Najib’s career hangs in the balance if Anwar not jailed

Zainuddin Maidin hits back at pro-Chinese media who think Najib’s days are over if Anwar is jailed.

PETALING JAYA: Former chief editor of Malay-daily Utusan Melayu has said that if opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is not jailed for sodomy, it could very well spell the last days of prime minister Najib Razak’s career.

In his latest blog posting, Zainuddin Maidin said that contrary to what some pro-Chinese media thought, jailing Anwar was the only right thing to do if Najib wanted to fix the “crisis in confidence” he was suffering from among Umno members and the Malays.

He also cautioned that if Anwar walked free, Najib’s days would be numbered as he would be forced to step down before his term was up.

Without mentioning names, Zainuddin hinted at “another candidate” already waiting on the sidelines and ready to pounce on Najib should the unacceptable happen.

He wrote, “If Anwar is not jailed, the president of Umno and the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib will be challenged before his term is up by a candidate that is waiting on the sidelines”.

Saying Najib had lost the confidence of Umno and the Malays, he listed the premier’s weaknesses as being too soft on opposition parties, and giving too much leeway to the Chinese and ultra-liberals to do as they pleased.

Attacking The Edge for a commentary saying that jailing Anwar would hurt Najib more than it did former premier Mahathir Mohamad, Zainuddin said their arguments were baseless, did not reflect reality and were pro-Chinese and DAP.

Saying the Chinese only wanted Anwar free so he could be used for political mileage, Zainuddin said they continued to believe that only Anwar had the capacity to bring down the Malay-led Barisan Nasional.

He also said The Edge completely disregarded how influential the Malays were from a political standpoint, but treated them as if they “did not even exist in this country”.

Saying the Kajang Move had “destroyed Anwar’s political integrity”, he also criticised the commentary for its complete refusal to acknowledge the damaging spilt in PKR in the aftermath of the Kajang Move which he said was a blunder that also resulted in a total loss of confidence among Pakatan Rakyat supporters for the coalition.