Can Najib overcome Altantuya, NEP?

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may feel a sense of

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deja vu as the high-profile sedition trial of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin begins, renewing nationwide attention on the murder of a beautiful Mongolian national two years ago.

He awaits a key decision by tomorrow from his boss Prime Minister and Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that is expected to sweep him to power.

However, the spectre of Altantuya Shaariibuu could haunt his campaign to win the Umno presidency and, by convention, inherit the premiership by next March.

“It is a cloud over him,” Ramon Navaratnam, chairperson of the Asian Strategic Leadership Institute, told Malaysiakini.

“There is no doubt that he has the political acumen, the management and administration skills. But here we are dealing with perceptions - that there is no smoke without fire. So until the smoke (disappears), people will keep asking questions and there will be doubt.”

Raja Petra - or RPK as he is better known - is the editor of popular portal Malaysia Today. In an article posted in April entitled ‘Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell’, he allegedly implied that Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor were involved in her death. Both have repeatedly denied this.

Najib, 55, has also denied any sexual relationship with the 28-year-old interpreter. He has sworn his innocence on the Quran twice - during a closed-door Umno meeting and again in August at the height of the Permatang Pauh by-election tussle with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

"Even though this is not an official oath on the Quran: Wallahi, Wabillahi, Watallahi, I never knew nor had anything to do with the Mongolian woman Altantuya," the New Straits Times had quoted Najib as having pledged at the Masjid Jamek Guar Perahu on Aug 22.

Not The Only One

But Najib is not the only one among the current crop of top leaders in Malaysia facing allegations of a sex scandal.

Arch-rival Anwar has been accused of sodomising his former personal aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan and is being prosecuted for committing unnatural sex. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge countering that it was trumped up by the Umno-led government and that Najib has played a lead role in the conspiracy to kill his political comeback.

The opposition icon, who has claimed that he can wrest control of the federal government, is expected to lead a vote of no confidence against Abdullah when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.

His Pakatan Rakyat alliance won 82 of the 222 parliamentary seats during national polls held in March. He needs at least another 31 seats to overturn the majority currently held by Barisan Nasional and has been trying to woo government backbenchers to his side.

If Anwar garners enough support to push through the vote, he would very likely head the new government. That would instantly scupper Najib’s hopes of becoming prime minister even if he wins the Umno presidency.

“I think there is still a lot of uncertainty. I think it is still possible for a change in government to take place. There are a couple of things that could however derail (Anwar), the implied use of the ISA against him and the sodomy charge,” said Jacob Ramsay, Southeast Asia political analyst for Singapore-based Control Risks Group.

Within Umno, Najib’s only competition for the No 1 post so far is Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who is making his third attempt to be party president. But party watchers believe the real race has yet to begin and other candidates may later emerge to give Najib and Razaleigh a run for their money.

Abdullah has promised to reveal by tomorrow if he will defend his post. Pundits are already predicting the 68-year-old will call it a day, clearing the way for his deputy to declare his interest in the topmost post.

Najib’s supporters continue to worry that the RPK sedition trial and the inevitable airing of dirty laundry could dampen his chances of following in the footsteps of his father and second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn, his uncle and the third prime minister.

Political Pedigree

An economist by training, Najib was thrust onto the political stage at the age of 22 when his father died.

Abdul Razak has been revered in Umno for introducing the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971, a social and economic restructuring plan that protects and benefits the Malays, although abuses in its implementation have sidelined many within the ethnic group as well as other races..

Ironically, Najib may have to be the one to dismantle the prized NEP. According to experts, the core reason for BN’s worst-ever performance in the 12th general election was due to voters’ frustration with the ruling coalition’s refusal to discard race-based, divide-and-rule politics.

Many political watchers believe that racial polarisation has increased over the years, due mainly to abuses in the implementation of the NEP and use of the ‘Malay supremacy’ plank to which Umno leaders have clung to maintain political dominance.

“It will not last, it will cause further disharmony. In 1969, 1970, they wanted to burn KL. What could they lose, they asked? But if they burn KL now, they would lose their own homes and assets. Nobody is going to gain, others will exert pressure, the world is watching,” Navaratnam said.

On May 13, 1969, racial riots broke out in Kuala Lumpur when Malays - fearing the rise of other races would be at their expense - clashed with Chinese and Indian Malaysians.

The bloodshed was sparked after the Umno-led Alliance (predecessor of BN) suffered heavy electoral losses to a multi-racial opposition. It was Najib’s father who led the calls for the country’s first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman to take responsibility and he duly resigned in 1970.

Meanwhile, fearful that history may repeat itself, BN component-parties - MCA, MIC and Gerakan - have called for change. Gerakan, the most vocal among the group, has even threatened to pull out if Umno - which still calls the shots - does not agree to share power.

The electoral backlash, which has ripped away chunks of Abdullah’s credibility and political standing, spurred Najib to say over the weekend: “If we don’t have the courage to change, then people will change us.”

Said Navaratnam: “His father was his great teacher. But he has to show he can rise above politicking at Umno and at the BN level. He has to lead and not be led. Do what is best for the country in the long term and not what is good for politics in the short term.”