Amanah wants to ‘pour out its heart’ to Najib

The newly-formed NGO is seeking a meeting with the prime minister to discuss the various problems facing the country.

EXCLUSIVE - FMT

SERI KEMBANGAN: Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah) will seek a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to “pour out its heart” to him about the state of the nation.

The group’s deputy president Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said that it would be Amanah’s first attempt at making an impact towards “rebuilding” the nation.

“We will seek an appointment with the prime minister and in a closed-door session pour out our heart to him. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear some of our suggestions,” Kadir, the former tourism minister, told FMT in an interview at his office here yesterday.

No date has been given for the proposed meeting but Kadir said this will be the group’s first agenda after the festive months.

Amanah, with a glitzy lineup of former ministers, prominent opposition leaders and academics, is touted to be a possible influential pressure group likely to court support from the “silent majority”.

The NGO was formed and is headed by respected Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in a bid to rekindle the constitutional spirit espoused by the founding fathers amid a troubled and more racially divided Malaysia.

The group had also expressed concerns over the country’s economic woes, blaming patronage politics, corruption and rampant cronyism as the main factors behind Malaysia’s losing commercial appeal.

Serious problems

Kadir, who was very critical of the Najib administration at the launch of Amanah on July 22, said the prime minister’s promised reforms have not been followed through and the implementation remains questionable.

“He has been making a lot of good statements, good announcements. But unfortunately, it has not been happening on the ground. If I were him… I would stop for a while and see if the reforms are being properly implemented.

“If he were to look into this aspect (implementation), I think he will find that he has serious problems,” he said.

Najib’s promises of reforms have come under public scrutiny as key structural changes remain elusive despite announcements of various projects meant to propel the country forward.

Kadir said that Amanah has vowed to address these concerns but the NGO gave little details on how it aims to achieve its objectives.

The fact that most of its top leaders, including Kadir and Razaleigh, are still members of Umno has prompted speculation that Amanah is set to be the third political player but Kadir denied the group wants to lead a third force.

He said Amanah was an avenue created as a result of the contracting space for dissent within Umno as well as other Barisan Nasional component parties.

“There is little space for dissent. Now if we speak up, we are seen as the bad boys,” he said.