Najib's 'presidential' image makes waves

INTERVIEW With the BN's reputation in tatters after the 2008 general election and the slow recovery of its component parties, premier Najib Abdul Razak has created his own brand image to win back support.

Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian, offering this insight, said Najib is adopting a strategy of rising above communal party lines, and taking over the task of wooing support among ethnic communities which the component parties themselves have failed to do.

"There is a clear effort to brand Najib separately from parties that he represents as chairperson of the BN. So you can see 'Brand Najib' - (it is) almost presidential, as he meets directly with the people, bypassing problematic component parties."

This, said Ibrahim, has been a strategy consistent with wooing younger voters who tend to vote based on a leader's image, although older voters have remained staunchly supportive of parties.

"I would like to emphasise that Malaysians, by and large, are still party-centric in their identification... (But) with younger voters, it is slightly different. They tend to identify less with party and more with leaders," he said.

Full story: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/173124

Camera: Amir Abdullah

Editing: Tan Jiun Wuu