Embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak today rubbished claims that Malaysia was a failed state or a rogue nation, pointing to international benchmarks placing the country in good standing.
“Can Malaysia really be called a ‘failed state’ or a ‘rogue nation’ if every day its government is working to protect and uphold the objectives of Shariah law?” Najib said, when launching a seminar in Bangi today.
“Can we really be called a failed state when Malaysia is placed in the upper ranks of many indicators such as the Global Competitiveness Report, or the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business reports?” he said, as quoted by The Malaysian Insider‘s Hasbullah Awang Chik.
Najib derided as “propaganda” the claims by certain parties that Malaysia was in danger of collapse due to its political instability in general, and Najib’s leadership performance in particular.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) was the first to declare Malaysia as being close to becoming a failed state, in a statement it issued on July 30, two days after Najib reshuffled his administrative Cabinet, which saw the ouster of former Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and four other ministers.
Muhyiddin and another former minister, Shafie Apdal, were increasingly critical of Najib’s handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal prior to their termination.
Also terminated on the day of the reshuffle was former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, who was part of the four-way Sepcial Task Force assigned to investigate allegations of malfeasance within 1MDB.
Still retaining their posts of UMNO Deputy President and UMNO Vice-President respectively, Muhyiddin and Shafie have only intensified their criticisms, splitting the UMNO grassroots and weakening Najib’s support from UMNO divisions in Johor, Muhyiddin’s home state, and Shafie’s home state of Sabah.
The Malaysian Ringgit is also at its lowest value in 17 years, with it hovering at the 4.10 mark relative to the US Dollar. Foreign investment money has also fled the country in droves, with almost RM12 billion in investments having been withdrawn in 2015 alone.
Since then, newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (who retains his previous portfolio of the Home Ministry) has claimed that a plot involving Opposition and Barisan Nasional MPs, with a senior UMNO politician at the helm, is planning to issue a Statutory Declaration (SD) to express lack of confidence in Najib’s leadership, thereby starting the process of removing him from power.
