Najib Tun Razak

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This is a Malay name; the name "Tun Razak" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Mohd. Najib".

Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Seri  Mohd. Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Incumbent
Assumed office  3 April 2009
Monarch	Mizan Zainal Abidin
Deputy	Muhyiddin Yassin
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
In office 31 October 2004 – 3 April 2009
Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Succeeded by	Muhyiddin Yassin
Finance Minister of Malaysia
Incumbent
Assumed office  17 September 2008
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Defence Minister of Malaysia
In office 31 October 2004 – 17 September 2008
Preceded by	Mahathir bin Mohamad
Succeeded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
President of the United Malays National Organisation
Incumbent
Assumed office  26 March 2009
Deputy	Muhyiddin Yassin
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Born	23 July 1953 (1953-07-23) (age 56) Kuala Lipis, Federation of Malaya
Political party	National Front - United Malays National Organisation
Spouse(s)	Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar (1976–1987)[1] Rosmah Mansor
Children	Mohd Nizar Puteri Norlisa Mohd Nazifuddin Nooryana Najwa Norashman Razak
Religion	Islam
Website	1malaysia.com.my

Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (born July 23, 1953) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of Malaysia.^[2] He previously held the post of Deputy Prime Minister from January 7, 2004 until he succeeded Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister on April 3, 2009. Najib is President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). He is the son of Malaysia's second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak.^[3]

Personal life

Born July 23, 1953, in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Najib is the eldest of Prime Minister Abdul Razak's six sons, and the nephew of Hussein Onn, Malaysia’s third Prime Minister. Najib’s five brothers are named Nizam, Nazim, Nazir, Nazri Aziz and Johari. His younger brother, Dato' Seri Mohd Nazir Abdul Razak^[4], runs the country's second-largest lender, Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd.^[5] Najib is also one of the Four Noblemen of the Pahang Darul Makmur (Royal Court) by virtue of his inherited title as the Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar.

In 1976 Najib married Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar ('Ku Yie') with whom he has three children: Mohd Nizar Najib (born 1978), Mohd Nazifuddin Najib and Puteri Norlisa Najib. In 1987 he divorced Ku Yie and married Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor with whom he has two children: Mohd Norashman Najib and Nooryana Najwa Najib.

Najib was born in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, and he received his primary and secondary education at St. John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur. He later attended Malvern College in Worcestershire, England, and subsequently went to the University of Nottingham, where he received a bachelor's degree in industrial economics in 1974. Returning to Malaysia in 1974, he entered the corporate world, serving briefly in Bank Negara (Central Bank) and later with Petronas (the national petroleum corporation) as a public affairs manager.^[6]

Tun Abdul Razak 3rd Malaysian Prime Minister was Najib Tun Razak's father

Political career

UMNO

Najib was first elected Member of Parliament in 1976 from the constituency of Pekan in an uncontested election after his father's death. Only 23, Najib was also the youngest member of parliament to be elected.^[7]

Najib was appointed head of UMNO Youth's Pekan branch and became a member of UMNO Youth's Executive Council (Exco) in 1976. In 1981, he was selected as a member of UMNO's Supreme Council, before winning the post of Vice President of UMNO Youth in 1982.^[8]

In 1987, Najib was selected as the acting head of the Movement of UMNO Youth by Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim after Anwar was asked to contest the post of UMNO Vice President. Following the complete reorganisation and founding of the "New" UMNO by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in the aftermath of the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis, Najib was appointed president of UMNO Youth in 1988.^[9]

By 1993, Najib was elected as one of six vice presidents of UMNO in response to Anwar's decision to contest as the deputy president of UMNO. Najib continued to defend his post in party elections held in 1993, 1996, and 2004.^[10]

After a poor showing by the ruling UMNO coalition in the elections of March 8, 2008 in which opposition parties gained control of five of thirteen Malaysian state governments, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi identified Deputy Prime Minister Najib as his intended successor in line with the ruling party's tradition of political succession. On October 8, 2008, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi announced he would step down in March 2009, paving the way for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to succeed him. However he said the onus was on Najib to win party elections set for March before he could take over.^[11] Najib ran for the presidency of UMNO and went on to win on November 2, 2008, without contest.^[12]

On March 26 2009, Najib won the UMNO presidency unopposed. UMNO permanent chairman Onn Ismail made the declaration at the outset of the 2009 UMNO General Assembly at the Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).^[13]

Ministerial Portfolios

Throughout his political career, Najib held a variety of ministerial portfolios (the first at the age of 32), culminating in the post of Minister of Defence before being chosen as the Deputy Prime Minister by then Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Najib was first assigned into the Cabinet of Malaysia at the age of 25 when he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Post in 1978, becoming the youngest deputy minister in the country.^[14]

Najib would go on to assume myriad posts in the cabinet, including the Deputy Minister of Education, the Deputy Minister of Finance, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports (and its split successor, the Minister of Youth and Sports), the Minister of Education, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Finance beginning September 17, 2008.^[15]

In addition to positions held in the federal government, Najib served as the Menteri Besar (Chief Executive) of Pahang between 1982 and 1986, becoming the youngest Menteri Besar in the state to enter office when he was sworn in at the age of 29.^[16] Najib was also appointed chairman of the Livestock Development Institute (Lembaga Kemajuan Penternakan, Majuternak). During the 1986 general elections, Najib was returned as the Member of Parliament for Pekan, and was appointed as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. He immediately focused on improving Malaysian sports and introduced the National Sports Policy in 1988. In 1989 Malaysia achieved its best-ever performance at the South East Asia (SEA) Games, which were held that year in Kuala Lumpur.^[17]

Minister of Defence

In 1991, Najib was appointed Minister of Defense. Under his direction, Malaysian troops were deployed to assist the UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in 1993.^[18] Malay forces were greeted warmly by Bosnians as well as Serbs and Croats.^[19] Malaysia also assisted peacekeeping operations in Somalia in 1993, losing one solider in an effort to aid U.S. soldiers during the Battle of Mogadishu. Najib later criticized the UN’s Somalia operation as putting too much emphasis on military action.^[20] Since then Malaysia has stated a preference for participating in Chapter 6 “peace enforcement” missions, rather than Chapter 7 “peacekeeping” missions.^[21] After four years at the Ministry of Defense, Najib assumed control of the Education Ministry in 1995. He returned to the Ministry of Defense in 2000.

During his second tenure as Minister of Defense Najib coordinated Malaysia’s relief efforts following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, and provided support to Indonesia in arresting those responsible for the 2004 Bali bombings.^[22] Najib also oversaw the deployment of Malaysian troops as a part of a UN peacekeeping force in 2006, when Malaysia volunteered to help stabilize Lebanon following the 2006 Lebanon War.^[23]

Malaysian National Service

As Defense Minister, Najib instituted compulsory military service in December 2003, stating that it would encourage interaction and friendship between youth of different ethnic groups and religions.^[24]

During its first five years of operation, over 339,000 Malaysian youth participated in PLKN,^[25] whose programme is intended to promote the principles of tolerance, team work, and community engagement. The programme, however, has faced administrative challenges. Some facilities have been reported as substandard, there have been instances of food poisoning, and service avoidance continues to be an issue. During its first five years of operation, 16 participants died during, or shortly after, their term of service.^[26] In response, Najib strengthened PLKN health screening requirements and reinforced government’s commitment to impose sanctions against anyone found negligent in running the programme.^[27] In 2008, after 13 years in total serving as Minister of Defense, Najib left that portfolio to manage the Ministry of Finance.^[28]

The Malaysian National Service, the brainchild of Najib Razak, has been beset by problems since its inception.^[29] As of May 2008, there have been 16 deaths in the Malaysian National Service.^[30] Earlier in 2007, when queried by the press on these deaths, Najib was quoted as saying that the 14 children have died at their homes during NS holidays except for 2 who died from drowning, in an attempt to placate worried Malaysian parents.^[31] When recently pressured by more calls to suspend the program due to the deaths, Najib responded that it was not feasible to stop the program since the benefits of the program outweighs the disadvantages.^[32] It was reported that nine out of 89 camps in Malaysia will be closed in 2009 after these camps were found to have failed hygiene standards and the camp infrastructure was not properly maintained. ^[33]

Minister of Education

In 1995, Najib left the Defense Ministry for the first time when he was appointed Minister of Education. His challenge was to respond to Malaysia's newly proclaimed aspiration to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020. During his five-year tenure, Najib restructured the Ministry, created an independent corporate structure for the public universities, and encouraged collaboration with foreign universities and institutions.^[34] This was accomplished through the 1996 Private Higher Education Institutions Act, which for the first time allowed foreign universities to establish degree-conferring schools in Malaysia, providing greater educational opportunities for Malaysians and positioning Malaysia as a regional learning hub.^[35] Najib also upgraded teaching certificates to the status of diplomas, so that teachers in that category would receive a higher monthly starting salary.^[36]

Minister of Finance

In September 2008, Najib traded portfolios with Abdullah Badawi, the Prime Minister, and assumed control of the Ministry of Finance.^[37] In the midst of the global financial crisis, Malaysia was faced with an international recession and reduced levels of trade throughout the South Asian region. In response, Najib announced a series of stimulus packages to be implemented over a two year period with the intention of acting as a countercyclical response that would cushion Malaysia’s economy. He also pressed for the country to move beyond existing manufacturing capabilities through education, research and development to develop greater strength as a provider of sophisticated business services.^[38]

Deputy Prime Minister

Upon his appointment in 2004 as Deputy Prime Minister, Najib was given a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including oversight of FELDA, the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), and the Election Commission. Najib also chaired more than 28 cabinet committees, which preside over a wide range of issues.^[39]

On January 29, 2008, Najib also took over as Perak UMNO liaison committee chairman and state Barisan Nasional chairman, replacing former Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali who resigned from the posts.^[40]

Prime Minister

Najib became the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 3 April 2009. Najib entered office with a focus on domestic economic issues and political reform. On his first day as Prime Minister, Najib announced as his first actions the removal of bans on two opposition newspapers, Suara Keadilan and Harakahdaily, run by the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim-led People's Justice Party and the Pan Islamic Party, respectively, and the release of 13 people held under the Internal Security Act. He pledged to conduct a comprehensive review of the much-criticized law which allows for indefinite detention without trial. In the speech, he emphasized his commitment to tackling poverty, restructuring Malaysian society, expanding access to quality education for all, and promoting renewed “passion for public service.”^[41]

Transparency Initiatives

Under Najib the Malaysian government has implemented many measures that seem designed to increase transparency and government accountability. These measures include the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to hold ministers accountable for their work,^[42][43] using new media such as Twitter^[44] and Facebook^[45]to communicate with citizens about happenings in the government, opening previously closed government tenders to increased public participation and scrutiny, and soliciting public feedback on government spending^[46].

1Malaysia

On September 17, 2008, Najib launched www.1Malaysia.com.my in an effort to communicate with the citizens of Malaysia more efficiently, He has used the site as a to highlight his political and policy initiatives and to provide forum for Malaysians to discuss government matters. While Najib claims 1Malaysia as an effort to unify Malaysians, the 1Malaysia concept has become subject to a broad range of interpretations and discussion, both by those in favor of and opposed to particular government policies, and involving different elements of Malaysia’s major ethnic groups.^[47] UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said that Malaysians should evaluate 1Malaysia in light of issues such as the constitutional crisis in Perak and problems with the Port Klang Free Zone project. ^[48]

Crisis and Scandal

The Perak Crisis

Najib’s first significant political crisis as Prime Minister erupted after three months of escalating legal and political disputes came to a head in May 2009 over control of the government of the state of Perak, the second-largest state in peninsula Malaysia. The dispute involving the legitimacy of the state government began with the announcement by a Barisan Nasional politician to change parties to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat. He then returned to Barisan Nasional, together with three Pakatan Rakyat representatives who agreed to now shift their votes to Barisan, in a deal said to have been brokered by Najib when he was Deputy Prime Minister. After the Sultan of Perak dismissed the Pakatan Rakyat government in favour of a new Barisan administration, a constitutional crisis developed, which included dozens of arrests of Pakatan political figures over the course of their efforts to prevent the seating of a new Barisan-led government in Perak. . On May 11, 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the Sultan was not constitutionally permitted to dismiss the previous government. On May 22, 2009, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision, and confirmed that Barisan should remain in power, prompting the promise of further appeals by Pakatan.

While the Perak crisis reflected a struggle over control at the state level, opposition figures focused on Najib’s alleged role in securing the defections from Pakatan, and demanded new elections in the state. In turn, Najib stated his position that Malaysia’s political system required rule of law to be followed, and that judicial decisions would determine the outcome of the Perak crisis, which should be based on existing laws and regulations.^[49]Pakatan Rakyat's lawyers in highlighting their case stated that the ruler, was duty-bound under the Perak Constitution to take advice only from the MB and no other, except when the legislative assembly when it is in session which was not the case at that time. The Sultan at that time acted on the advice of Najib which they said was unconsitutional.^[50]

1987 Kampung ethnic tension

Following mounting ethnic tensions anti-Chinese sentiments were expressed at a UMNO Youth rally held in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. ^[51][52][53] Rising tensions soon lead to fears of ethnic violence and eventually resulted in a security operation known as Operasi Lalang, that included numerous administrative detentions^[54]. In spite of his reputation as a Malay nationalist, Najib has made efforts that seem to be intended to reduce ethnic tension. In a speech in April 2009, Najib congratulated the ethnic Chinese for playing an important role in Malaysia's development.^[55] In June 2009 Najib overturned a rule that required 30% Malay ownership in corporations, and allowed non-ethnic Malays, like the Chinese and the Indians to exercise more financial control in Malaysia. Najib has also worked to improve relations with Singapore, which is seen by many as Chinese-dominated, to encourage it to invest more heavily in the Malaysian economy.^[56]

UMNO was also declared illegal in early 1988, allowing the then Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to consolidate his power with the establishment of a new party that assumed the name of the previously banned UMNO. The newly formed party excluded those who had previously challenged Mahathir's authority within the party.^[57]

Malaysia's relationship to Islam

In August 2007, at a conference on the role of Islamic states in a globalised world, Najib declared that Malaysia has "never been secular because being secular by Western definition means separation of the Islamic principles of in the way we govern the country." Najib said Malaysia did not want to be stereotyped with the Western definitions of a secular and a non-secular state, but rather, would apply the fundamentals of Islam to its governance, even as it protected the rights of those with other religions.^[58]

Najib's comments subsequently sparked a heated public debate which led to a number of Malaysia’s political parties expressing a wide variety of views on Malaysia's position as an Islamic state, secular state, or secular state in which Islam plays a special role. The Opposition member PAS of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition responded to Najib’s comments by demanding an immediate implementation of Hudud laws and separating males with females and Muslims from non-Muslims at public places, actions which Najib opposed.

Corruption Allegations

The Malaysian opposition has repeatedly accused Najib of corruption. For example, in September 2007, they asserted that he was involved in the alleged payment of commissions to close associates for the purchases of two Scorpene submarines and 18 Sukhoi fighter jets, but produced no evidence to date to back up these assertions.^[59] Similar allegations were made against Najib by the opposition and covered by journalists reporting opposition allegations in connection with the purchase by Malaysia of French submarines.^[60]

Eurocopter

Opposition figures pushed for an investigation of Najib's involvement in the procurement of 12 helicopters that they contend was conducting improperly. It is claimed that the Defence Ministry massively overpaid when buying aircraft from Eurocopter for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. On October 14, 2008 Anwar called for an investigation into the Eurocopter deal.^[61] Soon after the opposition Pakatan Rakyat Youth lodged a formal complaint against Najib for alleged wrongdoing in the Eurocopter deal.^[62] The complaint claimed that Malaysia signed a letter of intent to acquire 12 Eurocopter EC725 Cougar helicopters for the sum of RM2.3 billion while Brazil paid only US$1.2 billion for 50 units of the same model. A Malaysian parliamentary panel, The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), composed of government and opposition lawmakers, investigated^[62] and cleared the government and Najib of any wrongdoing. It was found that the transaction properly followed Malaysia’s procurement procedures.^[63]

Scorpene Submarines and Sukhoi Fighters

The Malaysian opposition has also accused Najib of involvement in the receipt of large commissions for the purchases of two Scorpene submarines and 18 Sukhoi fighter jets.^[64]

The fighter jet deal, worth US$900 million (RM3.2 billion), was through a Russian state company, Federal State Unitary Enterprise 'Rosoboronexport' on May 19, 2003. A company called IMT Defence Sdn. Bhd. was appointed the local agent for the Russian company and received 12 percent of the purchase price, US$108 million (RM380 million). The principal figure and chairman of IMT Defence is Mohamad Adib Adam, the former chief minister of Malacca, the previous Land and Development Minister and a longtime UMNO stalwart. The involvement of IMT Defence only became known because in March 2005, a former director of IMT, Mohamad Zainuri Mohamad Idrus, filed suit against several Adib-related companies, alleging that Adib and his sister, Askiah Adam wanted to prevent him from exposing the Sukhoi deal. In 2006, Mohamad Zainuri lodged a police report alleging that Adib had stolen the US$108 million commission that was supposed to be channeled to the company while Najib was the Defence Minister.^[65]

Patrol Boats

PSC-Naval Dockyard was contracted to deliver six patrol boats for the Malaysian Navy in 2004 and complete delivery by April 2008. Those were supposed to be the first of 27 offshore vessels ultimately to cost RM24 billion plus the right to maintain and repair all of the country's naval craft. But only two barely operational patrol boats had been delivered by mid-2006. There were 298 recorded complaints about the two boats, which were also found to have 100 and 383 uncompleted items aboard them respectively. ^[66] The original RM5.35 billion contract ballooned to RM6.75 billion by January 2007. The auditor also reported that the ministry had paid out RM4.26 billion to PSC up to December 2006 although only RM2.87 billion of work had been done, an overpayment of RM1.39 billion, or 48 percent. In addition, Malaysia's cabinet waived late penalties of RM214 million. Between December 1999, according to the Auditor General, 14 progressive payments amounting to RM943 million despite the fact that the auditor general could find no payment vouchers or relevant documents dealing with the payments. The auditor general attributed the failure to serious financial mismanagement and technical incompetence stemming from the fact that PSC had never built anything but trawlers or police boats before being given the contract by Najib and the Ministry of Defense. ^[67]

Murder of Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa

In October 2006, Abdul Razak Baginda, director of a pro-government think tank, the Strategic Research Center, was accused of involvement in the death of a Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu. The woman was alleged to have been killed by two police officers who worked in the security detail of senior Malaysian officials, including Najib. Baginda was used by Najib as an intermediary for weapons systems deals, and Altantuyaa had assisted Baginda with translation work on the the deals. She was allegedly killed because her attempts to claim commissions due from the arms deal were drawing too much attention. ^[68]

After opposition figures claimed to have a photo of he and Altantuyaa together Najib swore on the Koran that he had never met her^[69]Keadilan party information chief Tian Chua that Chua later acknowledged to have faked such a photograph in order to defame Najib^[70] The judge denied the Altantuya family lawyer's request for Najib to be called to court. ^[71][72][73]

Missing private investigator P. Balasubramaniam has claimed in an interview with online news portal Malaysiakini that he was offered RM5 million to retract his statutory declaration that linked Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Altantuya Shaaribuu.^[74] In Bala's statement the bribe to retract his declaration was made by a businessman, Deepak Jaikshnan said to be connected to Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor.^[75] Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin had alleged that Balasubramaniam had been living in India since he went missing and had been paid to keep quiet.^[76] Raja Petra went into hiding in April 2009, nearly a year after he was charged with sedition over an article he wrote that allegedly implied the prime minister and his wife were involved in the murder of the Mongolian woman.^[77]

Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy Affair

On 30 June 2008, Najib denied any personal involvement in the alleged conspiracy against former deputy premier Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He said the picture of his aide Khairil Anas Yusof with the alleged sodomy victim Saiful Bukhari Azlan at his office had been taken three months ago when the latter, in his capacity as a student leader, came to his office to seek a scholarship.^[78] However, on 1 July 2008, Najib mentioned that he met Saiful at his residence a few days before Saiful made the police report on Anwar. Najib also said that Saiful sought to meet Najib to reveal that he had been sodomised by Anwar.^[79] Raja Petra contended that a friend had accompanied Saiful to a meeting with Najib before charges against Anwar were made public, implying that the new charges against Anwar had been trumped up.^[80]

Notes and references

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Najib Tun Razak

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• Official weblog–1Malaysia
• Official Youtube page
• Official Twitter page

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Malaysia Abdul Rahman · Abdul Razak · Hussein Onn · Mahathir bin Mohamad · Abdullah Ahmad Badawi · Najib Razak

v • d • e Deputy Prime Ministers of Malaysia Abdul Razak · Ismail Abdul Rahman · Hussein Onn · Mahathir Mohamad · Musa Hitam · Ghafar Baba · Anwar Ibrahim · Abdullah Badawi · Najib Tun Razak · Muhyiddin Yassin