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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Mahathir speaks for us, Najib

Dr. M is voicing out questions we have asked for years, and we want answers.
COMMENT
skandal najib
KUALA LUMPUR: The nation as a whole must give Prime Minister Najib Razak some credit for discarding his usual silent demeanour to answer some pressing questions raised by his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, and on national TV nonetheless. It’s an almost uncharacteristic move as Najib has tended to keep his opinion to himself even as various parties appeal to him to deign them with a reply.
It truly speaks volumes about how serious the situation truly is for Najib to discuss the matter on national TV, much less attempt to clarify his side of the story. However, as laudable as bravery out of necessity is, Najib failed to recognise one key point about Mahathir’s criticism- and that is the fact that he currently speaks for millions of Malaysians who have been asking these questions of the Prime Minister for years.
Najib told the interviewer that while he respected Mahahtir, he was answerable first and foremost to the people and to his party, UMNO. Now, this would be a perfectly good answer coming from any other Prime Minister than Najib Razak, whose elegant silence and graceful demeanour means that no one ever had their questions answered by him, and now that someone far more influential than you or me asks these same questions we have been asking for years, he simply cannot afford to resume his normal silence.
Mahathir has his share of faults and while some of the things he has said and done still do not sit well with some segments of society, he speaks with our voice, the voice of the people, in this situation. Mahathir, whether Najib likes it or not, is right now the appointed avatar of the people to drag answers out of our Prime Minister, answers, that once again, we have waited years for.
Najib’s attempt to pull the wool over our eyes with specious logic will not work because we know that we have asked these questions time and time again, and Najib has proven himself all but answerable to the people. What of the GST? He hasn’t answered how the revenue from the tax will be used and whether we as the people will see any tangible benefits. Or how about 1MDB, and the billions of ringgit that have seemingly disappeared, like jet plane engines and submarines into an endless black hole of obscurity while our Prime Minister smiles at us indulgently like we are children who are to be pacified, not answered.
The Rakyat are sick of being treated like idiots, and we have had enough, more than enough, of being talked down to by our leaders and politicians. Mahathir represents our voice, and Najib had better start making a habit of answering Mahathir, because we are listening, and we know a diplomatic answer when we hear one. That is not what we want, nor how a democratic government fulfills its responsibility to be answerable to the public.
For that matter, casually waving away any rumour of his involvement in the Altantuya case raises eyebrows as well considering Mahathir hasn’t even suggested that Najib might be involved- only that Sirul Azhar, one of the murderers, says that hidden hands involved in the murder got away unpunished. So, why so nervous?
Najib, it would be nice if you could treat the rakyat like adults once in a while and answer our questions. Ignoring us only leads to increasing cynicism for the times when you actually deign to answer something instead of being condescending.
53% of us may not have voted for you, but the fact that you accepted the office of Prime Minister means that you accepted the duty to be responsible to the people, much like your own father and the other founding fathers of Malaysia did. As a public servant, you are burdened by that duty, and failure to do your duty will simply sink your reputation even further into the mud than it has ever been.
Now that the wolf is at your door, now that the Kingslayer has come to take his due, you suddenly panic and address us. Forgive us if we are not inclined to take your words at face value- that privilege is reserved for leaders who have our trust. You could have earned that too, but it seems like the elegance of your silence is perceived only as the hubris of entitlement.

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