Mahathir Mohd VS Najib

MAHATHIR Mohamad, Malaysia's former prime minister, is not happy. He has claimed publicly that his successor, Abdullah Badawi, has stabbed him in the back and questioned Abdullah's policies.

The Mahathir furore has helped Abdullah mask his own inaction. When he came to office he encouraged expectations that he would seriously tackle corruption and promote transparency.

But Malaysia's police remain a disgrace. Out of control, corrupt and trigger-happy, they generally kill at least one person a week.

So far, no major Government project has been subject to an open tendering process, despite Abdullah's suggestions they would be.

And, despite all the talk of getting rid of nepotism, the families of most politicians remain involved in businesses that rely on Government contracts, including Abdullah's own.

Furthermore, he appears to be excessively reliant on his son-in-law, the unelected 30's-year-old Khairy Jamaluddin.

Mahathir no longer wants Abdullah to remain Prime Minister. He hasn't for quite some time. His preference is for Najib Razak, the current deputy.

So what is Najib like? He's certainly no Mahathir. He rarely takes a strong position on anything, and when he does, it's usually because he's worked out which way the numbers are. Accordingly, he has few strong enemies; nor many passionate supporters.

Ever the good deputy, Najib was quick to pledge loyalty to Abdullah last week but he also refrained from saying anything critical of Mahathir. A fence-sitter but a splendid one, he is rich, Malay, well-educated, and his father (Tun Abdul Razak) was prime minister.

But will Najib take the tough decisions that so far have eluded Abdullah? Nothing in his career suggests he will. It will probably be business as usual, and in Malaysia politics is always about business.

Najib's younger brother, Nazir Razak, is chief executive of CIMB, Malaysia's largest investment bank. He and two other brothers, Nizam and Johari, are involved in GP Ocean Food, which describes itself as the country's biggest integrated fisheries group.

Excerpts from: Michael Backman