Not just the leaders, our whole system is problematic - Nazir Razak

KUALA LUMPUR: The problems faced when the country is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic today, not only stems from a lack of government leadership but also involves the system as a whole.

Former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of CIMB, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazir Abdul Razak, opined that Malaysia handled the health crisis well at an early stage, but political interference was the cause of the situation to worsen.

"In the early stages Malaysia did it right when it let experts be the leaders. While the professionals were leading, we saw numbers of infections were under control.

"The problem started when politics took over, that is, starting with the Sabah state election, the infection rate got worse.

"Our crisis now is on the system, not just the issue of leadership. I think in our system, even good leaders will be distracted by the existing system.

"I once wrote about how Malaysia is actually led by a 'three headed monster', namely money politics, identity politics and 'concentrational power'. These three elements disrupt the thinking of our leaders," he said.

He said this at the Leaders Speakeasy webinar session on Tuesday.

In the hour-long session, Nazir also recalled his concern over Tun Razak's legacy, which was the main factor that led him to be involved in the aspiration of rebuilding the nation or 'nation building'.

“It all started in 2015, especially when issues related to 1MDB surfaced, I started to feel there was something wrong in our leadership system.

“Since then I started a campaign for Malaysia ‘reset ’or start all over again, I started talking about the need for an advisory council like in 1970 because there was too much damage that needed a comprehensive overhaul,” he added.