No censure for Nazri, but Najib tells ministers to stop BTN debate

By Leslie Lau Consultant Editor - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — If supporters of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad expect Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to be censured by Datuk Seri Najib Razak over his spat with the former PM, they are going to be disappointed.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib met with Nazri amid growing uneasiness in the corridors of power over the latter’s public row with Dr Mahathir. But The Malaysian Insider understands that Nazri was not given a dressing down by his boss. Neither was he admonished for calling Dr Mahathir “the father of all racists” for defending the controversial Biro Tata Negara (BTN) course from criticisms that it is divisive and promotes racism. The only message sent to Nazri was that he should not have a slanging match in public with other Cabinet members or with Dr Mahathir.

In the past week, Nazri has maintained that the Cabinet had already decided to overhaul the BTN programme, which is compulsory for new civil servants and public university undergraduates.

His remarks stood out because other members of Cabinet, including DPM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had been suggesting not only that a revamp was unnecessary but that there was nothing wrong with BTN itself.

Dr Mahathir had also joined in the fray by backing the hawkish views of the current Cabinet members from Umno.

Their defence of BTN follows a decision by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) governments in Selangor, Kelantan and Penang to bar its civil servants from attending the course. A number of former participants — who are mainly Malay — have also come out to attack the course as racist and suggested that it was used as a propaganda tool to maintain support for Umno’s concept of “Ketuanan Melayu,” or Malay supremacy.

But Nazri had pointed out that there was no need to pretend BTN was without flaws.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Najib has also imposed a gag order on his ministers to stop the public debate over BTN. He has told his ministers that he will personally solve the problem.

But Nazri’s public spat with Dr Mahathir had certainly put Najib in a spot. There are concerns within Najib’s camp that Nazri’s verbal war with Dr Mahathir may be interpreted as attacks sanctioned by the prime minister.

Najib is particularly aware of how Dr Mahathir’s relentless attacks against Tun Abdullah Badawi’s administration contributed to the last PM’s downfall.

The prime minister, who had along with his entire Cabinet sanctioned a revamp of BTN, will now have to be careful in how he handles the dilemma he finds himself in. Nazri, who is a close political ally of Najib, has become the target of a campaign among Dr Mahathir’s supporters to be removed from Cabinet and Umno’s supreme council.

He has been labelled a traitor by some of Dr Mahathir’s supporters. And Dr Mahathir will not be happy at being so publicly called a racist by a member of Najib’s Cabinet.