Muhyiddin is better than Najib, says Dr M

Muhyiddin is better than Najib, says Dr M

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appears to have abandoned Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, saying today that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin can beat the Umno deputy president and be in line to succeed as Prime Minister in the future.

The former prime minister and party president, who quit Umno recently, said Najib is perceived as weak for supporting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"I feel that Muhyiddin is more acceptable to the people who are not controlled by Abdullah, who are not interested in Abdullah," Dr Mahathir told reporters after attending the launching the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) office in Sentul here.

The 83-year-old has been a constant harsh critic of Abdullah's administrative abilities over the last four years, especially when the prime minister began dropping his mega projects.
Looking bright-eyed and dapper in a grey pinstripe Nehru suit, the sprightly octogenarian noted that the public had become disenchanted with Najib. "People perceive Datuk Seri Najib as a weak leader. He doesn't have his own stand. He is always saying 'I support, I support.' People are disenchanted with Datuk Seri Najib.

"I believe Abdullah will try to manipulate by giving money and perhaps Datuk Seri Najib can win by manipulation," he said of the party elections due in December. The party's branch elections start this Thursday.

Dr Mahathir also said that while the Umno elections may be easy to manipulate, the general elections were more difficult to rig. "If he (Najib) is not competing for the Umno presidency, he'll be competing for Umno deputy president. He may have to compete against Muhyiddin. There is a possibility that Muhyiddin would win and Najib would lose.

"Even though Abdullah has announced the date of the handover, Datuk Seri Najib is not going to receive his reward," he added.

The political tradition in Malaysia has always held that whoever becomes Umno president becomes the prime minister; likewise whoever wins the post of Umno deputy president automatically becomes the deputy prime minister.

However, when asked if he was declaring his outright support for Muhyiddin, Dr Mahathir only smiled and said: "I support anyone. I'm not an Umno member. I support anyone who wins."

kzso - this will make najib sweats and look around for some 'sign or signal'. muhyiddin has 'started campaigning' but najib still relax and doing nothing..........