Mainstream media, blogs silent on Dr Mahathir’s criticism of Najib
Malaysian morning dailies were silent today over Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s attacks against Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his administration although several of those linked to the former prime minister had said this was festering for months.
Most pro-Umno bloggers were also quiet, with only Syed Akbar Ali, who blogs at Out Syed The Box, discussing Dr Mahathir’s withdrawal of support for Najib.
The lack of mainstream media coverage suggests that editors have deliberately muffled any criticism against the current prime minister, even as Dr Mahathir yesterday lashed out at government supporters for not speaking out against Najib’s policies.
“Many of the policies, approaches and actions by the government under Najib have destroyed inter-racial ties, the economy and the country’s finances,” Dr Mahathir said in his blog chedet.cc.
“This is all because government supporters have never criticised their leaders.”
Syed Akbar, a prominent Umno blogger, echoed Dr Mahathir’s statement that Najib was performing worse than his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who stepped down from office in 2009 after coming under attack from Dr Mahathir as well.
“The last time when Dr Mahathir called for Badawi to quit, thousands joined the bandwagon. It was the first time that Umno bloggers played a significant role to bring down a lame-duck prime minister,” said Syed Akbar in his blog yesterday.
“This time, the entire country is becoming increasingly aware that Najib is worse than Badawi.”
In an earlier report in The Malaysian Insider today, a Kedah Umno leader claimed that Dr Mahathir’s dissatisfaction with Najib had boiled over about four months ago.
“Members who went to see him would get an earful of his criticism towards how Najib was running things,” said the Kedah leader, who requested anonymity.
Calls for Najib to step down within the blogsphere began gaining momentum in January, with statements like “Najib kangkung” and “useless PM” being bandied about among pro-Umno blogs such as Out Syed The Box and Apanama.
These cyber attacks from within Umno’s rank and file are reminiscent of the pressure they placed on Abdullah in 2006. These same pro-Umno bloggers credited Abdullah’s resignation to their “conspiracy to bring him down”.
However, their influence has since waned, with analysts saying that their calls for Najib to step down were insignificant as long as they were not echoed by the rest of society.
In a blog post yesterday, Dr Mahathir said he was withdrawing his support for Najib as his criticism had fallen on deaf ears.
“I have tried to give my views to him directly, which are also the views of many people who have met me,” said the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
“I have no choice but to withdraw my support. This has not been effective so I have to criticise.”
But later last night, Dr Mahathir told reporters that his criticism against Najib was not personal and it did not mean that the prime minister should resign.
"No, I am not asking him to resign. I just do not agree with his policies," Dr Mahathir told reporters at the Putra World Trade Centre last night.
Dr Mahathir further accused Najib of being "soft", with the tendency to keep quiet when faced with problems.
"As you know, he did not do well in the last general election. He did worse than Pak Lah," said Dr Mahathir in reference to Najib's predecessor Abdullah. – August 19, 2014.
