If and when he goes, added the analyst, the people would feel that they are in paradise.

“Why doesn’t he step down? What has frightened him on stepping down? Does he still think that he has the support of the people and therefore need not step down? Doesn’t he think of his party, Umno, the government and the country who are suffering under his leadership and policies?”

Shahbudin Husin, the analyst, said that those who have a finger on the pulse of the nation know what the people most want viz. that Najib step down and someone credible replace him as Prime Minister and serve them as expected. “The air is thick with tension as the people feel increasingly pressured on how to get rid of Najib.”

The analyst pointed out that the jury is no longer out on the RM2.6 billion political “donation” controversy and the 1MDB scandal. Had 1MDB not been set up by Najib as a strategic investment and development arm, valuable assets which previously belonged to the government, would not have fallen into the hands of foreigners. Again, no one believes that the RM2.6 billion was a political donation from an individual or others in the Middle East.

It’s not only the RM2.6 billion political ‘donation’ controversy and the 1MDB scandal that haunt them but also the rising cost of living under the government led by Najib, he stressed.

The Prime Minister, noted the analyst, has run off somewhere abroad as usual every year to celebrate the festive season and the coming of the New Year while the people are left to suffer with mounting bills following sharp and unprecedented increases in the cost of living. “The people have never experienced such an economic climate under any of the previous Prime Ministers.”