KOTA KINABALU – Former Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak believes that his party’s resurgence can be partially attributed to his popularity on social media after the previous Barisan Nasional administration was toppled in the 2018 general election (GE14).
Speaking to The Vibes recently, he said he was the “lonely voice” in those days, seeing the rest of his party members were still reeling from their unprecedented defeat at the federal level.
His popularity on Facebook eclipses those of his successor, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as well as the party’s number two Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Najib has 4.1 million followers on Facebook compared to Zahid’s 1.6 million and Mohamad’s 51,700.
Najib, who is Pekan MP, said he is merely a party man doing what he can to contribute to Umno’s strength and revival post-GE14.
“Perhaps I was a lonely voice if you like. And I fought. I fought the PH (Pakatan Harapan) government in my own way.
“I didn’t do the Reformasi way – organising demonstrations and protest movements but I was very active on my Facebook, posting and arguing why we did certain things and rebutting accusations.
“So that the public understands what was really the basis of certain decisions and if they were wrong, I was quick to point out why they were wrong.
“I didn’t say they were wrong but I said look, these are the facts, why the new policies of PH, whatever they stated were not correct, were not to the interest of the people or the country. So, I stood on the basis of facts and figures. I never strayed on this.”
Najib, who has taken up the moniker “Bossku”, said he had never indulged in character assassination in his social media postings but felt the calling to fight the PH “propaganda” and defend his old policies and “correcting” public perspective.
He added that the then PH administration had never countered any of his allegations or statements on his Facebook page, instead had remained silent.
This was the reason that the public’s perception on who had the better or correct policies were swayed, he said.
“If I say something and they don’t agree, they can rebut it. But quite often when I come up with the facts, they remain silent.
“They don’t want to rebut whatever I said. After a while, people began to realise that: hey, look, BN or Datuk Najib’s administration at that time, they were right, after all.
“So, that contributed to, I think, the revival of Umno. And also, I think this ‘Bossku’ phenomena can be attributed to people wanting to see somebody fighting – a fighter, if you like.
“And people saw me as a fighter, in my own way, without breaking any laws in the country I had fought back with facts and figures and people began to realise.
“People can decide who is right or who is wrong.”
Najib, who is being vilified over his conviction in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, is celebrated as an online personality by his supporters.
He said he sees a lot of support whenever he goes to the ground.
On the next step in his political career, Najib said it is critical for Umno to take baby steps through its revival phase and that he does not want to jump the gun.
“I think I’d like to take one thing at a time. What we need to concentrate on now is the revival phase and I don’t think we want to get ahead of ourselves.
“It’s important for Umno to feel not only purpose but a sense of unity and we work together towards one common objective.
“If you indulge in too much party politics, Umno will be fragmented.” – The Vibes, September 21, 2020
Datuk Seri Najib Razak was interviewed by Azril Annuar and Norman Goh.
