Despite bad press, Najib remains unshaken, say observers

The international media coverage on Malaysia and its financial scandals are affecting the country and its economy, but despite this, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appears to have a stronger hold on power, say political observers. They added that while Putrajaya was putting up a brave front against all the negative reporting, there was concern within the government and civil service over how to contain the damage. Head of think tank Centre for Policy Initiatives, Lim Teck Ghee, said that even in the "bad old days of the Mahathir regime", the negative reporting did not reach this extent. Lim said the main concern now was that foreign investors and businesses will review their positions while some will decide not to park their money here under the current unstable conditions. He said that while Putrajaya appears not to care publicly, there was concern in the government and within the civil service on how to contain the damage. "Najib and his supporters must be having sleepless nights wondering when the next media disclosure and revelation will be," he told The Malaysian Insider. He added that while it was business as usual for now, other stakeholders would start to speak up when public sentiment turns drastically against the prime minister. "Once the flow of investments dry up, the ringgit plunges further and public sentiment against the PM takes a turn for the worse, we will see a response from major stake players other than the PMO," Lim said, referring to the Prime Minister's Office. Veteran newsman Datuk A. Kadir Jasin (pic) said that the current negative news on Malaysia was unlike the 1998 crisis involving sacked deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He said this time around, it involves corruption, abuse of power and restrictions on civil liberty, attributes not tolerated in the West. He added that in the past, the administration did not have to be too concerned about bad press as the people were generally behind the government. "The foreign media could say whatever they wanted then, but the impact on domestic politics was not that great, the people were more or less behind the government. "And if the head of government is credible, he does not have to depend on his ministers or his ambassadors to defend him. "But unfortunately, what we are seeing now is that the ministers who are talking on his behalf are not too credible," Kadir said. Kadir did not mention names, but Communications and Multimedia minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak recently accused Switzerland’s attorney-general of breaking protocol and circulating misinformation alleging that billions of dollars had been stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). Also, Malaysian ambassador to the UK and Northern Ireland Datuk Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi defended Najib after the prime minister's leadership was labelled "disastrous" by the Financial Times (FT) newspaper. Kadir said foreign media carrying negative news about Malaysia were "credible and highly respected" agencies and papers in their own countries. Malaysia, he said, should be concerned about the impact of such reports on the economy. "We should be worried about what the people are thinking and how they are reacting to the bad news about the country. "But I understand the attitude of Putrajaya, I think they are more concerned and preoccupied with the narrow interests of the government than the bigger issues, which is survival," Kadir added. Wong Chin Huat (pic), a fellow at think tank Penang Institute, said that in any other country, such a continuous flow of bad press would have led to widespread public protest, followed by a revolt within the ruling party. "But the streets of Kuala Lumpur and provincial capitals are calm as if nothing has happened. "In fact, Najib has a stronger grasp of his party. "This is because Umno warlords do not know how to remove him without damaging the party state," he said. Wong said the other problem was that Malaysians did not have a consensus on how the new Malaysia should be after Umno. "Some want the continuity of the NEP paradigm and greater Islamisation while others want a more inclusive and open Malaysia," he said, referring to the New Economic Policy. Wong also said that in the past, opposition coalitions tried to put aside differences such as "Bumiputeraism" and the hudud agenda but these efforts failed. "Why should Umno allow the opposition to postpone their disagreement and not split them? "Because there is no clear alternative to Najib within Umno and to Umno within the nation, Najib will be here to stay while the country sinks every time a new scandal hits us," he said. Wong said the only way around this was for sincere and honest dialogue to overcome mutual distrust and to reach a national consensus that corrupt leaders will not be tolerated. Political analyst Oh Ei Sun from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore agreed that Malaysia was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, but did not think it would severely impact Putrajaya or the economy. He said this was because the international community still viewed Malaysia as a moderate Muslim-majority country, superior to many of its Middle Eastern counterparts. "Domestically all these international pressures amount to nothing at all, as they simply could not be translated into substantial local political activism," he said. Putrajaya did not really have to worry about what the international media was reporting, given the power of incumbency in Malaysian politics, he said. "The reality of Malaysian politics is that the power of incumbency is extremely large, not the least because Dr Mahathir concentrated powers on the head of the executive during his reign. "Additional laws were passed in the past year which further strengthens the power of the prime minister or his government. "And there is also the patronage politics. Short of a loss of the will to rule, as was the case with Badawi, there is simply no way to bring down a sitting prime minister," Oh said, in reference to two former prime ministers, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He said that Putrajaya could also afford not to care about the negative reporting as the reality of international politics was such that global concerns such as rampant terrorism overrode other non-violent concerns. "There is simply no way to bring down an incumbent national leader by means of international charges, not even those charged with war crimes or crimes against humanity," Oh added. – February 9, 2016.