Hishammuddin defends ‘brave’ Najib against Dr M’s criticism

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has to come to the defence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, saying he is doing his best in administering the country.

The defence minister cited accomplishments such as the handling of the remains from the MH17 tragedy, where he was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini that Najib succeeded where US president Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had failed.

"If Najib did not take the brave stand of facing the separatists, I may not be standing here today to organise the arrival of the corpses (of Malaysians)," Hishammuddin (pic) was quoted as saying by the portal.

"Ask if Obama could do it, ask if Putin is able to do it."

Najib’s handling of the MH17 tragedy allowed investigators to access the crash site and bring back the remains of the MH17 victims.

Hishammuddin was responding to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism of Najib’s leadership yesterday, where he said he withdrew his support for Najib as his criticism had fallen on deaf ears.

“I have tried to give my views to him directly, which are also the views of many people who have met me," said Dr Mahathir in his popular blog, chedet.cc.

"I have no choice but to withdraw my support. This has not been effective so I have to criticise," he said, adding that Najib was no better than his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Dr Mahathir also said his criticism against Najib was not personal and it did not mean that the prime minister should resign. But, he did not agree with Najib's policies as they did not bring any benefit to the country.

"No, I am not asking him to resign. I just do not agree with his policies," he said, and accused the country's chief administrator of being "soft", with a tendency to keep quiet when faced with problems.

Hishammuddin said Dr Mahathir's criticism was his personal opinion, and that he respected the former prime minister's views.

"But at the same time, I do not want to belittle Dr Mahathir's views as he has always had his own stand and views." – August 19, 2014.

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