Zurairi AR, The Malaysian Insider
It is up to Umno members to decide if Datuk Seri Najib Razak should step aside if Barisan Nasional (BN) fails to get a stronger mandate in Election 2013, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
But the former prime minister (picture), a staunch supporter of the administration, said Najib was unfortunately faced with the disadvantage of inheriting a weak government headed by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
“I think he’s trying to do better than Tun Abdullah. And I think he can,” Dr Mahathir added.
Dr Mahathir said it was his personal opinion that Najib should give way to Deputy Umno president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin if BN only scores a slim majority in the elections.
“If he fails, he should move of course,” Dr Mahathir told reporters during the 15th Malaysia Strategic Outlook Conference here.
However, he said that the decision ultimately lies with party members to decide the fate of their president.
The matter of Abdullah’s weak cabinet cropped up several times during the event today, with Institute of Political and Economic Affairs (IKAPE) chairman Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad declaring that significant gain by PR in the last polls was a fluke, brought by a response against former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
“It was more of a protest against the inept Abdullah administration of broken promises, infantile behaviour and abuse of power,” he said in a forum discussing the outlook of Election 2013.
