Nazri asks if Utusan wants Dr M to replace Najib

By Clara Chooi

September 15, 2010

Nazri questioned Utusan’s apparent lack of loyalty. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has questioned Utusan Malaysia’s apparent attempts to undermine Datuk Seri Najib Razak, asking the Umno newspaper if it was conspiring to replace the prime minister with predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Umno supreme council member told The Malaysian Insider that from the slant of Utusan Malaysia’s news reports and editorials, it seemed as if the daily had forgotten its own masters.

“I cannot understand Utusan. Who is their boss — Najib or Dr Mahathir?

“I wonder sometimes if they have an agenda to bring back Dr Mahathir to replace Najib,” he said when contacted last night.

The minister in the prime minister’s department explained that by playing up Dr Mahathir’s statements of support for Malay rights group Perkasa, the daily was clearly weakening Najib’s 1 Malaysia concept.

“They should be promoting Najib’s 1 Malaysia and not undermine his programme. [Instead] they are supporting Dr Mahathir.

“Because in the angle of their news reports, they want to give Dr Mahathir more coverage than Najib. They seem to have their own agenda. Do they have an agenda to bring back Dr Mahathir to replace Najib?” he said.

Nazri, however, acknowledged that this made little sense as the daily was owned by the ruling party, of which Najib is president.

“And certainly, 1 Malaysia is Najib’s agenda so Umno-owned papers should be seen to support Najib by promoting 1 Malaysia. But I do not know... I am not directly involved in this.

“Like if you look at Harakah, they promote PAS’s programmes, Suara Keadilan promotes PKR, The Star promotes MCA, but Umno’s paper Utusan does not even support their own bosses,” he said.

Nazri was responding to the daily’s overt promotion of Perkasa despite the recent bid by the ruling Umno leadership to disassociate itself from the Malay rights group, fearing that supporting it would only cause Barisan Nasional (BN) to lose the people’s support.

Ibrahim was labelled a “reject” by the minister.

Dr Mahathir, who is Perkasa’s patron, quickly stepped into the fray to warn Umno against completely rejecting the group, claiming that the ruling party was weak and risked losing the next general election.

Utusan Malaysia seemed to agree with Dr Mahathir on the issue, and in response, the daily has been carrying opinions, features and stories that directly back the former premier and Perkasa.

Its open support for Perkasa in an editorial carried on Sunday had already raised questions on whether the daily was still supporting the Najib administration.

In yesterday’s edition of the conservative Umno newspaper, there were even more strident views published.

A prominent feature in the daily’s Op-Ed section lamented how Malays could no longer speak of their rights anymore without being classed as racist.

The opinion piece also argued against using Perkasa as a scapegoat for BN’s failure to capture the non-Malay votes.

The daily also published a series of quotes from ordinary Malays, accompanied by photographs, under the headline “Majority of Malays support Perkasa”.

Nazri, however, insisted that Utusan Malaysia’s assertions were merely based on selective interviews with the minority of Malays, claiming that it did not necessarily reflect the true feelings of the grassroots.

“To me, they do not represent the feelings of the Malays on the ground because the Malays who support PAS will continue to support PAS regardless of what Utusan says and so will the PKR boys who support (PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim)... they do not care what Utusan says, and the same goes for all,” he said.

Nazri cited an example of his Padang Rengas parliamentary constituency in Perak, pointing out that Perkasa had not even succeeded to cause a ripple in the pool of Malay voters there.

“I am the Padang Rengas Umno division chief. At the grassroots level, no one talks about Perkasa and in my division, no one has joined Perkasa. I think the same goes for the neighbouring areas of Kuala Kangsar, Sungai Siput, Lenggong, Bukit Gantang... Perkasa has no impact whatsoever,” he said.

Nazri added that Perkasa was only being popularised in Utusan Malaysia.

“They have no impact in the rural areas and you want to know why? Because those who are leaders of Perkasa are Umno rejects. Umno members who hold posts in the division will not support Perkasa.

“Look, (Perkasa president Datuk) Ibrahim Ali himself is a reject. His deputy also lost in an Umno division fight and so did his Youth chief,” he said.

Ibrahim, the fiery founder of Perkasa, was sacked from Umno in 2004 and won the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat on a PAS ticket.