UMNO leaders see Najib Razak as a valuable asset to the party even after he has been convicted of corruption in connection to SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.
Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamad said a recent poll showed that opinion was nearly evenly split between those who believed Najib was guilty and those who did not.
A Merdeka Centre survey last week found that 43% of respondents did not agree with the guilty verdict.
“If he was the main reason Umno and Barisan Nasional took a beating in the last general election, then why are so many not accepting his guilty verdict?
“The court verdict is one thing, but in the court of public opinion, many don’t accept it,” Nur Jazlan told The Malaysian Insight.
He said the Pekan MP has a huge following in Umno.
“In that sense, Najib is an asset to the party,” said the former deputy home minister.
Najib was found guilty on July 28 of seven charges of corruption – three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power over RM42 million of SRC International’s money. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million.
The sentences which are to run concurrently are suspended pending his appeal.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in his written judgment released on Tuesday said Najib had failed to convince the court that the RM42 million Najib took from SRC International was for charitable purposes. In the first place, it was not Najib’s money to give away, said the judge.
Nazlan said Najib betrayed public trust when he abused his power to siphon RM42 million, making him the country’s first former prime minister to be tried and convicted.
Nur Jazlan said, meanwhile, said polls such as the Merdeka Centre survey were not reliable indicators as the results were “temporary”.
“Najib had high ratings before his defeat in GE14,” he said.
Former Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Nor Adam said it did not take a poll to show that the people disagreed with the court verdict.
“We can gauge people’s thoughts and what they want through their responses on social media,” he said.
Najib launched a charm offensive against the public via"Bossku”, a PR campaign that showed him as an approachable leader who liked to travel on a motorcycle after he was ousted.
Lokman said Najib had a strong base of supporters.
“Najib is an asset to the party, but unfortunately he belongs to a party that is afraid to accept that he is still relevant and has a place in the hearts of the people.
“When we lost the general election, some thought that Najib would never be able to return to power. They thought he would never be able to rise again following the defeat,” Lokman said.
He said certain Umno leaders started attacking Najib to increase their own popularity.
Lokman said the ruse did not work as the people had sympathy for Najib.
“Leaders like KJ (Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar) did not become popular through of their attacks on Najib.”
Universiti Utara Malaysia’s Azizuddin Sani said although the Merdeka Cente survey showed that Najib was still popular, people were waiting to see the conclusion of all his legal battles.
Najib is still facing 25 charges in connection with RM2.28 billion of 1MDB’s funds, and 21 charges of laundering the sums of RM2.08 billion, RM2.2 billion and RM22.6 million.
“Najib may seem popular among Umno members but the people are still divided over his position.
“The court process is yet to complete. The people will want to wait and see until the process is over to form an opinion,” Azizuddin said.
On the Umno front, he said, there were some party leaders who rejected him.
People like Khairy and those aligned to him might see Najib as a liability, he said.
“But there are other groups who see him as an asset.”
The Merdeka Centre survey revealed that six in 10 voters agreed with the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s guilty verdict against Najib in the SRC International case.
The survey from July 15 to August 10 polled 3,415 registered voters comprising 52% Malays, 29% Chinese, 7% Indians, 6% Muslim Bumiputeras, and 6% non-Muslim Bumiputeras from Sabah and Sarawak.
The survey also showed Muhyiddin had the support of the majority of Malaysians with seven in 10, or 69%, saying the prime minister had done a good job.
About 65% of Indian and 33% Chinese voters were satisfied with his administration.
Nur Jazlan said this was not an indication of the real support for Muhyiddin among Umno voters, although the survey showed that many liked him. – September 10, 2020.
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