As Malaysia begins ‘total lockdown’, disgraced Najib rises as complainer-in-chief

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is under pressure not just from the country’s opposition, but also from forces within his own party such as Najib

Analysts say the former premier, who is appealing a jail term for corruption, is looking to brighten his political prospects – but Muhyiddin still holds the cards

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The toughest jabs against Muhyiddin’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic have of late come from Najib. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00am, 1 Jun 2021Updated: 10:19pm, 1 Jun 2021

As the coronavirus situation deteriorates in Malaysia, brickbats are coming thick and fast for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin – not just from the official opposition, but from ostensibly friendly forces as well.

Former prime minister Najib Razak – voted out of office in 2018 and facing jail time for convictions linking him to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal – has emerged as a complainer-in-chief of sorts against the current administration.

A third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that stretches back to September has snowballed at a startling pace in recent weeks, with consecutive days of record new cases – including a tally of 9,020 on Saturday. The figure dropped to 6,999 and 6,824 on Sunday and Monday respectively ahead of the two-week “total lockdown” that begins on Tuesday.

The government announced the measure – which shuts most businesses and bans dining in as well as social gatherings during the lockdown period – amid signs that the health care system was close to being overwhelmed.

Opposition leaders such as Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng have assailed Muhyiddin for the authorities’ seemingly haphazard manner of announcing fresh restrictions.

The toughest jabs, however, have come from Najib, whose United Malays National Organisation (Umno) is a key cog of the ruling administration.

In his latest salvo on Monday, he suggested the government was taking the side of multinational companies as it allowed certain manufacturing sectors to continue operating during the 14-day lockdown. He claimed the government was allowing this on the basis that it was in the interest of keeping global economic supply chains intact.