Kadir: Najib can negotiate honourable exit, safe passage

The veteran newsman doesn’t see any other way out for the Prime Minister who has lost the confidence of the people and their trust.

KUALA LUMPUR: Those opposed to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak remaining in office, especially those in Parliament, can come together and resolve that he needs to be removed from office for the sake of the nation but apparently they don’t have the political will to do so, observes a veteran newsman. “They can use the confidence vote to oust him.”

“The MPs can also send a deputation to brief the Council of Rulers.”

The Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) elites, said former New Straits Times Group Editor-in-Chief Kadir Jasin, are marked by hypocrisy. “In front of Najib, they praise him. Behind his back they mock him.”

“However, among the Umno grassroots, we can hear many voices asking the Prime Minister to step down. This can be seen at the on-going annual general meetings of the divisions.”

In a little digression, Kadir referred to Tengku Adnan Mansor referring to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as a “green-eyed monster”. “We have to use convention wisdom to analyse what’s going on now in the country.”

The safest bet for Najib, advised Kadir, was to negotiate an honourable exit and safe passage where he would not be hauled to Court. “He must of course agree to step down. The Opposition hopes that this would happen since they can capitalize on Najib’s exit come 2018 when the 14th General Election would be held.”

“Negotiating an honourable exit and safe passage was not something new in Malaysia except that it had never involved a Prime Minister before.”

Kadir does not rule out a Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela style mass civil disobedience movement to oust Najib. “There’s enough evidence in the case of the RM2.6 billion controversy including SRC International to drag Najib to Court.”

Najib, added Kadir, can of course opt to defend himself by relying on his political power and money to woo the Umno divisional chiefs and Cabinet Ministers or threaten to expose the skeletons in their cupboards. “He can also use the power of incumbency and administration to buy the loyalty of the civil servants or put them under pressure as he has been doing to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC).”

In that case, said Kadir, the administration would be paralyzed, and the economy would not turn around for the better given the government’s lack of credibility. “Umno and BN would be paralyzed as well and the Opposition can only take advantage of this weakness of the ruling coalition.”

The people meanwhile find that their problems are not being tackled effectively because Najib was spending all his time on saving himself although its clear that the government headed by him has lost their confidence and trust.

Kadir recalled that many political leaders from among Ministers, Menteris Besar, Chief Ministers and MPs have resigned their positions to avoid being dragged to Court on corruption charges, abuse of power, and criminal breach of trust. “However, there are also high-ranking Umno and BN leaders who have chosen to be tried rather than withdraw voluntarily. There are those who have been found guilty. There are also cases being thrown out.”