ZAID: HIDUP BERMEWAH: NAJIB HANYA TURUTI JEJAK MAHATHIR & PAK LAH

Di dalam tulisan bekas Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Zaid Ibrahim, beliau meramalkan Najib Razak tidak akan digugat dan akan kekal sebagai Perdana Menteri.

Zaid berpendapat apa yang Najib lakukan tidak ada beza dengan apa yang dilakukan oleh Dr Mahathir Mohamad dan Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.  

Jelapang tak sempat menterjemah tulisan Zaid. Tetapi antara perkara yang dibangkitkan oleh Zaid ialah:.

1. Najib dituduh bermewah dengan jet peribadi tetapi sebenarnya Dr Mahathir dan Pak Lah juga melakukan perkara yang sama. Najib hanya menuruti trend kedua-dua Perdana Menteri sebelum beliau.

2. Terdapat 50,000 graduan menggangur di era Najib. Tetapi masalah pengangguran di Malaysia berlaku sejak tahun 1995 di era Dr Mahathir.

Berikut artikel penuh Zaid:

If Najib Goes, Who Takes Over?

We shouldn’t take Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s supporters seriously when they say Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak should step down. Their reasoning is weak, even contrived at best.

They say Najib has failed because the prices of goods and services have gone up, but we can expect this to happen when subsidies are cut. And subsidies have to be cut to reduce the deficit in the country’s accounts, which in turn has come from the Government spending more than it received in revenue. This is a cumulative effect of many years of unsound economic management, and Najib is not solely to blame for this.

The former Prime Minister’s fan club members also point to the more than 50,000 unemployed graduates in Malaysia as proof of Najib’s failure, but we have had this many (or more) unemployed or unemployable graduates since 1995. This is thanks to our insistence on wanting more Malays in the universities, regardless of the circumstances. We have given our schoolchildren innumerable A’s to please parents, but these students had to end up in universities somewhere. UMNO likes to build universities all over the country and they can’t be left vacant. This is not Najib’s fault either.

Dr M’s supporters also castigate Najib for traveling in private jets. This penchant for luxury living has been the lifestyle of all our Prime Ministers, except for the first three. Since then our PMs have all lived in style, going on holidays in private jets and sailing the high seas in their yachts (which they always claimed to belong to their friends). Najib is just following the trend, even if he has perhaps taken the matter of style a notch or two up. Still, it’s not sufficient grounds to remove him.

They also ask Najib to change, but this is an unrealistic and meaningless demand. What change can Najib possibly try to implement without upsetting UMNO? Would UMNO be happy if Najib were to remove the tolls, scrap APs and reduce cars prices? The same people asking for Najib’s removal would cry blue murder, and they would still demand his removal, this time for betraying the Malay race. Would they be happy if he woke up one morning and declared that the rule of law will be the order of the day? That the Official Secrets Act will be removed (except for matters of military and police intelligence)? That the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will have the power to prosecute the corrupt without needing to get the blessing of the Attorney-General? These same critics would not be happy.

Finally, they say Najib should step down or run the risk of the Barisan Nasional losing the next General Election. This is again a remote possibility. BR1M3 is coming soon and Najib will be sure to have more of that before the next GE. His popularity will be restored. The wisdom of the saying “Melayu mudah lupa” (The Malays forget easily) is not lost on our PM. Furthermore, the delineation exercise will somehow protect the present majority in Parliament and Najib will again win at the polls.

Those who want Najib to step down do not tell us who they want to succeed him. Some have touted the idea of a Ruling Council, presumably headed by Dr M. That would be ridiculous! Just because crazy Thai demonstrators are asking for the People’s Council to replace an elected PM does not mean we should follow their lead. If Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were to succeed Najib, do you really think we will be better off? Only if you want half the country to wear military uniforms, patrolling and monitoring the other half with armed weapons. It’s not enough for him that we have 300,000 Rela members – now he wants Syariah enforcement militias as well.

I hope the Prime Minister will not be distracted by those who are simply envious of him.  He is doing fine. But he has to make sure that whoever succeeds him will not be a nut case. This successor may be corrupt, he may enjoy the good life and have a strong liking for London and New York – that’s fine. As long as Najib’s successor (say in 10 years) is not someone in the mould of Bashir Al-Assad, we will be grateful. Do not spill blood – that much we ask for and expect from our leaders.

Some people want power all the time and they feel lost when they are no longer calling the shots. Some want power so they can enjoy the kind of grand lifestyle that the present PM has. In the end, the rakyat remain the same. They will count their blessings if the PM continues giving out cash handouts at regular intervals, and all will be forgiven! - 

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