The Malaysian Insider

NOV 19 — Despite the deep political divides in the country being perfect for Machiavellian rule (Don’t you wish you could make a comeback Dr M?), not many will bet on the strength of the Najib administration or its longevity. He remains largely vulnerable.

It is difficult to pinpoint Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Achilles Heel, and in the blizzard of negatives directed at him one is more than likely to be distracted in the analysis.

I struggle aplenty in putting it in cogent thought but my uncouth summary would be he is not his own man.

He keeps chasing shadows — his father’s and Mahathir Mohamad’s — and therefore he will always be second-guessing himself. He is too scared to be wrong, therefore forfeiting himself from being right more often.

The alarming results from Election 2008, Tun Abdullah’s meekness and the rising knee-jerk rebellion in the party would have won him the presidency — by extension become the head of the Malaysian government — quite quickly last year if Najib chose to force the issue, but he did not. He waited out almost a year to replace Pak Lah.

He let the collective force of change in the party move him into the hot seat, with his biggest challenge being to dissuade Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin from dreaming higher. He relied on the party’s limitation in great distress — it purchases only change it can afford (one change at a time) — to elevate himself.

The Pekan MP has to establish to the party faithful that the play is dictated by him, and in the Bagan Pinang by-election he abdicated that opportunity. It seemed inevitable that Tan Sri Isa Samad would be the candidate, despite his own disciplinary record in the party. All Najib got to do was spin on how much soul-searching he went through to pick “his man.”

It spelt out that Najib toes the prevailing undercurrents in the party, and not shape the party to his aspirations.

The only person in his Cabinet who has been decisive — right or wrong — has been Muhyiddin in calling off the “English experiment” in schools with immediate effect start of the new school term. It was not a compromise decision, just a decision — upsetting many, but cheered on by many as well.

Giving further reason for Najib to look over his shoulder uncomfortably.

In the Mahathir years, the component parties in Barisan Nasional had morphed into subsidiaries of Umno. In part to the Kubang Pasu maverick, and in part to the rapid Umno-fication of the economy and the civil service.

These parties have gone headless long enough, and now hold on the coattails of Umno. Even at the nadir, Najib has not been able to impose his will.

MCA — the saying my enemy’s enemy is my friend has been taken to its incredulous conclusion with many permutations thrown in daily, that no one knows who will be whose friend next week. And this after the prime minister apparently masterminding a compromise solution.

MIC — is like a permanent Custer’s last stand, with a band of Samy Vellu’s men denying any reality without their grand boss. It is an open secret that Najib would jump enthusiastically if the former Sungai Siput MP fades away.

Instead of confronting Samy, Najib passes on pseudo-support for the “official” Hindraf party which has shown greater BN affinities.

It is a dangerous game. The splitting of Sabah parties to break up Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) grip was done with Umno being a competitor for indigenous votes. Umno is not competing for Indian votes, it is harbouring them through its Indian parties.

I don’t agree with that think, but that is the formula BN builds itself upon.

Increasing the Indian conduits is a tricky strategy, as there is already People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and Indian Progressive Front (IPF).

Talking about the PPP, the prime minister has one deputy minister in his department and another leader in his BN supreme council from the party — both claiming control of PPP. Surely that can’t go on.

It is almost like Najib is willing to dance with more partners as long as he does not offend any of them.

Tun Razak Hussein may have cobbled together the BN in a time of great uncertainty, but that does not mean the son has a birthright to controlling it — as the developments show the fallaciousness of hereditary entitlement.

The third test is about capturing the public’s imagination.

Whilst being a smaller nation inside the Asean, Malaysia has always has bolstered its own sense of worth through chest-thumping. The prime minister usually provides the material to initiate the thumping, and a grateful nation sighs in relief.

Mahathir’s Proton, Dayabumi, Twin Towers and litany of “look at us, look at us” projects has nursed to the present a generation of sycophants.

It dilutes any sense of emptiness the nation feels. Indeed in a connected world, a false sense of reality may be harder to sell but you will be surprised how handily Malaysians programmed to receive will submit to a “dream.”

These are the Malaysians who kept shouting Wawasan 2020 for a good decade or so under a Mahathir government writing cheques you can’t cash.

Najib’s fairly unimaginative, but you can’t compare him with the verbose Mahathir. The 1 Malaysia campaign is still blowing hot and cold, especially when the bulwark of it includes setting up one mixed hostel in the city.

The F1 entry may be his undoing in terms of the inappropriateness of starting an expensive endeavour in a rich-world of motor-racing, the same year you ask your fellow Malaysians to tighten their belts and show prudence in their spending.

The public will grow weary if the track results are poor and the economy keeps being depressed in the way it distributes to poorer Malaysians.

So you see they come in order: keeping Umno in check, holding down the component parties and feeding the public PR they can swallow.

Of course he can chuck it all out, and not be the type of leader we have had for close to 30 years.

And become his own man. The man before him failed to do that, and there is absolutely no evidence Najib will break free from the formulaic think he has been indoctrinated with after 33 years in public service.

Najib has to understand leadership is confidence, and the confidence must come from him and not from following a hackneyed formula. So far he has been akin to a schoolboy copying from a school senior, and that won’t do.

He has to write his own manual. That is always a bridge too far for the Nottingham University graduate.

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