Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak is the Prime Minister of Malaysia. As the son of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, and nephew of Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia’s third Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib was born into a family of political pedigree.
40 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE
Having initially pursued a career in business, he only entered public service upon his father’s death. After an outpouring of public support, at the age of 22 he became the youngest MP in Malaysia’s history. Despite the absence of his father to help him, by 25 he was a Deputy Cabinet Minister, by 29 the Chief Minister of a state, and by 33 a full Cabinet Minister. Having successfully led most key ministries, including Education, Defence and Finance, aged 55 on 3 April 2009 he became Prime Minister.
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION
Since then, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has implemented the most far-reaching political and economic reform programmes since Malaysia’s independence. These include:
- Repealing the colonial-era Internal Security Act, which permitted indefinite detention without trial;
- Ending Malaysia’s 60-year State of Emergency;
- Introducing measures to increase media freedom, such as scrapping restrictions on newspaper publishing licenses;
- Reforming the Universities and University Colleges Act to allow undergraduates to participate in political activities;
- Creating the Peaceful Assembly Act, for the first time enshrining in law the right to peaceful protest;
- Repealing the Banishment Act;
- Repealing the Restricted Residences Act;
- Implementing various electoral reforms.
- Diversifying the economy and halving government dependency on oil and gas from 41 percent of total revenue when he assumed office in 2009, to 21 per cent by 2015.
The Prime Minister also introduced the ‘1Malaysia’ concept, which stresses the importance of national unity, regardless of one’s race or religious belief.
His Government Transformation Programme has fundamentally changed the provision of government services – improving education, widening access to healthcare, developing rural infrastructure, expanding public transport, reducing poverty, and cutting crime. Alongside this, his Economic Transformation Programme has significantly liberalised the economy, creating more than 1.8 million jobs, raising living standards, virtually eliminating absolute poverty through implementing a minimum wage, encouraging foreign investment – which grew by more than 22 per cent per annum from when he took office in 2009 until 2015 – and turned Malaysia into one of Asia’s most dynamic and successful economies. His flagship New Economic Model is on target to transition Malaysia to a high-income nation by 2020.
FOREIGN POLICY RESULTS
Since assuming office, the Prime Minister has presided over a new era in Malaysia’s foreign policy, ending populist confrontation tactics and instead pushing for open regionalism. A strong believer in ASEAN, he has promoted cooperative ties with major powers, emerging economies and the developing world. In particular, the relations he has cultivated with other world leaders has vastly increased trade, foreign investment and jobs for Malaysians, and helped to bring peace and stability to the region.
For example, the Prime Minister played a key role in facilitating a peace agreement to bring an end to Asia’s longest-running insurgency in the Southern Philippines. He also personally negotiated behind-the scenes with pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, securing the return of bodies, wreckage and black boxes from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 – something no other world leader was able to do.
The Prime Minister has called for a new Global Movement of Moderates to combat extremism, attracting support from President Barack Obama among others, and was the first Muslim head of government to unequivocally condemn suicide bombings and label them un-Islamic.
ELECTION WINS
In 2013 the Prime Minister was returned to office after winning Malaysia’s 13th general election. His Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition won 133 seats against the opposition’s 89. In 2016, despite being a mid-term government subject to an unprecedented campaign of politically motivated allegations, BN under the Prime Minister’s leadership won landslide victories with hugely increased majorities in Sarawak – Malaysia’s biggest state – and also in the constituencies of Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar.
Following these landslide election wins, the Prime Minister said his priority will continue to be the economic development, social welfare and security of all Malaysians.
