Johor Umno backs Najib, says information chief

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has received the backing of Johor Umno amid criticism over his leadership of the party as well as the country. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 16, 2015.

Johor Umno has unanimously backed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's leadership, said its information chief Datuk Samsol Bari Jamali.

He said Johor Umno had concluded that there were no other party leaders qualified to replace Najib at the moment.

"We are leaning towards supporting Najib. We don't have many choices, what can we do?" he told The Malaysian Insider while speaking about last night’s meeting between Najib and Johor Umno.

"We are giving support so that he can solve the current problems," he said, referring to issues such as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the goods and services tax (GST).

The Semarang state assemblyman said he was hopeful that the support given to Najib would enable the prime minister to put Umno in a stronger position.

"The issues raised such as 1MDB and others, we gave support so that he can solve these problems to strengthen party leadership," he said.

Najib is currently on a two-day visit to Johor, starting with the three-and-a-half hour closed-door meeting with the state liaison leaders last night which began at 8pm.

Najib will also be launching a low-cost people's housing project in Melana Indah this morning before returning to the administrative capital.

He currently faces intense criticism and pressure from many parties, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir has openly called for Najib's resignation, citing the management of Najib's brainchild 1MDB, which sits on an RM42 billion debt, as one of the main reasons.

He also disagreed with Najib's policies, including the implementation of the GST, while bringing up the issue of the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu by Najib's bodyguards in 2006.

Dr Mahathir, who returned from Mecca yesterday, will be in Ipoh today for an open dialogue session about current affairs.

Najib however received full support from the Umno Supreme Council during the council's meeting in conjunction with Umno's 69th anniversary last week.

Najib also said he had had a "heart-to-heart" talk with his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who in recent times has also been critical of the 1MDB issue.

- TMI