Malaysia’s Najib Readies for Vote


by James Hookway
Wall Street Journal

Malaysian leader Najib Razak pointed to the acquittal this week of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as evidence he’s serious about political reforms, even inviting an election battle that could propel him out of power.

Eager to paint himself as a leader of the Malaysia’s most sweeping political reforms since independence, Mr. Najib appears to be betting that the judiciary’s release of Mr. Anwar would help rather than hurt him politically.

Three days after Malaysia’s High Court acquitted Mr. Anwar on sodomy charges this week, Mr. Najib said in an interview Thursday that both the government and opposition camps will step up their race to claim the center-ground of Malaysian politics in the coming months—but that this will only strengthen the predominantly Muslim country and provide a fresh example that democracy and Islam can coexist.

Once the verdict was released, “all of the tension surrounding the trial suddenly fell away and people suddenly realized there are more important things than just the Anwar issue,” such as economic growth, Mr. Najib said in the interview in his office in Malaysia’s administrative capital, carved out of the palm-oil plantations and jungle surrounding the commercial hub of Kuala Lumpur.

“What is important now is that we move forward,” he said, ticking off new measures to make elections more transparent ahead of the next vote, which is due by March 2013, but could be called as early as a month or two from now, and laying out plans to roll back press censorship and limit the government’s powers to hold suspects without charge. Malaysia’s parliament has already repealed several laws that allow for warrantless detention, and is working on other steps.

Many Malaysians continue to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Najib’s push to court the political middle in Malaysia, an important U.S. trading partner. Some activists say they fear the next elections won’t be free and fair, which the government denies, and many of Mr. Najib’s reforms over the past several years—including liberalization of the country’s economy–have fallen well short of investors’ hopes.

Mr. Najib, though, is trying to position his administration among a growing number of others across Asia that have given their citizens more political freedoms in recent months, even if it means stripping the ruling United Malays National Organization of some of the advantages it has enjoyed in past elections.

Thailand’s army—which has often intervened in politics in the past—stood aside to let the populist Puea Thai, or For Thais, Party sweep to power in a landslide election win last July. Myanmar’s leaders have launched a closely-watched effort to reform that country’s politics and reverse its reputation as an oppressive police state, while Singapore has taken steps to expand the political space for its opposition leaders.

Mr. Najib says Malayisa’s changes could provide the U.S. with a new partner in promoting democratic politics and free trade across Asia and the Islamic Middle East, Mr. Najib says.

“America considers Malaysia a moderate, progressive Muslim country, so in terms of their engagement with the Muslim world it is important that we are perceived as a democratic country,” said Mr. Najib, the 58-year-old British-educated son of a former prime minister.

Once famed as the country that rose from a colonial backwater to build the cloud-scraping Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia has suffered a series of black eyes in recent years, including the trials of Mr. Anwar, the opposition leader.

A one-time deputy prime minister, Mr. Anwar was sacked from the government in 1998 after challenging the leadership of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and was accused of sodomizing a speechwriter and a chauffeur. Anwar denied the charges, saying they were part of a government plot to silence dissent. He spent six years in jail before his conviction was overturned in 2004, the year after Dr. Mahathir stepped down. Dr. Mahathir denies conspiring against Mr. Anwar.

Then, after leading a new multiethnic opposition alliance to its best election performance in years during 2008’s national polls, Mr. Anwar was again arrested after a male aide accused the 64-year-old opposition leader of sodomizing him in a Kuala Lumpur condominium. Again, Mr. Anwar said the accusations were a government plot—a claim which Mr. Najib denies.

Last July, meanwhile, foreign governments criticized the way riot police used water cannons and tear gas to break a mass demonstration in support of cleaner, fairer elections.

Mr. Najib responded with a series of political reforms. He said Thursday that Mr. Anwar’s acquittal underscores the depth of the reform process.

“It shows that as chief executive of the country, I don’t interfere in the judiciary,” he said.

Some analysts say Mr. Najib may have concluded it is better to have Mr. Anwar out of jail than behind bars. Johan Saravanamuttu at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore said that Mr. Anwar is a known quantity outside prison.

“Inside, the sympathy factor would be great in an impending election,” he said.

Nor will the election fight likely be entirely clean. Both government and opposition camps have lobbed sexual accusations against each other.

Some of Mr. Anwar’s foes last year presented a videotape to the media which they say portrayed Mr. Anwar having sex with a prostitute, which Mr. Anwar denied. Prosecutors may also still appeal his recent acquittal in the sodomy case.

Some opposition activists, meanwhile, have tried to link Mr. Najib and his wife to the murder of a Mongolian model who once had an affair with one of Mr. Najib’s closest advisers. Mr. Najib denies having anything to do with 2006 death of Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was destroyed with plastic explosives.

Both sides, though, seem to sense that the outcome of the vote depends on whether they can capture mainstream voters who are more interested in the economy than scandals.

Mr. Anwar told The Wall Street Journal earlier this week that he is now reconfiguring the opposition alliance to tackle a gamut of issues in the upcoming vote, from ensuring greater economic freedoms to tackling poverty and stamping out corruption.

Mr. Najib is countering by pointing to the way he has already rolled back parts of the country’s decades old-affirmative action policies, which were designed to boost the country’s majority Muslim Malay population but which are hugely unpopular among Malaysia’s large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

On Thursday, he told members at a local sports club that they face a choice between an administration pushing economic development “or a man who talks of ‘toppling governments’ and ‘overthrowing’ elected officials,” in reference to Mr. Anwar.

Mr. Najib also gets to choose the date of the election in Malaysia’s parliamentary system, a significant advantage.

In his interview Thursday, Mr. Najib said he hopes the vote will be “soon” but added that his government still has to show that its economic reforms are producing real results before he is ready to go to the ballot box amid mounting speculation the worsening global economy might push him to call a vote sooner rather than later.

“Essentially, it’s a call you have to make on the basis of a feel-good factor, and that’s when you press the button,” he said.

“Essentially, it’s a call you have to make on the basis of a feel-good factor, and that’s when you press the button. But of course at the end of the day it’s a rather intuitive decision,” Mr. Najib told The Wall Street Journal in an interview at his offices in Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya.

“You can have all the polling numbers but you must have the sense that this is the right time. I hope it will be the right time soon enough, but we still have to deliver on our promises and it’s important for people to have the feeling that the reforms we have promised will actually benefit them,” he said.

Mr. Najib has to call an election by March 2013.

He acknowledged that the deteriorating global economic environment, especially the persistent debt crisis in Europe, could complicate his decision about when to call a vote. A worsening outlook could encourage him to call an election sooner than planned. “But so far we are still quite comfortable because our exposure to the EU in terms of total trade is only about 9%, so we are less vulnerable,” he said. “But a euro-zone collapse or some other catastrophe there will affect the whole world.”

Turning to the Anwar verdict, Mr. Najib said it was unclear whether prosecutors would opt to appeal the High Court decision, saying it was a matter for the attorney general, although he added that the acquittal would likely help to convince critics that the government doesn’t interfere in politically charged judicial cases.

Mr. Anwar has accused Mr. Najib’s government of orchestrating the case against him after a former male aide accused the opposition leader of sodomizing him in 2008. Mr. Najib denies having anything to do with the case.

  1. #1 by boh-liao on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 1:37 am

    SURE he wants 2 continue 2 lead UmnoB/BN aah? His DNA NO GOOD 1, bei sai 1, cos his old man kicked d bucket @ abt 54; TIME 4 him 2 go too
    On borrowed time, he better gives up aktif politics n enjoys his stumpy char bor

  2. #2 by k1980 on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 5:24 am

    Jib has introduced Kedai 1Malaysia, Menu 1Malaysia, even Kedai Ikan 1Malaysia.

    After that, there will be Soddom1Malaysia, while his wife already has Diamond1Malaysia and Handbag1Malaysia.

    Then we will have 13GE 1Malaysia, where vote rigging enables he to cling to power, and GST1Malaysia, where the rakyat will be squeezed under all forms of taxes.

  3. #3 by Jeffrey on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 6:17 am

    As long as final result is OK it’s not important whether the bet was “that the judiciary’s release of Mr. Anwar would help rather than hurt him politically” – or, changing the nuance of nature of bet, both acquittal and conviction would equally hurt (acquittal provides excuse for conservatives and hardliners within party to take him to task whilst conviction, on flip side, a substantial portion of Malaysian electorate, not to mention an unanimous influential body of world leaders especially the US) but that acquittal hurt politically, on balance, less than conviction. Never underestimate the pressure from the US, the ‘behind the scene’ superpower that stir all kinds of Arab Springs coming early in large swathes of the Middle East (currently) and what she can do to help (politically), if her favour was won or equally injure (politically) otherwise!

  4. #4 by Jeffrey on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 6:33 am

    ///Mr. Najib says Malayisa’s changes could provide the U.S. with a new partner in promoting democratic politics and free trade across Asia and the Islamic Middle East, Mr. Najib says. “America considers Malaysia a moderate, progressive Muslim country, so in terms of their engagement with the Muslim world it is important that we are perceived as a democratic country,” said Mr. Najib.///

    This could be a very key political advantage behind acquittal. A conviction has a disadvantage of potentially producing a Malaysian martyr of Nelson’s or Aung San Suu Kyi’s proportion. See the rapid easing of control by even the Military Junta of Myanmar playing ball with the US in trade of certain favours. Though our exposure to EU is mere 9% but EU’s problems are not quick to unwind and have negative impact on the countries with whom we have more than 9% trade- and certainly when push turns to shove on the economic front, a US ally is better than she were a foe.

  5. #5 by Jeffrey on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 6:41 am

    These 2 statements- (1) “Three days after Malaysia’s High Court acquitted Mr. Anwar on sodomy charges this week, Mr. Najib said in an interview Thursday that both the government and opposition camps will step up their race to claim the center-ground of Malaysian politics in the coming months—but that this will only strengthen the predominantly Muslim country and provide a fresh example that democracy and Islam can coexist” and (2) “Turning to the Anwar verdict, Mr. Najib said it was unclear whether prosecutors would opt to appeal the High Court decision, saying it was a matter for the attorney general, although he added that the acquittal would likely help to convince critics that the government doesn’t interfere in politically charged judicial cases”- isn’t his signal, to appeal or not, clear????

  6. #6 by Jeffrey on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 6:47 am

    ///Many Malaysians continue to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Najib’s push to court the political middle in Malaysia/// This sincerity issue is nonsense: how can anyone keep harping about this concerning politics? What is important is what someone does, whether its motivated by sincerity or political self interest but as long as it appears the right course and beneficial to nation and rakyat we should encourage, cajole and nudge the continuance of that right course even if it were first embarked upon due to a wrong or less meritorious motivation in hope that it does not change.

  7. #7 by Jeffrey on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 7:15 am

    I think this way if I were leading a party like UMNO, a difficult area where there are more conservative and reactionary party warlords and apparachiks against reform than those for. They are against Anwar’s acquittal because they fear the loss of their existing privileges and vested interests; they are eyeing and vying for my post and do not wish to countenance Anwar after taking over mine. But to me, if I were to pander to their pressure and owing to that the electorate in the coming GE do not deliver to the Coalition led by the party the 2/3, I’d be equally done for since it will be by precedent an excuse for them to usher me out like they did my predecessor. (Of course worse still if the coalition loses everyone within the party supporters or rivals) loses. Besides to pander to them and convict contray to majority world opinion in a trial beset by contentious issues, I will “pai say” (shame): how am I to face that elite club of world leaders with whom I socialise and to whom I have been boasting, let the moderate reclaim middle ground from extremists??? If the hardliners/conservatives are going to crucify anyway if I don’t deliver the 2/3, then if they hold me accountable by delivery of results, they should not question my choice of method and question it midway about met being too liberal, pandering to opposition or liberals non malays etc. If they hold me responsible for the result, then they should give me unfettered power and leeway to try achieve that result in manner I think best – that’s the logical trade off. For there are matters (esp relating to the bigger picture of our relations to US of what it and its allies can do) that I know of but which neither their narrow perspectives can comprehend nor do they have to bear directly the consequences. So why should I keep pandering them in fear???

  8. #8 by k1980 on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 7:38 am

    http://www.mmail.com.my/content/88742-woman-sues-police-rm100-million-over-sons-death

    Very intriguing … why isn’t TBH’s family suing the macc, especially those 3 chimpanzees who “forced” him to die?

  9. #9 by boh-liao on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 9:07 am

    NR yells triumphantly ‘Allo 1M’sia, tengok lah, MY transformation plan worked, we r world’s #1 RUBBER producer again!
    (Condom = blob, johnny, jimmy hat, raincoat, rubber, French letter, dinger, cock socks, etc)

  10. #10 by HJ Angus on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 9:14 am

    Let’s see if the BN leaders know how to play the End Game!

  11. #11 by k1980 on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 9:15 am

    He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

    ~Bessie Stanley, 1905

    So Jibby has not achieved success at all……

  12. #12 by Godfather on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 10:29 am

    Najib said that he has no need to reshuffle his cabinet as all cabinet members are “in the clear”. Shahrizat’s in the clear because she is only the wife of the National Feed-a-Lot Corp Chairman who gave away RM 1.7 million to a known conman very recently. Awang Adek is in the clear because he said that the monthly payments into his account were for humanitarian purposes. Jamil Khir is in the clear because one Mufti said that it’s OK to use zakat funds to defend a personal court case.

    What Najib meant was that the UMNO Chain is still intact. No one is squealing, and the hold of one over another is still strong. “You don’t squeeze, I don’t squeeze” remains strong.

  13. #13 by Comrade on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 10:40 am

    Malaysia’s Najib readies for vote
    Opposition be united and take note
    Ensure a free,clean and fair election
    We await BN’s downfall with anticipation

  14. #14 by Bigjoe on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 12:19 pm

    Someone has to clear something up for me. Do Najib really believe that Anwar’s acquital is plus for Najib’s agenda? Najib and his barking dogs are saying it and there is quite a number of writer who are encouraging that view. But seriously when did we and UMNO/BN started living in Never Never land?

    First and foremost, Najib’s so-called ‘reform’ agenda is at its most optimistic is an exercise of mediocrity and almost certain failure. Any reform of UMNO/BN begins with the enforcement agencies – the MACC, the police, the judiciary – NOTHING has been done. To leap into such a case or even the cosmetic change to ISA is simply no agenda. Its an afterthought and wishing at best.

    The real shocker is that Najib says he is delaying election until his reform agenda take hold when he has NOT EVEN STARTED. A few incidentals – that is what it is and he is basing the future of his party and his leadership on THAT?

    The only confirmation we have really is that Mahathir is a vain fool not getting rid of Najib yet because he simply want to believe the mediocrity he created – when he was in charge and still does until now and the forseeable future of UMNO/BN..

  15. #15 by Winston on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 12:24 pm

    This long winded article can be summed up as another naive
    writer talking poppycock!
    And many of them have turned up in this blog.
    Surprise, surprise!!

  16. #16 by sheriff singh on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 1:27 pm

    ”On Thursday, he told members at a local sports club that they face a choice between an administration pushing economic development “or a man who talks of ‘toppling governments’ and ‘overthrowing’ elected officials,” in reference to Mr. Anwar. ” Najib.

    The choice is so simple? If the people, the electorate, feels the incumbent government is not doing a good job or not being fair in managing the country and there is a lot of hanky-panties (!), don’t they have the democratic right to give it the boot? Surely the voter is the king and it is they who will topple the government.

  17. #17 by dagen on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 1:47 pm

    Toppling the umno gobermen. Is that all that we ever spoke of? Oh boy. He is profoundly deaf and blind. He must hv missed all the writings on all available walls. Or he is plain arrogant. Pordah jib.

  18. #18 by monsterball on Saturday, 14 January 2012 - 3:52 pm

    Najib waiting to feel good and then declare the 13th GE date?
    He is surrounded with bad news and knowing UMNO b sure to loose the 13th GE…which means he needs to feel brave to face the facts and declare GE or his head will roll like a bowling ball.

  19. #19 by HJ Angus on Sunday, 15 January 2012 - 5:59 am

    so there should be no need to try and bribe voters with baloney bogus investment bribery?
    http://malaysiawatch4.blogspot.com/2012/01/now-everyone-can-invest-1malaysia.html

  20. #20 by sotong on Sunday, 15 January 2012 - 9:17 am

    First need to consult the Bomoh in secret and the religious leaders in public for a good election date.

  21. #21 by Loh on Monday, 16 January 2012 - 6:26 pm

    ///Malaysian leader Najib Razak pointed to the acquittal this week of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as evidence he’s serious about political reforms, even inviting an election battle that could propel him out of power.///–James Hookway

    By declaring that there was political reform because the court did not convict Anwar Ibrahim Najib raises the following issues:

    1. The government intentionally put Anwar up for trial knowing right from the start that he would end up acquitted so that Najib could claim that the Judge was free, and there was semblance of judicial independence. That reveals however that the trail was politically motivated. It shows that the government agencies were not independent.

    2. Najib might say that the court case began when AAB was in power, and now as PM he allows the court to be dependent. That could be plausible if Najib has no hand on the sodomy II. But the court case could not have begun without Najib giving support to Saiful Bukhari Azlan that he was immune to prosecution for confirming that he was involved in consensual sex, whether or not sodomy did take place.

    3. Najib indirectly confirms that Anwar faced trump up charges in Sodomy I, and that he has stopped following Mamakthir’s practice.

    4. The Judge at last decided that he could not satisfy his conscience to put a human through the pains for his personal career advancement. There are still judges who do the right thing despite personal sacrifices. That was more difficult than refusing bribery, and thus the acquittal does not indicates independence of the judiciary rather it shows righteousness despite harassment.

    ///Once the verdict was released, “all of the tension surrounding the trial suddenly fell away and people suddenly realized there are more important things than just the Anwar issue,” such as economic growth, Mr. Najib said in the interview in his office in Malaysia’s administrative capital, carved out of the palm-oil plantations and jungle surrounding the commercial hub of Kuala Lumpur.///–James Hookway

    This proves that the government intended to have the people focus on Anwar in the trial than in how the government governed. That allows the government leaders to plunder the nation such as giving a quarter billion ringgit to the husband of a lowly Wanita Chief of UMNO at a 2% interest without clear repayment period on the justification that certain quantity of beef are provided by cattle imported live and grow up in Malaysia. The trial also created doubt as to the identity of the shadow head of government when Pakatan Rakyat came into power. Najib knew very well that the trial was a ploy to impede the growth of opposition movement in the country, and the acquittal verdict was beyond his control.

    ///“America considers Malaysia a moderate, progressive Muslim country, so in terms of their engagement with the Muslim world it is important that we are perceived as a democratic country,” said Mr. Najib, the 58-year-old British-educated son of a former prime minister.///–James Hookway

    Tunku Abdul Rahman declared that Malaysia was a secular state. Now Najib is happy that America views Malaysia as a Muslim state and that America consider social and political development in Malaysia as progressive and moderate compared to theocratic states in the Middle East. It appears to America that Malaysia has no progressive and moderate standing among ASEAN countries, let alone in Asia.

    ///Some opposition activists, meanwhile, have tried to link Mr. Najib and his wife to the murder of a Mongolian model who once had an affair with one of Mr. Najib’s closest advisers. Mr. Najib denies having anything to do with 2006 death of Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was destroyed with plastic explosives.///–James Hookway

    Mamakthir said that as Muslims should be allowed to swear properly to refute allegations. Najib took the liberty to allow himself that approach to refute allegations.

    ///Mr. Anwar has accused Mr. Najib’s government of orchestrating the case against him after a former male aide accused the opposition leader of sodomizing him in 2008. Mr. Najib denies having anything to do with the case.///–James Hookway

    Najib should again use the mosque since he did not allow the court to prove it when he refused to attend court as witness.

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