What’s happened to the Najib of 15 years ago?

He then called on leaders to be willing to hear the truth

COMMENT

The democratic system is based on integrity, and that entails a willingness on the part of people in power to tell the truth. People can understand that some things need to be secret, but there is a limit to exactly how much secrecy they are willing to put up with, especially in days of scandals, conspiracies and unstable politics.

And it is just as important for a leader to be willing to hear the truth. In party politics, it is the duty of those closest to the president to keep him honest. After all, the adage about the corrupting influence of power has been proven true time and time again, and a leader unchecked by his followers is always in danger of succumbing to the lure of profit at the expense of the people he leads.

No leadership manual will ever recommend that you surround yourself with sycophants because that has often brought on the downfall of political and business leaders alike. A leader requires the sane voice of truth by his side to keep things real.

Prime Minister Najib Razak once believed that as well. Back in July 2000, when he was Defence Minister and an Umno vice-president, Najib spoke these words at an Umno workshop in Shah Alam: “Leaders must be open minded and willing to accept criticism and dissenting views from members. If not, people will be afraid to tell the truth.”

The Najib of that time recognised the need for Umno to blaze a new path forward to recapture support from those who were disillusioned with the party and to appeal to civil servants, academics and students, among others. He even rejected Umno’s famous money politics, asking where sincerity and commitment were if everything had to be rewarded with money.

Many Malaysians would say that the Najib we have just described was a far cry from the Najib of today. Those who have dared to speak up against him, including his deputy, have been silenced or removed from power, and he has apparently chosen to surround himself with a cadre of yes-men who, we can presume, would loyally – and blindly – defend his every action to a public that is growing increasingly frustrated with incomplete answers and incomplete truths, if not outright lies.

At a recent speech to Seremban Umno delegates, he even said he preferred loyalty over intelligence, reasoning that a ship can have only one captain and insisting that opposing points of view were not to be aired in open forums. Assuming he was directing the remark at Muhyiddin Yassin, we must consider Muhyiddin’s revelation that he had previously advised Najib in private to no effect.

Najib is treading dangerous ground for a leader. His recent actions to silence dissent have agitated a significant segment of the population, and a lot of it has to do with his suspected propensity to ignore advice and with the obvious fact that he continues to give non-answers to burning questions. His new cabinet is lacklustre at best, and with each passing day the rakyat lose a little bit more hope that things will return to normal.

Najib is looking more and more like a hypocrite. Fifteen years may be a long time, but memories are long too, especially for words as dramatic as the ones he spoke at the Shah Alam event. He has spurned his own legacy by spitting on his words, and he cannot blame Malaysians for losing faith in him.