Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has had a difficult year amid incessant attacks from predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but a series of unexpected political stratagems has allowed him  to head confidently into the Umno general assembly this week having bested his rivals, at least for now.

Umno president Najib appeared to be vulnerable earlier this year as he faced demands from Dr Mahathir ― the country’s longest serving prime minister who had pushed successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi out from office after slightly more than one term ― that he resign over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy.

… “A series of decisive actions, including the Cabinet reshuffle and other senior replacements, together with more forceful applications of legal tools in hand, as well as other political maneuverings, have indeed strengthened his position tremendously, such that he could march into Umno GA with supreme confidence,” Dr Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told Malay Mail Online.