PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian envoy to the United Kingdom has defended Prime Minister Najib Razak’s track record since the latter took office.
Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi, in a letter published in the Financial Times (FT) website, said that the newspaper’s recent attack on Najib’s premiership “runs counter to the real, tangible progress that has been made since the prime minister assumed office in 2009.”
This is in response to FT’s article dated January 27, titled “The threat Najib poses to Malaysia’s reputation.”
Ahmad Rasidi wrote “Many Malaysians are puzzled by your newspaper’s recent attack on the record of our prime minister and the suggestion that his leadership has been ‘disastrous’.”
He said that since Najib implemented the Economic Transformation Programme in 2010, the country’s gross national income grew by 47.7 per cent, 1.8 million jobs were created, and private investment had more than tripled.
He also cited the decline in unemployment and poverty rates, and Malaysia’s improved relations with both China and the US, as Najib’s “achievements”.
“I know the FT (Financial Times) sets the bar high, but if these and many other factual achievements make him a ‘disastrous’ prime minister, we wonder what he would have to do to be considered successful by your leader writers,” said Ahmad Rasidi, who is also the High Commissioner for Northern Ireland.
The FT article last week said that Najib and his affairs (including the RM2.6 billion donation) are damaging Malaysia’s international reputation and deepening a public trust deficit at home.
It also called Najib’s attitude towards the backlash against the donation, an issue. Najib had brushed it off as an “unnecessary distraction to the country.”
“Far from being a distraction, the questions raised by the transfer and the dealings of 1MDB are pivotal to Malaysia’s future,” it said.
Source from FMT NEWS
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