I am surprised by the speech by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Kedah on Tuesday night that regardless of whether DAP has the top government post, the party will still “call the shots” and run the show if UMNO/BN is defeated in the 14th General Election.

Najib said: “Democracy and politics are a game of numbers. Who has the most seats, wins. Even if the top post of the government is not given to it, the party with the most seats will effectively rule.”

My surprise at Najib personally leading the charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election is for two reasons:

Firstly, has Najib such poor strategists among his election and propaganda advisers that he is personally leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election instead of leaving such “dirty work” to his subordinates, which will give him leeway for deniability of personal approval or even knowledge as Prime Minister and UMNO/BN President for such “gutter politics”, which are most unworthy of the Prime Minister of the nation?

Secondly, has Najib become so desperate that he might lose the 14th General Election requiring him to move out of Putrajaya to the Opposition benches in Parliament, that he has now thrown scruples to the winds by leading the charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in a last-ditch effort to save his political office in Putrajaya so as to pack the maximum amount of explosives into such wild and baseless charges?

The ordinary laymen and women in Malaysia can see through Najib’s gambit as evident from the following typical reactions to the Prime Minister’s speech in Kedah:

• “He is using DAP to scare the kampung Malays, and we shall see how smart are those kampung folks.”

• “Unfortunately, the PM does not know how to count although politics is about numbers! How can DAP run the govt even if it wins all the 51 parliamentary seats contested out of available 222 parliamentary seats. UMNO and PAS is using the same tactics to scare the Malay voters from voting for Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu.”

• “DAP again and again. Guess he thinks Malays are so stupid and only UMNO members are considered as Malays or what. What about the Malays in the Opposition.”

• “What’s wrong with DAP-run gomen? It is way better than BN. Penang is the best example. At least DAP does not produce super-corrupt PM and family. At least people leads a better life under DAP.”

• “Its stupid to claim DAP will call the shots if Pakatan Harapan comes into power. This is nothing more than just to frighten and scared off the Malays. A typical example of Penang State Government, the Malays are in fact have more and better benefits now than when it was under Umno/BN. Umno has run out of ideas to win the heart of the Malays. Umno/BN could not stomach what DAP is doing for the Penangites now. The disparity is so obvious between now and then – which BN can accept the truth?”

• “And what is wrong with DAP running the country if they are transparent, accountable, and competent. That is a lot more than we can say of you guys who are in power for over 60 years and nothing to show for. And if continue with this ‘status quo’, we can expect the country to be behind Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar.”

• “Yes you should fear DAP because they would be fair and run a clean and efficient government, no race would be left behind. The only people who would be adversely effected would be the UMNOputras. They are afraid so they make others afraid too.”

• “Hahaha…hohoho….. Najib finally admits DAP is the most competent party to rule Malaysia! That explains why DAP is being attacked by WILD UMNO, left, right and centre!”

• “Najib has made a wild, unsubstantiated claim that DAP will run the show if BN is defeated. Whether that is going to be so or otherwise, nobody knows. But what we do know is that Jho Low runs the show in 1MDB and he is the proxy for MO1, whom Abdul Rahman Dahlan said is Najib Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And 1MDB is the scourge of Malaysia, having corrupted countless souls in its wake.”

Is Najib so desperate that he must give his personal stamp to the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies which was the very theme of his UMNO Presidential speech on Nov. 30, where he concocted “fake news” and “false stories” while decrying the danger of “fake news” and “false stories”.What was the main “fake news” and “false stories” which Najib was guilty of in his Nov. 30 UMNO Presidential speech?

These were the Three “Nazi-style” Big Lies reminiscent of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels’ injunction: “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”, viz:

1. That the 14th General Elections will be a contest between UMNO and DAP;

2. That the DAP is anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

3. The “nightmares” Malay will suffer if UMNO loses power in the next general elections.

Najib must have realized that his three “Nazi-style” Big Lies he tried to plant in his UMNO Presidential speech on Nov. 30 had not found much traction and he needed to repeat them ala-Goebbels in Kedah to an UMNO crowd on Tuesday night.

But what I found most significant in Najib’s speech was his virtual abandonment of the fiction concocted by his cybertroopers that I had met Tun Mahathir on Dec. 3 where I was supposed to have hammered out a deal where Mukriz Mahathir would be Prime Minister and I would be Deputy Prime Minister – which is utter balderdash as it never happened!

Why did Najib abandon this latest “fake news” concocted by his cybertroopers and mercenaries?

Instead of leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election, threatening the make the next general election not only the “dirtiest” but “most moneyed” polls in Malaysia, Najib as Prime Minister should be an example of clean, honest and moderate politics.

He should advise in particular the mainstream media under Barisan Nasional ownership or control to start being independent and professional media organisations again and stop being servile agents in the UMNO/BN campaign of fear, hate and lies or they lose will even more public credibility and readership – with one of them at present virtually bankrupt and another self-professed national daily selling only some 50,000 copies a day!