Counter-strike: Zam reminds Najib of his 'disloyalty' to Pak Lah

GE14 | Former minister Zainuddin Maidin wasted little time in delivering a blow to caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak over the latter's poem, which took a swipe at Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In his poem dedicated to former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib also praised his predecessor, who is affectionately known as Pak Lah, for remaining loyal.

Taking to Twitter, Zainuddin, who is better known as Zam, reminded Najib of what transpired following the 2008 general election.

“PM Najib reads a poem praising ex-PM Pak Lah for being loyal to the party (Umno) while mocking Mahathir who ran to Langkawi.

“But Najib forgets that he managed to become PM because he was not loyal to Pak Lah,” he said.

In his poem, Najib did not name Mahathir, but the reference was obvious, when he said, “Let that leader go to Langkawi.”

Mahathir, who is Pakatan Harapan chairperson, is slated to contest the Langkawi parliament seat in the coming general election.

Since Mahathir had turned against him, Najib has often roped in Abdullah to take potshots at his former mentor-turned-nemesis.

Apart from describing him as a “true statesman”, Najib had also lauded Abdullah for showing how a former premier should behave.

In the run-up to the 2008 general election, Mahathir had launched a series of attacks against Abdullah, who was his handpicked successor, and the latter's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.

Mahathir had accused Khairy, who is now the caretaker youth and sports minister, of heading the band of “fourth-floor boys” who ill-advised Abdullah and influenced his decisions.

The “fourth-floor boys” referred to Abdullah's advisers, who occupied the fourth floor of the Prime Minister's Office.

Abdullah, on the other hand, claimed that Mahathir was upset that he had cancelled his projects.

Najib's supporters have also used a similar argument, claiming that Mahathir embarked on the warpath against the current caretaker prime minister because he did not heed the former premier's demands, chief of which, concerned his son Mukhriz's political future.

After BN suffered an unprecedented electoral setback in 2008, Mahathir plunged the dagger into Abdullah and played an instrumental role in forcing the latter out.

Mahathir had pushed for Najib to succeed Abdullah, arguing that he was a better leader, but now claims that he made a mistake. - Mkini