YOURSAY | ‘Idolising a convicted criminal will further reduce the party’s support base.’

Puad: Towards GE16 litmus test, Najib's freedom Umno's top priority

Siva1967: The little credibility Umno has earned in recent times is being eroded by certain quarters in the party who have forgotten to board the train that is heading towards reforms under the current coalition government.  

What is the purpose of bringing up the matter related to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak?

What is the purpose of continuing the battle to get him released from prison?  

Are these certain members of the Umno regime so up in the air that they have lost all semblance of whom to fight for and who to be left alone for them to face the consequences of their actions?  

Najib’s administration brought the country to its knees with what is famously known as the 1MDB scandal.

The proceedings are still ongoing, wasting tonnes of public funds to get justice for the people of Malaysia and, once and for all, get to the bottom of this matter.

One perpetrator is still at large, presumably enjoying the spoils of this scandal. After a long time, Malaysia began to see a light at the end of the tunnel, with several international ratings and recognitions raising the country's ranks. 

Granted that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is not perfect, and it may take a longer time to mend all that is broken in the country.

Vultures are waiting in the wings to derail the recent improvements, and here we have Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi, who is speaking about Najib’s release.  

My mother once told me if you have nothing nice to say, then don’t say anything. I would urge all the old Umno stalwarts to stop for a while and think.

Do we want to go back to the Najib era and risk throwing away all that has been achieved recently?  

Don’t think about you and your peers, but stop and think about what we are going to leave for the next generation.

Bravemalaysian: I have a few comments on this article. 

Firstly, is Umno so bankrupt of leaders that they have to depend on a convicted criminal for leadership?

This leader was not only convicted overwhelmingly by the Malaysian courts at all levels but also implicated by convictions of his abettors in many countries.

Secondly, if Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli comes up with “idiotic formulas”, is it because some of the leaders (especially those from the past) are not intelligent enough to understand long-term planning?

Former MP Tony Pua and Rafizi are perhaps some of the finer brains we have. But I don’t expect idiots to appreciate genuine intelligence. 

If Rafizi is so useless, it must be very lucky for Malaysia to be enjoying so many positive changes that have improved foreign investors’ confidence in the country, or are the foreign investors also a bunch of idiots?

If it’s luck, then we should also keep the lucky winning horse. If it’s due to good planning, then we don’t expect idiots to understand it.

Thirdly, It is unfortunate that there are still those who continue to think that Umno's future revolves around people like Najib, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh, Puad, and Umno supreme council member Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

They will prove to be a liability to Umno and the coalition government in the 16th general election.  

These people either have to repent or change if Umno is to do better.

Hrrmph: Yes, it is a litmus test for all of us. What is more important?

The future of our nation or the freedom of a convicted felon who went into the slammer for crimes against the nation? Umno should take a hard look at themselves.

Even the emperor in the fable realised his folly in the end. It has been 10 years since the rubbish spilt out.

How long does it take for them to realise their folly? Or how stupid do they think the rest of us are?

WargaMasBiasa: What a joke! Especially when compared with our tiny first-world neighbour, Singapore’s recent case where former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran was found guilty of a much smaller crime (some other politicians and civil servants might not even consider it a crime!).  

In comparison to what Najib received, Iswaran got a much higher sentence, pleaded guilty, paid back what he received and apologised to his compatriots.

He did not appeal and started his prison sentence. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, the show must go on.

MarioT: Umno, a once formidable political force, became split and lost a big chunk of its support because of its uncontrolled financial scandals that plunged the nation into a tailspin of immense debt amounting to more than a trillion ringgit.

This party was given a reprise and invited to join the federal coalition government for the sake of stability and well-being of the country.

Idolising a convicted criminal will further reduce the party's support base. This will lead to their downfall from grace come the next general election. 

Hoyohoyo: Umno is still clueless, as usual. Reduced to only 26 MP seats after the 15th general election, mostly due to Najib’s corruption, they are demanding justice and a full pardon for “Bossku.”

What are the injustices done to him? Will the new Agong grant him a full pardon?  

Umno needs to apologise to all Malaysians for Najib and make him return the stolen funds to the treasury.

The US Justice Department helped recover some of it two years ago.

Newday: Puad and Umno - putting all your eggs in the basket of the convicted one. The same man who damaged the Umno brand beyond repair.

Umno is still shackled to the past and will never move forward.

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