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Categories
| Doing it his way |
| Written by Melody Song | |||
| Thursday, 23 April 2009 19:36 | |||
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After all, Najib and the former prime minister share history. When Dr M was expelled from Umno in 1969 for criticising the party, Najib’s father Tun Abdul Razak welcomed him back in 1972. This year, it was Najib who welcomed Dr M back into the party after his surprise resignation in May 2008. Najib also got into Dr M’s good books by excluding Umno Youth Chief and Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin from his cabinet line-up, while including Dr M’s son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir as deputy minister in the powerful Ministry of International Trade and Industry. However, one begins to wonder where PM Najib is going to draw the line when it comes to pandering to the desires of the former premier. Dr M, whose favourite song is Frank Sinatra’s My Way, has a knack of getting his way as well as doublespeak. Most recently, Dr M told the media that he felt the Barisan Nasional should contest in the Penanti by-election or run the risk of disappointing its members and supporters. He was even reported to have offered to lead the BN campaign in Penanti. He subsequently refuted this in a press conference yesterday, saying that he had been misquoted. The country’s longest-serving PM also denied that he was second guessing Najib, who had earlier said that BN may sit out on the Penanti by-election. “I’m only offering my opinion. I’m not the one to decide on these things,” Dr M said, adding that he had given his views about Penanti to the press before he knew what Najib had said. Another instance of “cakap tak serupa bikin” ("only talk, but action to back it up") was witnessed in the case of Perak. At first, Dr M conceded that the power grab orchestrated by Najib was illegal and unconstitutional; several days later he reversed his tune and said that the move was OK as the people of Perak had accepted the BN government. Will Najib to do things the Mahathir way, and will the failure to do so be his downfall? Analysts feel that dancing to Mahathir’s tune isn’t the issue; the real problem lies in public perception of the Najib/Mahathir dichotomy. “As an elder statesman, of course Dr M’s views carry weight, so Najib will listen to his views as a sign of respect,” said the director of Gerakan’s think-tank Sedar, Khaw Veon Szu. “However, the public perception now, rightly or wrongly, is that Dr M holds sway over Najib, but I believe the PM does not want to be perceived as being under the influence of anyone.” Independent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng notes that so far Dr M has not delved much into policy issues, which is a kind of test of whether he disapproves or not of Najib’s administration. Dr M constantly criticized decisions made by Najib’s predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Khoo says it would be interesting to see how Dr M reacts to Najib’s decision to scrap the 30% bumiputera quota in the services sub-sectors. Dr M is a strong advocate of affirmative action for the Malays. “How Najib subsequently reacts if or when Mahathir comments on this decision would give you a better sense of the dynamics of their relationship,” Khoo says. On whether Dr M could harm Najib’s career, Sedar’s Khaw says it is detrimental for Najib to allow the perception that he is under Dr M’s thumb to persist. After all, it was the perception that Pak Lah was controlled by his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, now the Umno Youth Chief, that became his undoing. “Najib has to show that he’s his own man,” says Khaw. Khoo also feels that any harm that befalls Najib’s career courtesy of Dr M would happen only if Najib allows it. “Mahathir is not as influential as he would like to be, or is perceived to be,” he says. “Furthermore, Najib has a stronger grip on Umno than Pak Lah did.” For now, political observers in the country are keenly watching whether Najib will be able to step out from Mahathir's shadow, and to do things his way.
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