The Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has made it to the hall of fame – or rather the hall of the infamous – when he appeared as the fourth most unpopular leader in the world today.
Najib, who was seen as the most popular Malaysian Prime Minister in surveys prior to the 2013 elections in Malaysia (surveys proved wrong anyway with the election results), is surely out of the comfort zone with this Time magazine ‘risk report‘.
The report titled ‘5 World Leaders Less Popular than President Donald Trump’ was published on May 22.
The magazine ironically wrote: “If you’re not going to be popular, you may as well be rich.”
It said Najib Razak has been in office since 2009, which is the same year he established an economic-development investment fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Time said More than $1 billion ended up in Najib’s personal account, which at a certain point he tried to pass off as a “gift” from the Saudi royal family.
“He was backed up by Malaysia’s attorney general, who reported that the money constituted a legal donation, and that “most” of it was returned. Unsurprisingly, his current approval rating is at record lows.”
Time would not stop there.
The famous and popular magazine said: “But politically-speaking, Najib doesn’t have much to worry about—he retains firm control of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the political party that has dominated Malaysian politics for nearly six decades.
“He has systematically sidelined opponents within the party, and his main adversaries outside the party have been jailed on what critics say are politicized charges.
“Who needs popularity when you have political power and money in the bank?,” the magazine said.
Najib has also made it as Asia’s worst finance minister in 2016 in a short list published by Financeasia.com.