NAJIB WALKS IN FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS

By Zuriati Zulmi

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- Najib Tun Razak, who became the
country's youngest chief minister when he was 29, is set to walk in his father's
footsteps in helming the country.

While his father, Abdul Razak Hussein, became the second prime
minister
at the age of 48 on Sept 22, 1970, Najib, 55, is set to become the sixth prime
minister.

Najib's path to the premiership is cleared when Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi announced Wednesday that he would not defend his post as
Umno president in the party's elections in March next year.

The decision means that Abdullah will relinquish his position as prime
minister and hand over the mantle to Najib in line with the power transition
plan agreed upon by both leaders.

Under the National Front (Barisan Nasional-BN) system, the Umno president
is traditionally also the prime minister and BN chairman.

On Thursday, Najib offered himself as a candidate for the Umno
presidency.

Najib, the eldest of five siblings, was born on July 23, 1953, and entered
politics at a young age.

He was fielded by the BN in the Pekan parliamentary by-election in February
1976 after the seat fell vacant following Tun Razak's death.

Najib won the seat unopposed and retained it in the 1978 general election,
after which he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunication and
Post at the age of 25 -- the youngest deputy minister ever.

In the 1982 general election, he won the Bandar Pekan state seat and was
subsequently appointed the 11th Pahang Menteri Besar at 29.

After a five-year stint as menteri besar, Najib was again fielded in the
Pekan parliamentary seat in the 1986 general election, and won, thus relaunching
his political foray at the federal level.

He was appointed Culture, Youth and Sports Minister (1986-1990), Defence
Minister (1990-1995), Education Minister (1995-1999), and re-appointed Defence
Minister (1999-2008).



Najib, who was then an Umno vice-president, was appointed deputy prime
minister by Abdullah who took over the prime ministership from Dr Mahathir
Mohamad, who resigned in 2003.

In the 2004 Umno general assembly, Najib won the post of deputy president
unopposed.

On Sept 17, Abdullah and Najib swapped portfolios as part of the power
transition plan agreed between them.

Abdullah became the new Defence Minister while Najib took over the finance
portfolio.

A graduate of Nottingham University in Industrial Economics, Najib began
his
career as a Petronas public relations manager in 1974. Two years later he was
appointed Malaysian Livestock Authority chairman before joining
politics.

During his tenure as Defence Minister, heset up the Malaysian Armed Forces
Department for Veteran Affairs in 2001 to look after the socio-economic,
livelihood, medical needs and welfare of ex-servicemen and their children's
education.

Najib was instrumental in introducting the National Service in 2003
which was aimed at instilling patriotism among youths and students.

Emulating his father in developing the Federal Land Development Authority
(Felda), Najib, in his capacity as chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Felda,
has introduced various programmes to improve the settlers' income and their
socio-economic standing.

Besides enhancing the yields from the plantations, Felda is developing the
downstream and commercial activities as well as providing better education and
skills to the settlers' children.

Najib, who has three sons and two daughters, has authored several books,
including "For The Sake of Peace", "Asia-Pacific's Strategic Outlook -
Shifting of Paradigms" and "Defending Malaysia: Facing the 21st
Century."

In keeping with the new media development, Najib launched his website,
"Imalaysia.com.my" on Sept 16 as a forum to exchange views with the
people.