New Straits Times Group Editor-in-Chief Abdullah Ahmad is using his paper to openly push for Umno vice-president Najib Tun Razak to be appointed as the next deputy prime minister.

He may be indebted to Tun Razak for his involvement in the corridors of power 25 years ago and the manipulations later carried out by him to propel Dr Mahathir Mohamad into power, but Najib will certainly not make a good DPM.

His record as Pahang Menteri Besar was disappointing to the rakyat but beneficial to the powers- that-be right up to his last day in office. (Then NST editor A Kadir Jasin had succintly commented in his Other Thots column about Najib's last minute actions in the Pahang exco.)

Najib as Education Minister did more to secure his base within Umno than promote education for the rakyat. As Defence Minister for the last few years, we are still waiting for his action in a number of scandals: the loss of weaponry from army camps, the building fiasco over army camps in Johor, the high-priced supply of rations to the army (Maggi Mee at RM3 per packet), the rampage of undisciplined soldiers in Kedah, Malacca, and East Malaysia, and lately, alleged corruption involving senior officers in the armed forces.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must not be pressured by NST's Abdullah and other power-brokers for purely personal reasons - their loyalty and indebtedness to the late Tun Razak.

Our next PM must be free to choose a better person to become our next DPM, and certainly not Najib, just for being his father's son.