Former NST chief takes aim at Najib for ‘political cowardice’
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (right) with former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. – The Malaysian Insider pic, April 14, 2014.
The former editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times today joined the chorus of attacks on the current administration, and hinted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was a political coward unlike his predecessors.
Writing in his column for Sinar Harian, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad said "many hanker for a return" to either the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or Tun Razak eras "when there were no political cowards", suggesting that Najib was a political coward.
Abdullah, popularly known as Dollah Kok Lanas, was once detained under the Internal Security Act over allegation of spreading communism.
He was detained together with the late Tan SriAbdul Samad Ismail and Datuk Abdullah Majid, and the trio were known as "Tiga Abdul", borrowing the title of the 1960s Malay comedy by the late P. Ramlee.
Abdullah, who was released after Dr Mahathir took over the premiership in 1981, was soon appointed as the editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times Group.
Abdullah's criticism comes against a backdrop of recent polls indicating Najib's sliding popularity, especially in the wake of the flight MH370 crisis.
Last December, independent pollster Merdeka Center reported that Najib's popularity had taken a 10% plunge to 52% since August 2013.
A new survey commissioned by The Malaysian Insider meanwhile found widespread public suspicion on the way Putrajaya is managing the MH370 crisis, with more than half believing that the government was hiding details from the public.
In his article today, Abdullah said voters would abandon the ruling party for good.
"Many are not happy and they are looking for an alternative," he wrote, adding that the people longed for the arrival of leaders who are "honest and transparent".
source : mi
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