity, but within the rank and file in Umno, he still wields a lot of support, as well as from outside the party.

For example, when Dr Mahathir demanded an answer from Najib on who killed Mongolian model, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar immediately cleared him of sedition - although it is not his role, but rather the attorney-general’s - to decide whether the blog post was seditious or not.

Even the most ‘militant’ of Najib’s divisional leader, Cheras Umno division leader Syed Ali Alhabshee ( left ) had to play down the war between Dr Mahathir and Najib, instead of attacking the former prime minister.

Khairy Jamaluddin, who had faced the heat of Dr Mahathir’s attacks in the past, merely uttered a few words in response to the attack, trying to play the game right with both veterans.

Some may argue that the strategies used by Dr Mahathir are the same as what he had used when he attacked Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) previously, but the big difference now is that Dr Mahathir is likely to use the strongest allegations that he could find against Najib. This is because, unlike Abdullah Badawi, Najib had never indicated that he would step down.

Subtle pressure has also been stepped up by Umno parliamentarians including Johor Baru MP Shahrir Samad, who had resigned as public accounts committee (PAC) chairperson the moment Najib became premier.

For once, Najib will find that silence is not golden after all, especially since he has been linked to a high-profile murder case by one of his predecessors and nemesis.

Najib’s biggest mistake was to imprison opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and throw over 100 people behind bars for opposing the government. He is now being isolated, and facing the biggest attack any prime minister had ever received.

Najib’s Achilles heel

In his most recent attack, Dr Mahathir dropped hints that even Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor will not be spared as he steps up his campaign against Najib.

The No 2 wife of Najib has courted controversies and often brought embarrassment to Najib’s public office. To Dr Mahathir, Rosmah ( right ) is Najib’s Achilles’ heel, which will eventually be Najib’s downfall. Being a veteran politician himself, Dr Mahathir will undoubtedly go for Najib’s weakest spot to hit him.

It will not be surprising that, since Lance Corporal Rohaniza Roslan, who accompanied now convicted murderers Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Lance Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar to apprehend Altantuya Shariibuu, was in fact a bodyguard to Rosmah.

When attacking Abdullah in the past, Dr Mahathir had trained his guns against Khairy Jamaluddin and the fourth floor boys. They were the policymakers during Pak Lah’s time. Because of the frequent attacks, Abdullah Badawi had to finally give in.

The rationale is simple - if Pak Lah was unable to control his own son-in-law, there was no way he could administer the country. Likewise, if Najib could not even control his wife, how could he even set directions for the country?

No matter how strong Najib may be, or how well he is insulated within the fortress, when he is hit at the Archilles’ heel, he will be brought down. This is one reason why Dr Mahathir would not hesitate to use Najib’s biggest and most personal weakness to attack him.

Rosmah will not escape Dr Mahathir’s ranting. Her lavish lifestyle has already raised an eyebrow especially to the ordinary citizens, who are now saddled with the goods and services tax (GST).

When Umno Baru is being attacked by the man who founded the party himself in 1987, Umno will not be able to defend its current president, no matter how insulated he is from the criticisms from Dr Mahathir.

Dr Mahathir understands Umno inside out, and how to manoeuvre his way around. Like it or not, even though Dr Mahathir may have lost his popularity from the general population, his power base within Umno is still intact.

Moreover, Najib’s position was never the result of the people’s mandate, but a decision mainly based on Dr Mahathir’s own choice. Dr Mahathir’s next choice as prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, will now have more reasons to collaborate with the Umno veteran to oust Najib in much the same way that Abdullah was forced to step down.

It is my prediction that Najib will be made a scapegoat for Umno’s own failure to lead the country to achieve Dr Mahathir’s Vision 2020 and neither Najib nor Mahathir’s nominee will be able to win the people’s support again, unless it does all the right things once again, which is unlikely with the passing of more draconian laws in parliament lately.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.