KUALA LUMPUR – Staving off claims that the imminent Johor election was a route to force a general election (GE15), one of Johor Umno’s prominent voices, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, reiterated that the previous political arrangement in Johor had become “untenable” and that political “stability” was crucial to inducing economic recovery and bringing Johor out of the pandemic.
“It was just that it was untenable, in a situation of 28 versus 28, to have the state speaker deciding on important government policy. Because it arrived at a stage where it was his vote in the state assembly that would determine things.”
In an expansive exclusive interview with The Vibes, former deputy home minister Nur Jazlan dwelled on the present national political “malaise”, stressing that the previous political “experiment” of 2018 had “failed” and that elements of sobriety and realism in setting the future course of the nation post-pandemic was essential.
“Now is the time to be sober, not a time to experiment: the experiment has been done, it has failed, and the experiment has cost money.”
Nur Jazlan is emphatic that the opposition’s claim – principally those of former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – that the Johor polls were engineered by the “court cluster” is an attempt to “confuse the people,” and he stands by his support of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s presence on the Johor campaign trail as “what the people want”.
“I simply follow the people,” Nur Jazlan said.
“I was surprised to see Najib get so much response while going on walkabouts. I see it with my own eyes. People come up to him – Malays, Chinese, Indians. So the people seem to have – I wouldn’t say forgiven him – but they look upon the Najib administration with nostalgia, where they had more than what they have today.
“By the way, please remember, Muhyiddin also became PM by getting SDs from the very people he calls ‘kluster mahkamah’… So where is the morality there?”
Conceding that the voting public is confronted with a beggar’s choice in the contemporary political landscape, he nevertheless asserted that the Umno/BN model has been “tried and tested”.
What brought BN down in 2018 was 1MDB. 1MDB is not going to repeat itself. The soul searching has been heart-ripping – from once being lavish, we are now operating on a frugal budget.
“From the attitude of ‘we are supreme’ to now ’we are humble’; from being show-offs, we now have a far more down-to-earth attitude, and this goes down from the top to the bottom: the realisation of loss was great to us.”
Nur Jazlan added that “rejuvenation” was essential to inducing a rehabilitation of the country’s fortunes, not least within his own party where he is the Johor deputy chief.
“We need now to basically talk about our strengths, track record and most importantly, our rejuvenation programme.”
Of resistance among the older generation of leaders within the party to such rapid change, he said: “I am confident they (the older generation) will step aside because if they don’t, we will force them to step aside. Enough is enough.”
Asked about the prospect of further collapse among fragile state governments, given fractious Umno-PAS relations, notably in Kedah, paving the way further for an imminent GE15, Nur Jazlan said, “I reminded (Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad) Sanusi yesterday that he is not an elected MB.”
“He became MB with Umno support as a result of the instability of the Kedah state government under PH. If the situation there is untenable, the call is with him, not us.”
With regards to voters in Johor who will be heading to polls on March 12, Nur Jazlan has this to say, “Think about your pocket, family; think about your job and your businesses. Enough with the experiment, because the experiment has turned out to be a dreadful experience these past four years, compounded by Covid-19.” – The Vibes, March 7, 2022
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