Najib won’t give up cheap politics for Eminent 25

Zaid Ibrahim says PM prefers ideas that divide the people and appeal to the delusional rather than the more liberal ideas of the Eminent 25.

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has said he is doubtful that anything positive will come of the meeting between the group of Eminent 25 Malays and the prime minister should he agree to see them.

He said this was because Najib Razak was not willing to give up on playing “cheap politics with the country’s future”.

In his latest blog entry, Zaid said, “He (Najib) will probably tell the group the same old story: that Islam and the Malays are under attack.

“He will say that only a strong authoritarian rule, underpinned by the lethal mixture of race and religion that UMNO/PAS offers, will help the Malays to be in power.”

Zaid said these were ideas Najib knew would appeal to the “delusional” even if they were ideas that did not work and were “divisive” to the country.

He also said Najib should realise that if progress was what he was after for the country, he had to stop making religion an important aspect of his government.

Zaid also said that if there was only one message the group should convey to the PM, it would be that he withdraw his earlier statement that Malaysia was an Islamic state.

He argued his point saying, “There is no Islamic state in the world that is prosperous and democratic, or that respects the dignity of individuals.

“If he wants Malaysia to be peaceful and progressive for many years to come, he must not make religion the central policy of his government.”

Pointing out that the PM was also trying to make religion the government’s business, Zaid said, “When it comes to finding God’s way, the people must be left to find their own path—this is not the Government’s business.”

He said the PM should instead find good leaders to govern the country well and improve the people’s welfare instead of “building their spiritual lives”.

Saying he didn’t see Najib wanting to affirm Malaysia as a democracy like the one his own father helped establish, Zaid said, “…the Eminent 25 must not be too hopeful that, at the meeting, the PM will buy into the contents of their open letter.

“They must not hope that he will support democratic government and the protection of civil liberties and rights of minorities.”

He said the Eminent 25 could only hope for a change if they “forcefully and categorically state their position clearly, and convey to the Prime Minister that there are indeed Malays who will fight to save this country from the dangerous politics he is playing”.