Published April 3, 2009

Malaysia waits to see which way Najib will go

Nation undergoes a change of guard today

By PAULINE NG
IN KUALA LUMPUR

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NAJIB Razak will be sworn in as Malaysia's sixth prime minister today, with people anxiously waiting to see whether he will steer the country towards a progressive future or back to a more authoritarian order.

After an additional five-year wait when former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad chose Abdullah Badawi as his successor - only to say later he should not have done so - the top job is finally Mr Najib's.

Analysts say the 55-year-old, who became Mentri Besar of Pahang in his mid-20s and has spent more than three decades in politics, realises the serious problems confronting this multi-racial nation of 28 million people: ethnic tension between Malays and non-Malays and a stagnant low-value economy that is fast losing its competitive edge.

Throw in the loss of political dominance by Mr Najib's United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and allegations over murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shariibuu, and the burden he faces - at a time of global uncertainty - becomes clearer.

'One Malaysia' is the call-to-unity slogan the political blueblood and eldest son of the country's second prime minister Abdul Razak has adopted.

He says his government will work for the people and has urged Umno members to overhaul their ingrained rent-seeking mindsets, warning that failure to do so could see the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition bear the brunt of public disdain at the next general election due by 2013.

'We've heard all that before, but it boils down to the nuts and bolts of governing,' said Merdeka Centre's Ibrahim Suffian. The political analyst from the independent think tank sees inertia within Umno and the civil service as the biggest hurdle to reform.

Indeed, despite his landslide victory in 2004, Mr Abdullah ran into a brick wall when he tried to curb Umno patronage, and was blamed for BN's limp performance at last year's polls in March.

After more than a year of incessant politicking, Mr Najib is expected to stamp his authority and political will to 'whip things into shape'.

He is expected to cut the size of the Cabinet, and yesterday met the chief secretary to the government, ostensibly to tell him which ministries are to be shrunk.

Mr Ibrahim said that besides staffing the Cabinet with competent ministers so that longstanding issues and problems can be tackled, Mr Najib needs to have a strong economic team to set the country's growth trajectory, and must rein in racial baiting by extremists.

His aides reckon he is up to the task. But recent events show a major disconnect between what his administration would like to achieve and how to achieve it - the latest example being the Home Ministry's move to ban two opposition newspapers.

Opposition leaders expect more tough measures, similar to those adopted by Dr Mahathir during his 22-year tenure.

But the situation is substantially different now, with BN and Mr Najib's popularity at a low, and younger electors whose loyalties are less certain than those of their elders.

'The question is whether Mr Najib can use his new-found political capital as Umno president and prime minister to quickly set things in motion,' said Mr Ibrahim.

Mr Najib will unveil his Cabinet next week, giving Malaysians an inkling of how seriously he plans to start.