It's more than just smear campaign

I have to disagree when,

Najib says BN lost because of smear campaign against him

Close, but not entirely true.

My opinion is that BN actually lost because Najib failed to handle the smear campaign against him.

He failed to do so primarily because he surrounded himself with either self-serving crooks or simply stupid ass-kissers.

Last Umno general assembly 2017 - All so useless, actually.

That's why he never saw it coming till it's too late.

Yes, in that sense, it's Najib's own fault.

Smear campaign? All PMs before him had to endure a smear campaign one way or another. The difference was that they managed to handle it while Najib failed.

As far as I'm concerned, the first sign that Najib is not very good at selecting his people was when he decided that Umno didn't have to change after the general election in 2013 (GE13).

He had wanted to keep all the useless people even after a less than convincing election victory that year.

He agreed with those around him that the party election later that year should retain all the top leadership, including the bad ones.

That's how bad characters such as Shahrizat, Ku Nan, Rauf, and so many others who only care about their own interests are still there until today.

Then when Dr Mahathir started his direct attacks, Najib listened to a set of bad advisers on how to handle the handsome old man.

They advised him to whack Dr Mahathir.

That really killed it for him.

You whacked the handsome old man, you die, okay.

It's a proven thing, yet they still continued with their suicidal vanity that if Dr Mahathir can attack Najib, it's only right for them to hit him back.

Actually, it's their ego talking, not their common sense.

These advisers insulated Najib from the reality that direct confrontation with Dr Mahathir was taking its toll on the party till the end.

They include those who controlled the media, and they worked to enrich themselves from their position by building "mini empires" for themselves.

Some controlled news organisations and paid social media practitioners albeit quite useless ones with almost zero credibility.

Classic example is when a junior press secretary could get datukship and afford to build a swimming pool at his house.

When I was told about that particular case, I was like...what the fuck....and the boy used to be such a good kid.

All the supposed power got to his head, I guess.

Hatred towards the then establishment was made worse by these people.

For instance, when media operatives started purges to further secure their position such as what happened at Media Prima, so many were displaced and they turned against the establishment.

Those include the famous cases of former NST group editor Mustapha Kamil Mohd Janor and Utusan senior editor Ku Seman Ku Hussein.

This is another case similar to those two media guys which I highlighted on April 16 2015

• Nasib penyokong marhaen Najib

Yes, the husband of the lady in that posting is actually a media guy too.

There were many others.

As we all know now, the collective hatred from such cases build up to the tidal wave which swept away BN on May 9.

Najib also failed to realise that his failure to monitor people he appointed to important position and do the necessary corrections where they slacked off, also contributed a lot to BN's defeat.

This is an analysis on my home state which appeared just a day after GE14

How BN lost its impregnable Johor fortress

So, it's not just about smear campaign.

It's about how the smear campaign was being handled and ultimately having a good administration for the people.

BN/Umno needs to realise of its own shortcomings which contributed to its defeat.

It's not really just about the attack against Najib.

They need to realise that.

Yup, no doubt about it. Too much garbage already.

Najib leaving the leadership is not enough.

It's time for Umno/BN to do a thorough clean up.