Kuala Lumpur: Eldest son of disgraced former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Datuk Nizar Najib said while the outcome of him being jailed was expected, it was still hard for the family to accept it.
Nizar, when addressing the crowd at Umno special briefing said:
“We feel as if we were kicked and slapped many times. That was how painful it was for us.”
He said despite Najib being jailed, his family would have to remain strong.
“My family has to be strong and I want all of you to be strong too,” he said.
Nizar described his father as a father figure not just for him and his siblings but also to many Malaysians.
“When he was prime minister, many people came to him to ask for help. He can never say no.
“If you know my father, you know how trusting he is. But unfortunately, not all are sincere like him,” he said.
His daughter Nooryana Najwa thanked all Umno members who attended the special Umno briefing at the World Trade Centre KL, saying “thank you for supporting daddy and Bossku.”
Nooryana also shared her last memory with her father before he was sentenced to prison on Tuesday (Aug 23).
“The last memory on that day was this tie. He told me please keep this tie for me. I love this tie,” she told those present while holding up the tie.
Her speech was also filled with remembances of her childhood days with her father.
“I used to ask him why wasn’t he like others working as a doctor. He said that if he had that job, he could only serve a few but as a politician, he could help thousands.
“That is my daddy. He has helped the nation for 46 years.”
She shared her father’s dreams of seeing Malaysia become a developed and high-income state.
“But, after 2018 (the 14th General Election), he had to divide his time attending court cases by day and serving the party by night, because he loved the nation as he loved everyone.
“My mum said the ‘rakyat’ are his oxygen,” she said to chants of “Hidup Najib” (Long live Najib).
“But now he is alone. You are alone, daddy,” she said while tearing up.
“He is now in his 70s. You (Najib) should not be spending your days like this. No more posting in Facebook from Bossku,” she further said, adding that this was not the end of Bossku.
Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was also present and was seen wiping her tears as her daughter spoke.
Nooryana also took the opportunity to read a letter from Najib letter addressed to Umno leaders and members in which he claimed he was not given a fair trial.
“In the four years, I had to go to the court more than 300 times and my house was surrounded (by the police) on the first day of Ramadan, including my mother’s home.
“My wife was accused. My children were slapped with additional taxes. It was not reasonable,” he wrote.
He further said he was denied a fair hearing as his appeal was rejected on what he alleged were technical terms.
Meanwhile, boos were heard when party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi mentioned Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in his address to party divisional leaders.
Zahid was speaking about the government of the day and making a point that, although the government was led by an Umno vice-president (Ismail), it was not a Barisan Nasional government.
Ismail was not present at the gathering at Umno’s headquarters, at which Zahid was conducting a briefing for members. Ismail was in Pahang attending the launch of a national digitisation programme for the retail sector.
However, he will be attending a meeting of the Umno Supreme Council.
At the special briefing, Zahid said it was difficult to achieve true stability with the hybrid type of government now in power.
He urged Umno leaders to firmly stand by the party’s principles, which he said are also upheld by the majority of party members.
“Remember that we are all here (in positions of power) not due to our own greatness, but because of our party’s strength.
“Many leaders seem great, but the fact is that they’re in power only due to the party’s support,” he said.
