Najib Tun Razak
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- This is a Malay name; the name "Tun Razak" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Najib".
| Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak | |
 | |
| | |
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 31 October 2004 | |
| Monarch | Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin |
| Prime Minister | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| Preceded by | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 17 September 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| | |
| In office 31 October 2004 – 17 September 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| Succeeded by | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| | |
| Born | 23 July 1953 Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Federation of Malaya, British Malaya |
| Political party | National Front-United Malays National Organisation |
| Spouse | Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar (1976 – 1987)[1] Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor |
| Children | Mohd. Nizar Puteri Norliza Mohd. Nasifuddin Nooriyana Najwa Norashman Razak |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (born July 23, 1953, in Kuala Lipis, Pahang) is a Malaysian politician, who has been the country's Deputy Prime Minister since January 7, 2004. Najib is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and is currently the Deputy President of the party. He is slated to succeed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to be the next Prime Minister of Malaysia once the latter steps down during the next UMNO General Assembly, scheduled to take place in March 2009.[2] A deeply unpopular politician among Malaysians, Najib has been labeled by his critics and the Malaysian Opposition as one of Malaysia's most dishonest politicians.
Contents1 Personal life
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Personal life
Najib is the eldest of Abdul Razak's five sons (the other four being Nizam, Nazim, Nazir and Johari),[3] the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, and a nephew of Hussein Onn, the third Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was first married to Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar; but is currently married to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. He has three sons, Nizar (born 1978), Nazifuddin and Norashman, and two daughters, Puteri Norlisa and Nooryana Najwa.
Najib received his primary and secondary education at St. John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur. He also attended Malvern College, Worcestershire, England and subsequently attended the University of Nottingham, where he received a bachelor's degree in industrial economics in 1974.
Najib holds the title of Orang Kaya Inderapura of Pahang.
Political career
UMNO
As a candidate for UMNO, Najib was first elected to the Dewan Rakyat in 1976, representing the parliamentary constituency of Pekan in an uncontested election after the death of his father. At the age of 23, Najib was also the youngest member of parliament to be elected.
Within the ranks of UMNO, Najib was first appointed as the head of UMNO Youth's Pekan branch and as a member of UMNO Youth's Executive Council (Exco) in 1976. Beginning 1981, he was selected as a member of UMNO's Supreme Council, before winning the post of vice president of UMNO Youth in 1982, succeeding Mokhtar Hashim following his decision to vacant the post.
In 1987, Najib was announce as the Pemangku Ketua Pergerakan of UMNO Youth by Anwar Ibrahim after Anwar was asked to contest for the post of Vice President of UMNO. Following the complete reorganisation and founding of the "New" UMNO by Mahathir Mohamad in the aftermath of the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis, Najib was appointed president of UMNO Youth in 1988.
By 1993, Najib was elected as one of six vice presidents of UMNO in response to Anwar's decision to contest as the deputy president of UMNO. Najib continued to defend his post in party elections held in 1993, 1996 and 2000.
Cabinet member
Early career in Cabinet
Throughout his political career, Najib held a variety of ministerial portfolios (the first at the age of 32), culminating in the post of Minister of Defense before being chosen as the Deputy Prime Minister by Abdullah Badawi. Najib was first assigned into the Cabinet of Malaysia at the age of 25 when he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Post in 1978, becoming the youngest deputy minister in the country.
Najib would go on to assume a myriad of posts in the Cabinet, including the Deputy Minister of Education, the Deputy Minister of Finance, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports (and its split successor, the Minister of Youth and Sports), the Minister of Education, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Finance beginning September 17, 2008.
Minister of Defense
Problems with National Service
The Malaysian National Service, the brainchild of Najib Razak, has been plagued with poor management right from its inception.[4] As of May 2008, there have been 16 deaths in the Malaysian National Service.[5] Earlier in 2007, when queried by the press on these deaths, Najib was quoted as saying that "only" 14 children have died, in an attempt to minimize the bad press being received for these deaths.[6] When recently pressured by more calls to suspend the program due to the 16th death, Najib responded that it was not feasible to stop the program since "many parties are involved".[7]
Eurocopter deal
Malaysia Today posted an article entitled "Eurocopter" featuring a letter purportedly from Datuk Zahar Hashim, the chairman of Mentari Services Sdn Bhd, the local representatives for a Russian helicopter company with a series of allegations. The letter alleges irregularities in the recent award to Eurocopter for the supply of 12 new aircraft to replace the ageing Sikorsky S-61A-4 "Nuri" fleet of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The letter claims the award was given to Eurocopter even though it was the most expensive of all the companies which submitted tenders. It was claimed that Eurocopter's bid was more than RM1.4 billion over that of the lowest bidder and that there was no proper evaluation done by the Defense Ministry. A Letter of Intent was signed by a mid-ranking officer in the ministry just two days before Najib switched portfolios and moved from the Defense Ministry to the Finance Ministry.[8][9]
On 24 October, 2008 the opposition Pakatan Rakyat Youth wings lodged a report at the Anti-Corruption Agency against Najib Razak for alleged involvement in the RM2.3 billion Eurocopter helicopter deal. They submitted evidence which showed that Malaysia was reported to have signed a letter of intent to acquire 12 Eurocopter EC 727 Cougar helicopters for a sum of RM2.3 billion while Brazil paid US$1.2 billion for 50 units of the same model.[10][11][12]
Scorpene Submarines and Sukhoi Fighters deal
The Malaysian opposition has also accused Najib of involvement in the alleged payment of large commissions to close associates for the purchases of two Scorpene submarines and 18 Sukhoi fighter jets. Sekretariat Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) recently lodged a police report with allegations tying Najib Razak for corruption and the ongoing trial of Razak Baginda of the murder of Altantuya, who were one of the alleged beneficiaries of the large commissions. [13]
Issues of succession
In many of the controversies about him, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi identified Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Razak on 6th April, 2008 as his probable successor in line with the ruling party's tradition of political succession.[14] Because of his implied involvement in the controversial Altantuya case, the court trial has gone through numerous irregularities and delays [15]. Even former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir predicted that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will never allow his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak to take over as Prime Minister. He said that although Abdullah promises that Najib would succeed him by 2010, allegations would be hurled against the deputy prime minister before then to show up his inability to take over.[16]
Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) report was lodged by veteran Selangor Umno leader Datuk Mazlan Harun in August against Najib Razak and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi for alleged abuse of power. Mazlan had said the report was based on a letter written by Petaling Jaya Selatan Umno division head Kapt (R) Datuk Zahar Hashim which accused the two of "political corruption of the highest order." In the letter addressed to the Umno secretary-general, Zahar said the two top leaders had been campaigning to defend their positions despite asking others not to do the same, adding their actions had violated guidelines issued by party headquarters.[17] On 8 October, 2008 Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi announced he would step down in March 2009 paving the way for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to succeed him. However he said the onus was on Najib to win party elections set for March before he could take over.[18][19]
Other posts
In addition to positions held in the federal government, Najib served as the Menteri Besar (Chief Executive) of Pahang between 1982 and 1986, becoming the youngest Menteri Besar in the state to enter office when he was sworn in at the age of 29.
Najib was also appointed chairman of the Livestock Development Institute (Lembaga Kemajuan Penternakan, Majuternak). On January 29, 2008 , Najib began taking over as Perak Umno liaison committee chairman and state Barisan Nasional chairman, replacing former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali who has resigned from the posts [20]
Controversies
1987 Kampung Baru rally
In the midst of UMNO's internal crisis in 1987, a rally by UMNO Youth led by Najib was held in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Anti-Chinese sentiments were expressed openly during the rally with placard carrying slogans like "May 13 has begun" and Najib purportedly declared to the crowd to "Soak the keris in Chinese blood". The keris is a traditional Malay weapon that is often used as a symbol for Malay nationalism. This precipitated existing ethnic tensions leading to fears of a repeat of inter-ethnic violence and eventually resulted in a security operation known as Operasi Lalang, where administrative detentions were made on hundreds of individuals [21].
UMNO was also declared illegal in early 1988, allowing then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to consolidate his power with the establishment of a new party that assumed the name of the previously banned UMNO. The newly formed party excluded those who had previously challenged Mahathir's authority within the party.[22]
Statement on Malaysia as an Islamic state
In keeping in line with UMNO's strategy of politicizing racial and religious issues[23], Najib declared on August 2007 that Malaysia has "never been secular because being secular by Western definition means separation of the Islamic principles of in the way we govern the country."[24] Najib's comments subsequently sparked a heated public debate which in turn, roped in other organisations–also split over opinions–to make differing statements on Malaysia's position as an Islamic or Secular state.[25]
Murder of Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa
Najib had a close aide, Abdul Razak Baginda, who was involved in a high-profile murder case of a Mongolian woman, subsequently acquitted without calling for defence due to comprehensive lack of a prima facae case, as pronounced by the High Court, which indicates dark forces at work within UMNO in undermining Najib's reputation> [26], Altantuya Shaaribuu.
Raja Petra's Statutory Declaration
In a statutory declaration in his sedition trial in June 2008, Raja Petra accused Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor (his wife) of being one of three individuals who was present at the crime scene when Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered on Oct 19, 2006,[27] adding Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, and Acting Colonel Aziz Buyong and his wife, Norhayati, Rosmah's aide-de-camp, were present at the scene of the murder; Raja further wrote Aziz Buyong was the individual who placed C4 plastic explosive on Altantuya's body and blew it up.[28]
Shaariibuu Setev, the father of murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, has asked the police to conduct a thorough investigation into an allegation by Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin. He said the police should look seriously into the allegation by Raja Petra as it might provide them with fresh evidence.[29] In retaliation, the two people named in Raja Petra Kamarudin’s statutory declaration on June 18, Lt-Col Aziz Buyong and his wife Lt-Col Norhayati Hassan, as having been present at the murder scene of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu are suing the Malaysia Today editor for defamation. Aziz is seeking an apology from Raja Petra to be published in certain websites and newspapers, the removal of the statutory declaration from his blog and damages of RM1 million.[30]
Raja Petra's Sedition Trial
In the cross-examination of Superintendent Gan Tack Guan, Raja Petra's defence lawyer shot question after question over Gan’s failure, as the police officer who lodged the report against Raja Petra, to record Najib’s statement despite being named in Raja Petra’s allegedly seditious article published in his website on April 25 last year [31]
Balasubramaniam's Statutory Declaration
Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal, a private investigator hired by Abdul Razak, testified in a statutory declaration that Abdul Razak had told him that Najib had had a sexual relationship with Altantuya, introduced her to Abdul Razak, and made arrangements to protect Abdul Razak from the murder trial. All mention of Najib's involvement had been removed from Balasubramaniam's testimony under police interrogation and not brought up in the murder trial [32]. Soon after Balasubramaniam made a retraction of the statutory declaration that he made on July 1 and replaced it with one that erased all traces of allegations with references to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder. There were accusations that this new statutory declaration could have been due to intimidation or inducement, and was done not of his own free will. His lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu said he was not able to get in touch with Bala despite repeated phone calls.[33] The Malaysian police said on Sunday 6 July that they have asked Interpol to help find the private investigator who has been reported missing since making explosive claims linking the deputy premier to a murder. Bala's nephew has filed a missing person's report, saying the investigator and his family had disappeared. [34] It was discovered on July 10 that Balasubramaniam's house in Taman Pelangi here has been broken into but police have yet to ascertain whether anything was stolen. Balasubramaniam is said to have taken refuge in a neighbouring country with his wife and children.[35]
Murder trial
On July 22, 2008, in light of the new declarations lawyer Karpal Singh filed a notice of motion to call Najib and three others to testify in the trial for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. Karpal who holds a watching brief for Altantuya's family, also sought to recall private detective P. Balasubramaniam who was the first prosecution witness in the trial. Karpal also wanted all proceedings with regard to the trial to be postponed pending the disposal of his application. [36] On 23 July 2008 the High Court rejected a petition by lawyer Karpal Singh to obtain testimony from Najib, dealing a blow to the opposition's efforts to link Najib to the 2006 killing of translator Altantuya Shaariibuu. In rejecting the application, High Court judge Mohd Zaki said Karpal, who is holding a watching brief for victim Altantuya's family, has no locus standi or is in no position to make the application. He mentioned only the parties involved, namely the prosecution and the defense, have the right to do so.[37][38]
Even behind bars under ISA detention, Raja Petra's website Malaysia Today carried a report detailing allegations on an exchange of text messages between Najib and Shafee Abdullah, the prominent lawyer who represented Abdul Razak Baginda before he was charged with abetting two police officers in the murder of the Altantunya. The SMSes, which went on from 8 November to 2 December, 2006 raises some questions over the handling of the murder case which reads like a John Le Carre thriller and suggests that Najib took a strong interest in the investigation from the beginning, an irony within the Malaysian context that begs to question how do the likes of Raja Petra ( now released!) and the civil societies get their powers from, unless some invisible hand assisting from the corridors within the government itself v.[39] A police report was made against Najib by “Sekretariat Anak Muda Malaysia” (SAMM) in relation to the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case, calling for the police to reopen the investigation papers on the murder of the Mongolian and investigate their allegation that Najib misused his power and postion in the case.[40][41]
On 31 October 2008, High Court Justice Zaki Yasin acquitted Razak of abetting in the murder of Altantuya. Dr Shaariibuu Setev, Altantuya's fathers had instructed lawyer Karpal Singh, who held a watching brief during the trial to apply for a review.[42] On 24 December, Karpal Singh filed an application at the High Court here on Wednesday to quash the Attorney General’s decision not to appeal Abdul Razak Baginda’s acquittal. He said the application for leave was necessary since the 14 day period to file for an appeal by the Attorney General against the Oct 31 acquittal had expired on 14 November. [43] Najib Razak who will become prime minister after the Umno party polls in March, will want to put to rest any links to the murder trial as he seeks to rebuild and strengthen his Barisan Nasional coalition.[44]
Religiosity issues
On 22 August 2008, Najib publicly swore according to Islam at Masjid Jamek Guar Perahu that he never knew murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, nor had anything to do with her. The deputy prime minister said: "Even though this is not an official oath on the Quran: Wallahi, Wabillahi, Watallahi, I never knew nor had anything to do with the Mongolian woman Altantuya." [45] Raja Petra, who has vowed to deny Najib a chance to be Prime Minister, put up the sworn statement on this Malaysia Today website by Thagarajoo Thangavelu who claimed to be a driver for businessman Datuk Kenneth Eswaran and formerly for politician Datuk K.S. Nallakaruppan in a posting titled "Najib: Muslim by birth, Hindu by practice". In the statutory declaration dated Aug 22 and made in Kuala Lumpur, Thagarajoo claimed Eswaran was a close friend of Najib and had brought a Hindu priest from Kerala named Mr. Ji to perform rituals regularly at the deputy prime minister's private residence in Jalan Duta and also at the official residence in Putrajaya. He also claimed that the priest had performed similar rituals before the 2007 Ijok by-election to ensure Barisan Nasional's victory and also to prevent Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from marrying Jeanne Abdullah.[46][47]
Alleged political conspiracy against Anwar Ibrahim
On 30 June 2008, Najib denied any personal involvement in the alleged political conspiracy against former deputy premier Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, including a police report alleging Anwar committed sodomy against his former aide. He said the picture of his aide Khairil Anas Yusof with the alleged sodomy victim Saiful Bukhari Azlan at his office had been taken three months ago when the latter, in his capacity as a student leader, came to his office to seek a scholarship.[48] However, on 1 July 2008, Najib mentioned that he met Saiful at his residence a few days before the Saiful made the police report on Anwar. Najib also said that Saiful wanted to reveal that he had been sodomised by Anwar.[49] Raja Petra contended that a friend had accompanied Saiful to a meeting with Najib before charges against Anwar were made public, implying that the new charges against Anwar had been trumped up.[50]
It was alledged by Federal Territory Mosque imam Ramlang Porigi that Najib's special officer Assoc Prof Khairil Annas Jusoh asked him to witness the oath-taking at the mosque on 15 August 2008 by Saiful that Anwar sodomised him. Ramlang was the witness at the Federal Territory Mosque in Jalan Duta on August 15 when Mohd Saiful Bukhari took an oath to demonstrate he was telling the truth when he accused Anwar of having sodomised him.[51] Ramlang Porigi said that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s Quranic oath or “sumpah muhabalah” was technically wrong. “I was only there as a witness, to listen in,” he elaborated, noting that Saiful made two errors while reciting the oath. The first was when he mispronounced the word for God and Ramlang had to correct him; and the second when he confused the date of the alleged sodomy incident and corrected himself. It was supposed to have happened on June 26, but Saiful slipped and said Aug 26 instead. Ramlang described that Saiful looked far from regretful or fearful, for someone who had just uttered dreadful words that essentially asked God to rain down his just vengeance on him and his descendants if he lied. Ramlang reiterated that he had only been given the role of witness to play that day because he had been ordered to do so by his superiors. He mentioned that as a simple government servant, he had to follow orders.[52]
Conflict of interest
As Najib is months away from occupying the top job in Malaysia, he has begun to answer his four brothers's possible influence in his incoming administration. His brothers Nizam, Nazim, Johari and especially his brother Nazir, who is the group chief executive of CIMB, have benefited business-wise during Najib's political career, signifying a conflict of interest.[3] It has also be said that Najib's long tenure at the Ministry of Defense had enabled him to amass slushfunds for elections. Najib also according to allegations presides over a secret multi billion ringgit fortune estimated at 6.75 billion ringgit.
Election Campaigning
During the Kuala Terengganu by-election on January 17, 2009 Najib who was in charge of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition's election campaign tried to spend its way to victory. It was stated that he handed out RM10.5 billion to voters. That works out at nearly RM131,250 for each voter in the seaside electorate, which included the establishment of a billion ringgit trust to manage the state's oil revenue and the well-timed handover of millions in petroleum royalties. Barisan Nasional lost the election in spite of all these goodies. [53]
Bribing Elected Officials to crossover to Barisan Nasional
Ipoh Barat PKR division head Fauzi Muda, in his statutory declaration made before Commissioner of Oaths Yong Yoke Thye, claimed that he had received an offer of RM50 million from the BN to bring in at least two Perak State Assemblymen, to join Umno or become an Independent. Fauzi also claimed that he was recently offered RM5 million for himself and another RM5 million each to the two Perak State Executive Councillors, PKR Assemblyman for Changkat Jering, Mohd Osman Jailu, and the PKR Assemblyman for Behrang, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, to defect. In this statutory declaration he claimed that BN purportedly promised that the corruption charges on the two Assemblymen, where they were charged with accepting bribes to obtain an approval for a housing project worth RM180 million at Sri Iskandar, Perak Tengah, would be dropped if they defected. [54] The statutory declaration pointed to Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, who has been working for Najib Razak as the person who tried to bribe the elected officials. [55] [56] The statutory declaration also revealed that Fauzi had a face-to-face meeting with Najib on 11 March 2008, during which Najib made him the offer of RM50 million to entice Perak state assemblypersons to leave the Pakatan Rakyat state government. [57]
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