Kuala Lumpur - When Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was
appointed as the country's sixth premier 100 days ago, he ascended to
power in the most unwelcoming circumstances.
Najib took over the reins of leadership on April 3 at a time when
his ruling National Front coalition was suffering its worst-ever
level of public support, as the country spiraled into a recession.
The son of Malaysia's second prime minister was also suffering
badly from rumours surrounding his alleged links with a murdered
Mongolian beauty, Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was found blown up
by military-grade explosives in 2006.
Around the time of his appointment, Najib's popularity rating
stood at just 41 per cent, an embarrassing figure considering his
predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi enjoyed a figure of 46 per cent
despite being criticized as largely ineffective.
Najib's low public approval was so obvious that the premier
himself, in an interview given just before his appointment, implored
voters to give him a 'chance to prove' himself, adding that he was
determined to bring about change within the country's economy and
corruption-riddled government.
Barely a month into his new role, Najib's new government released
13 people who were held without trial under a draconian security law,
and removed a 30-per-cent requirement for ethnic Malay ownership in
27 public service sectors.
Earlier this month, Najib announced even bolder economic measures,
scrapping a decades-long policy requiring listed businesses to
allocate at least 30 per cent of their shares to Malays.
As a result of his efforts, a recent survey conducted by the
Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, an independent pollster, found
that support for the premier had risen to 65 per cent.
However, the rating was by far the lowest of the 100-day approval
ratings for all of Malaysia's former prime ministers.
Analysts say his inability to break out of the pool of negative
perceptions could continue to dog him throughout his career, unless
he takes bolder steps to address issues such as increasing racial
tensions and corruption.
'In terms of new policies, credit must be given that he was brave
enough to scrap the quota system,' said political analyst Mohammad
Agus Yussoff from the National University of Malaysia.
'But people are not interested to look at new policies alone when
what they experience is inflation and corruption.
'People are also looking for change in terms of the judiciary and
corruption. And they are still waiting,' Mohammad Agus told the
German Press Agency dpa.
'In terms of his achievements, it's, at best, vague.'
Even former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who had earlier voiced his
preference for Najib against Abdullah, has given the new prime
minister a mere pass grade for his first 100 days in office.
'Some of the things he does are very good, but there are things
that are not so good. So it's even,' Mahathir told reporters recently.
While declining to elaborate on the 'good,' he said Najib's
biggest flaw was his apparent lack of commitment to fighting
corruption.
One possible reason for the apparent unresponsiveness to Najib's
efforts thus far is the fact that the public had expected little from
the man plagued by controversies for most of his political career.
'He came into office with very low expectations from the public,'
said Michael Yeoh, chief executive officer of the Asian Strategy and
Leadership Institute think-thank based in Kuala Lumpur.
'And I think he has met those expectations,' he said.
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