YOURSAY | ‘And if you claim he is spewing fake news against you, take him to court.’

Najib launches into lengthy broadside against Dr M at dinner event

Clever Voter: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak shows his nervousness whenever former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad comes into the picture.

The lack of assurance is obvious, judging by the number of mentions (in reference to Mahathir) in his speech (at a dinner organised by the United Nations Association Malaysia).

The country has regressed in the Transparency Index over the past 10 years. It was sitting very comfortably between 29th and 32nd position before the current administration took over.

There has been much disrespect to rule of law in this country - from the removal of the attorney-general to the deprivation of human rights for minorities.

There is no denying what Mahathir said of this government – one allegation is bad enough, let alone a series of allegations which this government is unable to defend.

Vgeorgemy: “Governance in a developing democracy” (the title of Najib’s speech) is a subject very dear to us.

The PM should have used this occasion to provide us his plan to achieve the vision of TN50 on the back of the Conference of Rulers’ concerns over the current status of governance - once on Oct 7, 2015, it articulated its view about an aspect of the financial management of the nation that impacts upon its integrity; another on Oct 10, 2017, this time over the divisive actions of people who have gone overboard in expressing their conviction, putting the harmony in Malaysia’s diverse society on the line.

Citizens who were eagerly waiting for this speech left the room disappointed, hearing his lamenting on the "epidemic of fake news" by a former leader.

Vision2020: "Cakap tak serupa bikin" (doing one thing and saying another) is the best line to describe a leader who has no shame, dignity and integrity in eyes of the public for his silence on his alleged link to 1MDB money-laundering, causing the closure of several banks in Asia and Europe.

CQ Muar: Mr PM, according to you, all those accusations made by the former leader about you and this country were untrue. Why didn’t you take legal actions against him?

Since all those things said were faked news and lies, wasn't it a golden opportunity for you to seek legal redress? But you did not. Do you expect us to believe you then?

For the former leader to paint such a negative picture of his own country - among others, how corrupted this country is and that it is on the brink of bankruptcy - why did you refrain from legal proceedings?

Care to enlighten us on the reason, Mr PM?

Bluemountains: Indeed, Najib has so far only been brave enough to launch veiled attacks against Mahathir, referring to him as a former leader, whereas Mahathir has been calling Najib a thief almost on a daily basis.

Will Najib take action against Mahathir? Only after GE14, perhaps.

Fairman: Mr Prime Minister, your speech to an intellectual audience has zero value. They just sit and listen to you because you are still holding the powerful no 1 post.

On the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion issues, you pretend it never happened and close all channels for discussion and debate in the Dewan Rakyat and in your docile media.

Your lawyers never failed to apply to strike out suits relating to the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion issues in all court proceedings.

You dare not hold press conferences or meet the press, fearing journalists will ask you tough and embarrassing questions. Your voice was never heard, or only come too late in the day, when elements of violence, extremism rear its ugly head.

But, you are on the social media to portray yourself as an icon of moderation when deaths and incidents happen far from Malaysia.

Longjaafar: Out of the 47 paragraphs in Najib’s speech, a third was dedicated to chastising Mahathir. How many paragraphs were there on 1MDB?

Pretzel Dog: Mr PM, next time cut your speech short. The more you try to explain things, the less convincing you sound.

If you claim he is spewing fake news against you, take the old man to court and sue the pants off him. That should shut him up once and for all. After all, you have everything going your way, so why not?

Odin Tajué: Many readers have described this leader as aristocratic. In one of his pieces, Malaysiakini columnist R Nadeswaran described him as blue-blooded.

How wide of the mark could they all be? Running down someone you dislike in this manner and situation does not reflect an air of gentility, but that of the gutter.

Abasir: A good number of Malaysians (even "educated" ones) routinely and thoughtlessly equate wealth with gentility and refinement.

I understand that rich people who can easily afford the various titles in the market, obtain them to add that essential veneer of respectability and class.

So, we have a growing caste of well-heeled and elaborately titled thugs, money launderers, serial fornicators and such littering the land.

Malaysians, programmed to "pay respects" to the titled and wealthy, naturally look at these cretins with awe and invest in them the class they never had in the first place.

As for the kleptocrat, it is perhaps telling that despite having seen the content of his despicable and utterly ignoble character, Malaysians still refer to him as an aristocrat.

But that I suppose is understandable. They also refer to the rickety Proton Saga plying the airport to city route as a "limo".

RKR: Najib, one of your greatest achievements is putting Malaysia on the list of nations known for kleptocracy. How come you conveniently omitted that in your speech?

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