Malaysiakini Athi Veeranggan | Apr 2, 09 12:58pm
Never before has a premier designate’s credibility to assume the country’s top job has come under such intense public scrutiny as in the case of Najib Abdul Razak.
Veteran opposition parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang said Najib therefore should first address the unprecedented phenomenon of Malaysians doubting his integrity in taking over the premiership.
“Najib must first come out clean from all the public accusations and allegations against him before assuming the country’s top job.
“He cannot assume the premiership with a tainted character and frail credibility. He must first clear his name,” said Lim in his Bukit Selambau by-election campaign speech at a rally in Sungai Petani last night.
The DAP supremo opined that it would be “morally and politically incorrect” for Najib to become the country’s sixth prime minister tomorrow when the jury was still out on whether the newly-elected Umno president was the ‘right man’ to helm Putrajaya. “Never before so many questions were raised on the suitability, legitimacy and integrity of a politician prior to his appointment as prime minister,” said Lim, who had been a parliamentarian since the days of the country’s first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman.
The Ipoh Timur MP suggested that Najib should clean all the ‘skeletons in the cabinet’ by clearing his name on a number of scandals.
Lim pointed out Najib has been under siege with several damaging accusations such as his alleged link with slain Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, the subsequent mysterious disappearance of a private investigator P Balasubramaniam and the RM500 million commission payout to a company belonging to his close confidant in the purchase French submarines.
He called for a royal commission to probe into all these allegations to clear the way for Najib to take over the premiership.
Mahathirism making a comeback
Lim also warned Malaysians that Najib’s imminent premiership tenure would mark the return of ‘Mahathirism’, a reflection of the hardline administration of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
According to the DAP leader, the coup d’etat in Perak, sedition charge against party colleague Karpal Singh and the police ban on Pakatan Rakyat leaders from bringing up the Altantuya case in the by-elections were among the signs that ‘Mahathirism’ is making a comeback.
“This is dangerous and must stopped. Voters in Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang and Batang Ai have a national duty to send a message that they reject Mahathirism,” said Lim.
He also questioned the suitability and credibility of former Umno vice-president Mohd Ali Rustam as the Malacca chief minister given that he had been barred from contesting in the recent party elections due to allegations of vote-buying.
“How could he continue to helm the state government when he had been banned from his own party for alleged corrupt practices?” he asked.
The veteran politician also predicted that Najib’s era would mark the beginning of the end to Barisan Nasional’s political dominance.
“Pakatan will form the federal government in the next general election,” he thumped home to cheers of some 2,000 people.