FORMER prime minister Najib Razak is going for broke in the Cameron Highlands by-election with a two-fold aim – to pave the way for a political comeback and legitimise the 1MDB scandal to avoid prosecution – said Lim Kit Siang.

Najib is behaving as though Saturday’s by-election will decide his political future, the DAP adviser and Iskandar Puteri MP said in a statement.

A Barisan Nasional defeat will be a death knell for Najib’s political comeback, Lim said.

Najib is acting as the campaigner-in-chief in the Cameron Highlands by-election and completely overshadowing the BN candidate, Ramli Mohd Nor, acting Umno president Mohamad Hasan and Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, Lim said, making the by-election “a most personal one”.

A defeat for BN would be unprecedented as the opposition coalition has never lost the seat since the parliamentary seat was created in 2003.

Najib is toying with a political comeback for two reasons.

First, to emulate Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s own comeback and second, if Najib succeeds as prime minister in the 15th general election by 2023, it will grant him immunity and impunity from the 39 charges of corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power levelled against him, Lim said.

The Cameron Highlands by-election outcome will “literally be a political life or death sentence” for Najib.

Lim also asked if the former prime minister will apologise for his “three greatest failures as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia” when he hits the campaign trail before Saturday.

Lim listed the failures as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal; the betrayal of his father, Abdul Razak Hussein’s vision of Felda; and failure to bring the 200,000 Orang Asli to the national mainstream of development 60 years after Merdeka.

“What has Najib got to say about the aspiration of the second-generation Felda settlers?”

He said the second-generation settlers, led by a Mohd Nor Afandi Daud along with 14 others, are urging their peers to vote Pakatan Harapan and “end the years of intimidation by BN”. – January 23, 2019.