A survey showing Prime Minister Najib Razak’s popularity dropping by a significant amount - from 72 to 69 per cent - had his minders scrambling to “spin away” his loss of approval amongst Malaysians.
“The artificial public relations and false promises are starting to come unstuck. It is also highly likely the actual results are much worse because you can be sure the survey-takers would have tried their best to be kind to him,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
“But at the end of the day, Najib has no programs, no real policies to speak of. This is something that all Malaysians know intuitively because for 33 years, he has been in the national limelight but failed to shine and now, he still can’t do it. The awful thing is, he also knows this and is trying his best to become a second Mahathir and force his will on the people. The BN has become a highly dangerous regime.”
Not fancy jargon but tangible results wanted
The poll was conducted by the Merdeka Center and suggested that the lower approval rating was due in part to a reduction in government subsidies for fuel and sugar. The poll also found that few Malaysians did not understand or appreciate his flashy RM1.4 trillion Economic Transformation Programme that included a RM40 billion MRT project and a RM5 billion 100-stories tower even though the property market was already facing a glut.
Pundits said this implied the BN is vulnerable to voter backlash after ignoring repeated calls from the public and civil rights group to manage the economy in a more prudent manner that benefited the masses rather than the elite.
"Najib must understand that no one understands his ETP not because of all the acronyms and fancy jargon. Malaysians don't understand because they can't see any tangible results. Furthermore, there is hardly any coordination or support from other Umno members for his plans - be it ETP or 1Malaysia. The only ones who praise it to the skies are Gerakan and MCA because Tsu Koon and Soi Lek are so weak, they have no choice but to say it is wonderful. This is already a telling sign of what the real situation is like on the ground."
52 per cent of voters surveyed by Merdeka Centre said they were not aware of the ETP, compared to 48 per cent who said they knew of it. Worse still, 82 per cent said they did not know "very much” about the ETP despite road-shows and multi-million ringgit exhibitions and conferences to highlight the plan - which is the financial plank of the Najib administration's thrust to reform a corrupt and racially-divided Malaysia.
The poll was conducted in the first two weeks of this month. Just last week, news that joint-venture MMC-Gamuda had been awarded the lion's share of the MRT project getting deal worth RM36 billion without open tender had sparked widespread dissatisfaction.
MMC is controlled by tycoon Syed Mokhtar Bukhary, who is well-known for his connections to the Umno elite, while the Perak royal family controls Gamuda. It has been widely speculated that Najib had promised to benefit Gamuda after the Perak Sultan supported his regime during the coup d'etat BN engineered to topple the Pakatan Rakyat state government in February 2009.
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