Najib Razak has warned that nascent reforms can’t be done “overnight.”

Reuters/Putrajaya, Malaysia

Malaysian leader Najib Razak has warned that nascent reforms can’t be done “overnight” and that Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy risks slipping backwards if he does not win a strong majority in an election he must call within weeks.

Prime Minister Najib said a reduced parliamentary majority could weaken his drive to curb Malaysia’s budget deficit and raise investment, and even cost him his job.

“A strong government is necessary for us to accelerate the process of transformation in this country,” said Najib, who is also finance minister. The election, shaping as the closest in more than 50 years of post-colonial history, must be called by the end of April.

“A weak government means instability and uncertainty and a country can ill afford that kind of scenario for the next five years given the external economic situation that’s going to be between weak and rather uncertain.”

Convincing Malaysians that his government is “transformational”, as 59-year-old Najib puts it, is crucial to the ruling coalition’s chances.

The ruling National Front is facing a confident opposition alliance led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who says Najib’s reforms have stalled and who is tapping into a potent desire for change after 56 years of rule by a coalition led by the dominant United Malays National Party (UMNO).

Najib’s coalition, helped by economic growth that hit 5.6% last year and its own deep financial pockets, is favoured to win against a fractious three-party opposition. But there is uncertainty over the outcome, helping make Kuala Lumpur’s stock index Asia’s worst performer this year.

Najib has delayed potentially painful reforms to wean the country off dominant oil revenues and stem rising debt.

He signalled that those steps would not be rushed through even if he formed a stronger government than the one that emerged from the 2008 election, when the National Front lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time.

“If you try to do it overnight like some countries are doing, there’s a massive contraction of the economy,” he said.

“We cannot afford that. We have to be mildly expansionary in our policies but fiscally responsible,” Najib said.