I won't criticise my successor openly, says Najib

Putra Jaya: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (pic) said he will not disturb the leadership style of his successor, especially by issuing various criticism openly, after his retirement. He said that every Prime Minister would take the nation to a certain level and the subsequent premier would take the country to a better level.

"I have a philosophy, I will retire and will not interfere with my successor when the time comes for me to go (as Prime Minister) later.

"My successor will do better than when I was helming the nation. That is continuity in any struggle," he said in a question and answer session in the programme '60 Minutes With the Prime Minister' together with 350 male and female undergraduates from local and foreign universities and representatives of youth organisations at Seri Perdana, here Thursday.

The Prime Minister said this when asked whether he felt comfortable when compared to the previous leaders.

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He said that upon his retirement, he wished to do a lot of things that he could not do when he was the leader, including playing football, writing books and visiting countries that he had never been to.

"Why would I want to disturb my successor? But if my successor wants to treat me to dinner or to have coffee, there is no problem. But I will not criticise him or her openly," he added.

Najib said it was unfair for previous leaders to criticise the leadership of the present leader, in fact the previous President of the United States had never criticised President Barack Obama.

"That is not the right thing to do as a former leader. If he criticises, it is not fair. Bush had never criticised Obama," he said.

According to the Prime Minister, the Chinese leader would immediately 'disappear' after retirement and it was the best way to ensure that the country's administration functioned smoothly without disturbance from former leaders.

Meanwhile, Najib advised politically inclined youths to have a clear objective in what they hope to achieve.

"We must have a mission in politics, must be passionate, and know what we hope to attain from it.

"For a doctor, being able to cure a patient who is dying would be his highest satisfaction," he said.

Relating his own journey in politics, which began when he was just 23 years old, to 350 students from local and foreign universities and representatives of youth associations, Najib said for him, it was the ability to help the needy.

"When villagers and the needy come to see me and I am able to help by giving them something, that is satisfaction for me," he said.

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Asked how he came to be involved in politics at such a young age, Najib said it was a decision based on sentiment and emotion, to continue his late father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein's legacy.

"Possibly at the time, had I been thinking rationally, I would not have made the decision to be in politics; but my decision was more on continuing my late father's struggle, so I took the risk," he said.

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