FORMER prime minister Najib Razak’s Facebook posts have received the highest engagements at 4.4 million since the movement control order, checks have shown.

Between January 14 and 20, the 67-year-old had 49 posts on his Facebook page and garnered 4.4 million engagements.

Among politicians, Najib’s Facebook page had three times more engagements than Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who only received 1.3 million engagements with seven postings.

The other politicians with a high number of engagements were Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman (522,000 over 31 posts), Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim (490,000 over 25 posts) and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (131,000 over five posts).

On Facebook, Najib has 4.2 million page likes followed by Dr Mahathir (3.7 million), Anwar (1.9 million), Muhyiddin (1.6 million) and Syed Saddiq (508,000).

Najib’s popularity on Facebook does not come as a surprise to Universiti Malaya’s Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi.

“He has been focusing more on social media compared to the others. Moreover, the issues Najib highlights are like economy, social and politics… issues that are popular with many Malaysians,” said the Malay ethnic studies lecturer.

He said Najib is able to connect with the public as he is always on the ground among the working class and B40 group, said Awang Azman.

“And I believe this is working and some of his followers are beginning to sympathise with his legal issues.

“The public also remembers his 1Malaysia laptop scheme and the cash handouts,” said Awang Azman.

Umno Batu division exco Norhisham Abdul Mutalib pointed out that Najib’s popularity comes at a time when current Umno president Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s star is waning.

“Although, I want to see a younger set of leaders take over, it’s interesting to see him regain some popularity again

“Maybe, this is in part due to the troubles Umno and Zahid are facing and members are feeling nostalgic towards Najib,” said Norhisham.

Recently, Umno Paya Besar openly urged Zahid to resign. This came in the wake of former Umno and Barisan Nasional secretary-general Annuar Musa alleging that Zahid was planning to work with DAP and Anwar to oust the Perikatan Nasional government.

“Another reason why Najib is popular on social media is he highlights issues and problems about the government that resonate with the general public.

“As it is, the current government is not very popular with the way it is handling the country,” said Norhisham.

International Islamic University of Malaysia’s political science lecturer Dr Lau Zhe Wei warned that high engagement does not necessarily mean people want Najib back as prime minister or Umno president.

“There’s no doubt he is popular among the lower-income groups and his public relations on social media has been better, but this does not automatically translate into votes,” said Lau.

“His posts are informative, give good ideas and are professionally done. Compared to Dr Mahathir or Muhyiddin, Najib’s Facebook posts are more creative.”

Lau, however, added that without any official position in government or the party, Najib can be as creative as he wants, but it may end up nowhere. – January 26, 2021.