Sunday July 5, 2009

Living up to his pledge

ANALYSIS BY JOCELINE TAN

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak entered office confronted with challenges that no other incoming prime ministers had to face but he has made a good start and shown political will for change.

THE Prime Minister’s friends in politics have noted that he is a man in a hurry.

Actually, it is not so much about being in a hurry but more the fact that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak knows he does not have the luxury of time on the economy as well as social and political fronts.

Najib, who took his oath of office on April 3, will be marking his symbolic 100 days this Saturday.

No other Malaysian prime minister has come into office with the kind of challenges that Najib has had to face.

First, he came in on the riptide of a global financial crisis and gloomy predictions for the local economy.

Second, there was the political situation. His ruling coalition suffered the most terrible losses in the 2008 elections and although he managed to put his own house of Umno in order, Barisan Nasional was still on shaky ground.

Third, there has never been a rival coalition as organised, ambitious or aggressive as Pakatan Rakyat. On top of that, the Perak crisis was still burning hot. Then there were those personal smears to his person.

It was what the Chinese would call interesting times; in other words, hardly the best of times to be taking over the most powerful job in the country.

Najib had quite rightly noted shortly before taking over that he did not expect any honeymoon period and he would have to hit the ground running. Hence, the urgency with which he has taken to his duties.

The continuity of the Barisan, Umno and, of course, Najib’s own political survival depends on how swiftly he moves and the effectiveness of those moves from now until the next general election.

“He is very clear-minded on what he has to do. Paramount to his agenda is the economy and the political imperative,” said Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

Earlier this week, Najib announced an important economic policy aimed at further liberalising the economic sector.

It was his boldest policy move since taking office because the policy took away some of the crutches that the Malay economic sector had grown used to.

He was taking a huge risk with his traditional base because some Malays were already grumbling about the decision to introduce a merit-based national scholarship.

Najib is also sending clear and meaningful signals that he is the Prime Minister of all Malaysians.

“He knows there are Malays asking if he has forgotten his role as the guardian of Malay rights but he has been patient and rational in reacting. He has conviction that he’s doing the right thing,” said Saifuddin.

Najib’s reply to critics is that he came in with a clear promise to bring change and reform and he wants to live up to the pledge.

“He knows his stuff and industry players are beginning to see that he understands what the economy is about,” said Isis fellow Ahmad Ikram Abdullah.

The economy has been his chief concern but he has also been shrewd about putting the politics in place.

The Umno election in March blew in a new team which, though not exactly a Dream Team, saw his loyalists making it to the party’s top echelon.

Their presence will ensure his political stability in Umno and give him the freedom to focus on issues beyond Umno.

He also personally ushered Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad back into Umno, bringing closure to an issue that had unsettled the party.

The formation of his Cabinet saw him settle down to the serious work of running the country.

“It is a job he is more than prepared for. He was already chairing more than 30 Cabinet committees and councils when he was Deputy Prime Minister so there is really very little that he has not done,” said a Najib aide.

But the moment, when it came, was still somewhat overwhelming. About a week before taking office, a TV station had set up an interview with him to be aired after he was sworn in.

He was then still the Deputy Prime Minister and the aide noticed that when the interviewer said into the camera that, “we are now with the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia”, there was an involuntary expression on the part of the soon-to-be Prime Minister.

Much later, when asked about it, Najib admitted he had goose bumps when he heard the interviewer refer to him as the 6th Prime Minister.

The road ahead

But it has not been easy for him.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who sees himself as the rightful man for the job, viewed Najib’s ascent in a very personal and competitive manner, and has accused him of everything from cronyism to murder.

Pakatan Rakyat’s onslaught in the period leading to the leadership change and in the last three months has been vicious, relentless and, at times, scary.

“When they cannot rattle him, they go for his wife,” said Ikram.

But the fact that opposition leaders had publicly asked Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to stay on says a lot.

Najib is tougher for them to take on and their chances of a shot at Putrajaya would have been easier with Abdullah at the top.

But it is Najib’s economic proposals which have set back his rivals most.

On the evening of the day Najib announced his liberalisation policy, the Pakatan top brass appeared at a big ceramah where they sidestepped economics and concentrated on tearing apart his 1Malaysia concept.

It was a telling outcome of how Najib had been able to put into action what they could only talk about.

Another significant development in the last few months was his strategic emphasis on Sabah and Sarawak.

He made several visits to both states, referring to them as “fixed deposits”, meaning that the Barisan could depend on them when other reserves ran low.

Said a senior lawyer: “He will be very safe if east Malaysian states stand behind him. That’s what I call smart politics.”

His recent appointment of a Sabahan with impressive credentials was another gesture of his intentions to Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak.

His walkabouts the day after he was sworn in was his way of telling people that he wants to cut the red tape and to feel the pulse.

But there have also been hiccups. His 1Malaysia concept, like most catchy slogans, has run into problems of interpretation, not unlike the way that his predecessor’s Islam Hadhari raised more questions than answers.

Another drawback was when the Johor palace rained on his proposal for a third bridge to Singapore.

Expectations are high and his government will have to rise to the electorate’s demand for reform, good governance and measures against corruption.

Najib’s first months in office have been akin to an obstacle course. It would be a lie to say that he has not been affected by the political attacks or the string of by-election losses.

But he has done what he had to do and held his own.

The Malay ground is still uneven and there is still the Chinese mountain to climb. As such, his first state visit outside of Asean was to the People’s Republic of China where, because of his father’s historic role, he was welcomed like an old friend.

His overtures to the Chinese pillars like the Chinese media and the guilds and associations are aimed at courting the community who left in droves for the other side in the 2008 elections.

“He wants to cement Chinese ties with the Barisan,” said the lawyer.

The road ahead will not be any less challenging.

“He is aware the attacks will continue and the scrutiny will be as intense. But he genuinely wants to do something for the country, to transform it, to make it tangibly better for everyone,” said his aide.

Najib has made a credible start; he has shown political will and it is clear that he intends to stay the course.

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