This is Najib’s era, accept it, UMNO leader tells Dr Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR — UMNO secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor today (April 4) reminded Dr Mahathir Mohamad that his era was over and to accept the fact that now Mr Najib Razak is in charge.

He said Dr Mahathir should also realise that the prime minister’s leadership and governing style are different from his.

“Tun (Dr Mahathir) is an elder statesman, we respect him. (But) this is not his era. This is Datuk Seri Najib’s era.

“His (Dr Mahathir’s) views on the future of the country may be different from what we want. So he should understand that,” said Mr Tengku Adnan, who is also the Federal Territories Minister, at the launch of the My 2nd Chance Carnival at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur today.

On the former prime minister’s latest criticism against Mr Najib, he said there was no need for Dr Mahathir to further question the prime minister as all questions had already been answered on numerous occasions.

“Whatever he has asked, it has been answered.”

On the murder of Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shariibuu, Mr Tengku Adnan said Mr Najib had even answered the question before and has already performed a “sumpah laknat” in a mosque that he did not know her.

“This is all the opposition, trying to stir things up,” he said, adding that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was the one who has yet to do so in his sodomy case.

As for the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mr Shahidan Kassim, who said that he would play peacemaker in the Dr Mahathir-Najib rift, Mr Tengku Adnan said there was no need to do so as there were no problems between the two.

“I never said I will be the mediator. I don’t see the necessity for it as there are no problems between Tun Dr Mahathir and Datuk Seri Najib,” he said.

Mr Tengku Adnan also dismissed talks that Barisan Nasional (BN) will lose in the next general election (GE), saying that he is confident the pact will remain strong.

“People are trying to stir things up because the government is doing the right thing.

“This is just a prediction, during the 12th or 13th GE, people have said that we will lose. This is a minority view.”

Mr Tengku Adnan said the ruling government is also working towards correcting its mistakes if any, and that he and others will continue to back UMNO and BN.

“We want to correct if there are mistakes. There no need to change. Will things be better for the country if we change the government?

“UMNO and Barisan are not wrong, we will continue to support the current leadership.”

On his blog recently, Dr Mahathir had said Malaysians do not trust Mr Najib and predicted that BN would lose the next GE if the prime minister remained in power.

“Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, India or the people in Sabah and Sarawak no longer trust Datuk Seri Najib. Umno members and their leaders must realise that UMNO and with it, BN, will lose if Datuk Seri Najib leads UMNO to GE14.

“When UMNO loses, the Malays will curse the leadership which has made the party so weak until it is rejected by the Malays themselves. Once UMNO loses, it cannot be rehabilitated any more,” he wrote.

In the lengthy post, the statesman listed various allegations made against Mr Najib and wrote that none of them had been adequately answered.

These included Altantuya’s murder and claims made by one of her convicted murderers, former commando Sirul Azhar Umar, who was a former bodyguard of MR Najib.

Following this, Mr Shahidan was reported as saying that he will ask Mr Tengku Adnan to mediate the rift between the two. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER