Najib’s ‘Year of Living Dangerously’
By Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed Malaysian Insider APRIL 3 — As a son of a former dedicated party man and minister, I understand the almost impossible task of emulating a legacy in politics.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Najib Abdul Razak is still struggling to shake off the public’s comparison with his great statesman father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein after a year in office.
Datuk Seri Najib can draw a few similarities with the enormous task at hand confronting his late father 40 years ago.
Both men had to manage heightened racial tensions and stagnant economic conditions.
The difference is Tun Abdul Razak was not saddled with the negative perception of his party and cabinet of Ministers. He did not have to contend with an inept and equally corrupt perception of the civil service and institutions.
Tun Abdul Razak did not have to manage external political and cyberspace influences.
Tun Abdul Razak had the opportunity to use Emergency powers to basically redraw the economic and political structure of the country and successfully implemented his reforms.
But Datuk Seri Najib does not have these advantages and has had to carry the baggage of public apathy and hatred against Umno and Barisan Nasional that grew from the time of the country’s fourth prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The extremely difficult challenges that lie ahead of Datuk Seri Najib would make him our greatest Prime Minister if he were to succeed.
One year on after pledging his oath of office, his challenges remain no less challenging but are mounting as he seeks to reverse the mistakes of the past and bring the country forward to progress and developed nation status.
It isn’t easy especially for political parties that have won power and continue to rule a country. Most political parties that won independence have not remained in power for more than half a century.
Only the Communist Party of China has succeeded to remain in power today. And Umno from the days of the Alliance with MCA and MIC to the present coalition started by his father, the Barisan Nasional. Yet many are writing it off in the next general elections.
But Datuk Seri Najib is a careful man and is methodical in solving problems.
His proposals to change the current economic model to enhance growth and align the country with the global economy, introduce key performance indicators to improve the efficiency of the bureaucracy and the 1 Malaysia concept to stabilize the political environment demonstrates his comprehensive problem solving style.
Dr Mahathir privately acknowledged Najib as one of his brightest ministers.
He is in essence a perfect English gentleman who is polite and does not like to disappoint anyone
He likes to be inclusive in his management style, which sometimes may have been taken for granted. But his good nature may have sent ambivalent signals to the public.
This may explain his actions in introducing and then delaying the implementation of his NKRA , GST , 1 Malaysia and recently the New Economic Model after receiving negative feedback from certain quarters.
This has only increased the public perception that Najib lacks the strong will to overcome his detractors. Despite this drawback , the public has still given him a high favourable rating of 68 per cent as the Prime Minister according to a recent poll.
I witnessed his changed personality at a recent gathering of party leaders at his official residence in Putrajaya. I believe that the Prime Minister has realized that he needs to respond to the public opinion and be more assertive on his party and the civil servants.
Maybe he believes that time is also against him as the end game for Umno and Barisan Nasional is near. Because I certainly subscribe to that thinking if nothing is done to regain public support, not just that of one community but the entire electorate.
If he fails, Umno and Barisan Nasional would really be punished and thrown out of power for failing to execute its good policies. This is Najib’s “Year of Living Dangerously” then, formulating policies and strategies to bring the country forward and to keep helming the nation in times of crisis and peace. Just like his father but without the favourable conditions of the past.
Datuk Seri Najib can. He must.
Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed is a two-term MP for Pulai. Apart from being in the new politics, he also writes for The Malaysian Insider while debating other matters at www.jazlan.net
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