Posted on by Kit

Targeting The Biggest Ass

by Bakri Musa

Johore UMNO leaders had apparently told Prime Minister Abdullah that he must have a succession plan that is “structured, smooth and speedy.” This three “S” strategy missed targeting the biggest ass of all, Abdullah himself. The initiative had more to do with saving Abdullah’s “face” than with solving the grave problems confronting the party.

If UMNO members and leaders were serious, they would focus on getting this harsh and unadulterated message straight to Abdullah: He is unfit to lead the party and country. He has clearly demonstrated this through his deeds (or lack of them) and words. The man is a habitual liar; he cannot separate fact from fiction and distinguish reality from fantasy.

Abdullah’s idea of taking responsibility for his party’s electoral debacle is merely to utter that statement. He has no inkling of what it means to accept responsibility.

Abdullah’s pleading that he is needed to “revive” the party is laughable and self serving. If he could not pilot his ship of state competently when it was calm, there is no hope that he would be any more capable when it is now stormy, and threatening to get even more so every day. Abdullah is the problem, and a very huge one at that. Consequently his moving out would be a big part of the solution. It would not solve everything of course, but it would remove a major impediment.

His “leadership” has been nothing more than endless sloganeering (Work with me, not for me!”), like the leader caricatured in Shahnon Ahmad’s short story, “Ungkapan” (Sloganeering).

Having grown accustomed to the perks and trappings of his office, Abdullah will not leave voluntarily, much less gracefully. He has to be literally dragged out. Subtleties and hints will not work on this man. He is too dumb to read the signals. He is also insulated, surrounded by courtiers ever willing to spin bad news.

Only Three Exit Strategies

There are only three ways to get rid of Abdullah. One is for him to be successfully challenged as party leader in the upcoming UMNO General Assembly in December. Two, would be for a sufficient number of the ruling coalition members to vote with the opposition in a “no confidence” motion in Parliament. And three of course, would be through divine intervention, not inappropriate for a man who is never shy in parading his piety and religiosity.

Knowing the onerous obstacles placed in UMNO towards challengers, the first option is unlikely. Granted, Tengku Razaleigh – the only one to have come out publicly to challenge Abdullah – is a formidable challenger. More daunting however, is the cultural inertia of Malays, especially those in UMNO. They have yet to learn the essential lesson that challenges and competitions are healthy, not acts of treason or betrayal.

The second path is more realistic. The political resurgence of Anwar is real. Far from being the “Anwar who?” of a few years ago, he is now increasingly viewed not only as the de facto leader of the opposition (even though he is not yet in Parliament) but rightly as Prime Minister-in-waiting.

Anwar will be able to contest a parliamentary seat once his statutory prohibition ends on April 14, 2008. A vacant seat will surely come up soon as Malaysia has a good track record of MPs dying in office or getting caught in some scandalous acts and thus having to resign. More likely though would be for one of the current PKR MPs to resign, not to pave the way for Anwar (though that would be the convenient and acceptable excuse) but because the job is not as glamorous or challenging as it is made out to be. Many PKR MPs are successful, young and honest professionals; their “elevation” to the “Yang Berhormat” (Your Honorable) status cuts deeply into their income and career prospects.

As for divine intervention, that is beyond my purview. However many a leader had used “medical” reasons as a convenient face-saving cover for resigning. Abdullah could always blame his hemorrhoids or narcolepsy (a pathologic tendency to doze off).

Abdullah Is The Problem

When Abdullah assumed office nearly five years ago, I was one of the few who were not enthused about his leadership potential. My conclusion was based on reviewing his performance as a minister. I predicted then that by the time Abdullah leaves office, Malaysians would be counting their blessings if he had not screwed up the country too much, and that the best we could hope for was for him to maintain the status quo.

Alas, I was wrong. I had not counted on the maturity and resilience of Malaysians in overcoming Abdullah’s gross incompetence. Malaysians are also incredibly generous as demonstrated by their giving him a rousing endorsement in the 2004 election in the hope that it would give him the necessary boost and confidence to lead. Unfortunately that too could not override his basic ineptness.

In their collective wisdom, in this recent election Malaysians decided that it was not necessary to deal a crippling blow, only enough punch that would leave Abdullah and UMNO reeling, and in the process trigger an implosion in an already corrupt and dysfunctional organization.

Equally remarkable, Malaysians also demonstrated that they are capable of executing peaceful political change. There was not even a hint of civil disorder following Barisan’s loss of five states. Compare that to 1969 and the horror that followed when the ruling coalition lost only one state.

To be sure, had the election been conducted free and fair, with no stuffed postal ballots and with the use of indelible ink to prevent fraudulent voting, the ultimate message would have been delivered, and Abdullah and his ilk would have been kicked out.

Perhaps it was better this way. For had the Barisan Nasional been voted out, there would have been a dangerous political vacuum as none of the opposition parties could form a government. Their loose coalition, the Pakatan Rakyat (Citizens’ Alliance) had yet to be ratified. Now having sensed that power is within their grasp, the opposition parties are ready and willing to sink their differences for a common cause.

Meanwhile UMNO and its coalition partners are galloping fast towards their collective demise. Their course is irreversible.

Thankfully my earlier dire prediction on Abdullah was misplaced. Abdullah has not destroyed Malaysia, only UMNO and Barisan Nasional. Malaysians can all count their blessings for his legacy not being any worse.

48 Replies to “Targeting The Biggest Ass”

  1. YB LIM,

    with all due respect, and you certainly have mine, i hope that abdullah badawi or for that matter any umno leaders statements or comments are best dealt by umno itself.

    why cant you act like YAB LIM GUAN ENG ( happened to be your son ) that the squabbles of umnos are best resolved by the umno family. YAB Tun , had always single kit siang, especially YB karpal singh and anwar in his effort to dethrone abdullah badawi. you are used and being used to to serve umno’s frolicking follies.

    do you ever read of any comments by YAB Tun on pas misadventure with abdullah badawi. it is only so simple and so very simple, to divide the races to rule the nation.

    i appeal to you YB LIM, that umnos’ stories are better commented by umnos and pas if necessary. chinese have a saying ” borrow a knife to kill someone “. bakri musa is no dap either .

    I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY serious and concrete PROPOSITIONS FROM DAP, ON HOW TO SERVE THE RAAYAT BETTER AND GEAR UP FOR THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTIONS. I THINK THIS IS WHAT I LIKE TO KNOW, NOT ABDULLAH’S histories. the honeymoon period for pakatan raayat is soon to be over. i suggest that dap keeps their house in order so that when umno and their bandits of mca/mic/gerakan are back in business, we see less of cousins’ hegemony in perak, and childish siva the mp. and even theresa kok is feeling the heat in governing.

  3. The opposition have wisely shut up and let the UMNOputras deck it out amongst themselves on whether Badawi should stay or go.

    If I was an opposition leader, I would love it if Badawi remained in the UMNO hot seat – his presence alone will continue to bleed votes and support to the opposition camp day by day.

  4. “Theresa Kok is feeling the heat in governing” r u going to suggest a swim suit, caps or umbrellas? Not only the heat, but pressure of been accused, or used as scapegoat by the BN. There are these bunch of males keep boycoting for the Pig, i recalled Theresa named was in one of those seditious banner. Don’t forget these ppl. has all kind of resources from Federal to bring down the state govt. Inorder to win the opposition, Theressa will be the primary target as she won the most votes, if she’s down, mean the morale for others will drop too.

    In every war, kill the enemy general to boast soldiers morale.

  6. lakilompat: sorry no. i respect her as a women in her own rights. and she is one of the few good mps that dap has .

    this is what theresa was so quoted ” resolving the issue is a two way flow. we both need one another ( khalid ) to explain and to talk to the different communities ” ” on a personal note, i guess that i have to learn to be careful about my statements as well, even things on my blog ”

    next we have MP gobind singh deo versus MP muhkriz mathatir. as if the war of words between two fathers are not news enough.

    than , we have sikhs upset over mb’s gaffe, that the intellectual MB of perak call sikhs bengalis instead of punjabis.

    WHY are we allowing bn controlled medias and bn controlled prints, an opportunity to get at dap and pakatan.

    umno with its arrogance and corrupted practices will self destruct when there are not enough monies to be shared anymore.

    so stay out of the arena.

  7. come on, give this AAB a chance – he won 92% majority parliament seats in 2004, the figure that was never achived by his predecessors. so even 2008 is the worst for BN since TAR, at least he gained best BN election before – so it should be even here.

  8. lchk – you are right.

    so what if dollah stays or not. najib – muhideen -ali rustam – nazri or even rafidah or mohd mohd to be pm. mampus.

    gaduh orang luar.jangan masuk campur. nanti ludah di atas langit pula.

  9. gosh uncle kit- upset with me now. am on moderating list.

    [This item would not have come out if you are on the moderating list. You must used a word which sent the post to the list. Its the word “mampus”, going back to a time when it was thrown about very liberally. – Admin]

  10. Dr Bakri Musa said that this “second path is more realistic” – “a sufficient number of the ruling coalition members to vote with the opposition in a “no confidence” motion in Parliament”.

    In what way is this second path realistic?

    Why should Opposition parties led by Anwar involve themselves in siding one faction of UMNO against another to depose AAB????

    Have Opposition parties got something against the PM more than against the entire UMNO/BN regime?

    Have Opposition parties led by Anwar a greater axe to grind against AAB than his political opponents within UMNO inspired by the call of Anwar’s nemesis, TDM to depose the PM?

    Are the detractors, opponents and power brokers within UMNO opposed to AAB more reform minded or sincere than AAB for Opposition parties led by Anwar to vote with detractors, opponents and power brokers against the PM?

    If and when the Opposition parties, with the help of sufficient cross-over(s), make the move to carry through the motion of no confidence in Parliament (over a critical issue), it will be a vote of confidence against not only the BN but also the cabinet and the entire BN which will likely lead to dissolution of parliament and fresh elections.

    If and when the Anwar led Opposition parties move, it will be for his or their own agenda rather than the agenda of UMNO factions who want to rid Pak Lah ostensibly to strengthen UMNO as against Opposition parties whose footsteps are already heard at the doors.

    I therefore see no basis at all to say that “second path is more realistic” – “a sufficient number of the ruling coalition members to vote with the opposition in a “no confidence” motion in Parliament” against the PM. Dr Bakri Musa indulges in wishful thinking blinded by his visceral dislike for the PM as leader.

  13. BN elects UMNO leaders to lead the country…..how this leader lead and govern the country is everyone’s interest.

    With decades of bad leadership and governance of the country, the people must now take control of their own future.

  17. lakilompat.

    cheers if dap can have their own print media, but khdn wont approve it for sure. and like the rocket, it may be restricted circulation.

    Ms.beautiful moderator and handsome adminstrator.
    thank you very much, at least i want to know why i am punished. that’s justice .

  18. ms beautiful moderator and handsome administrator.

    and why was my posting on Islam under moderation too, this morning. are you assuming my knowledge on Islam is shallow ? or what ? even judges have to give written judgement.

    [No judgment involved. It applies to long posts, regardless of the subject. – Admin]

  19. Is it a joke our govt. don’t have a long term plan on the “Angkasawan project” why in the first place we implement it?

    Monday April 14, 2008
    Analysis to see if Angkasawan project to continue
    By LOH FOON FONG

    PETALING JAYA: A cost analysis of the Angkasawan programme will be carried out to see if the project is to continue, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said.

    “In principle, the Government has said that the Angkasawan project will continue subject to the availability of funds.

    “However, currently, the funds to continue with the programme are not available,” he told reporters during a visit to the Academy of Sciences Malaysia here on Monday.

    “We have to bear in mind that 70% of the cost for the last programme was offset from the Ministry of Defence’s Sukhoi agreement.

    “We will ask the National Space Agency (Angkasa) for the cost analysis,” he said.

  20. I agree with ADAM YONG IBNI ABDULLAH’s posting that we should leave UMNO as it is.

    Nevertheless, UMNO due its greed and arrogance, have destroyed their paties.

    The RAHMAN theory will soon be proven wrong probably incurred the wrath of the late Tunku himself as Najib with his own baggage will not be able to revive UMNO. UMNO has no chance now.

    But whatever, it is lets look forward and see what DAP and Pakatan Rakyat can do what BN can’t do for the people. On the uppermost list is the formation of a Bangsa Malaysia.

    http://pakatanrakyat-perak.blogspot.com

  21. Best thing for AAB to do is plan to go in say 18 months. In that time he can clean up things without worrying about UMNO warlords, after all he is leaving, so what else can they do to him? Sack all incompetent civil service chiefs in Police, ACA. Clean up judiciary, Stop the negotiated tender thing. Silence the extremists. At least he will leave with a good legacy. If his sucessor want to undo what he has done, the electorate will know what to do.

  22. I am trying very hard to understand the thrust and purport of Dr Bakri Musa’s comment!

    On one hand, he indirectly at the end of the commentary credited the PM for destroying not “Malaysia” but “only UMNO and Barisan Nasional” in the same vein as Tun Dr Mahathir.

    Meanwhile, according to Bakri, “UMNO and its coalition partners are galloping fast towards their collective demise. Their course is irreversible”.

    On the other hand, in the beginning of the commentary Dr Bakri Musa complains of “gross incompetence” and “basic ineptness” of the PM as leader and is enthused about suggesting three exit strategies to accelerate the Prime Minister’s departure (the only ‘realistic’, [one of which I have expressed misgivings about in my above posting, which if I were right, hard luck, there’s no more exit strategies).

    According to Bakri, Abdullah is, in relation to his party UMNO and the government “the problem, and a very huge one at that. Consequently his moving out would be a big part of the solution. It would not solve everything of course, but it would remove a major impediment”.

    Does this mean that Bakri is looking forward to revival or resurgence of BN/UMNO so as to be enthused about recommending 3 strategies to rid it of its major impediment, allegedly its present leader??? If Bakri were not, why is he so enthused about hastening the PM’s exit that in later part of his commentary he attributed the PM to be the cause of “UMNO and its coalition partners… galloping fast towards their collective demise”??? Bakri wants to reverse this trend?

    Sorry, I don’t discern an internal consistency or coherence in what Bakri has commented !

  23. YB Lim,
    You have given 3 ways to get rid of the ASS. I have one way to give.

    Why crack our brains and scream our heads off? That ASS won’t leave for whatever reasons. Even if one were to yank him off from his chair, he would just “superglued” his bottom to that chair! He is just not going anywhere.

    All we need is that thirty-something lompat katak to jump over and we have a new federal goverment. Then, we don’t need to yank that chair anymore. WE JUST THROW OUT THE WHOLE CHAIR WITH THE ASS STILL GLUED TO IT!!

  24. If one is serious about real and meaningful change in the best interest of the ordinary people in a multi racial and religious country, don’t look in BN……their days in government are numbered.

  27. UMNO insiders say that Badawi wants to stay on till the December elections, agree not to contest the Presidency and let Najib take over thereafter. Many are now questioning why he needs to stay till December to come up with a transition plan, unless it is for some form of protection plan for his son-in-law. Some are also not happy with Najib becoming the uncontested President of UMNO – with Najib at the helm, it is going to be business as usual.

    Whatever it is, Bolehland is now stuck in a rut with a PM who clearly doesn’t have the support of his own people, but who wants to cling on for the sake of someone else. The annointed successor doesn’t want to make a pre-emptive move because he can afford to wait till December.

    Sigh…semuanya Tak OK ! Semua tak boleh jalan !

  28. Bakri Musa is aiming his ‘harsh and unadulterated message’ to Abdullah Badawi, but the descriptions made of the person and of the the deeds and words seem to fit another person we know!

    Can there be so many people in UMNO who share such similar characteristics, speech and mannerism!

  29. Agree Adan Yong – DAP politicians should use their time more meaningfully, than dwelling on the internal squabbles of UMNO. The veterans in DAP must learn to let go of the past, adopt new attitudes and don’t let people like Bakri Musa use you for his own agenda!

  31. “Consequently his moving out would be a big part of the solution. It would not solve everything of course, but it would remove a major impediment.” Bakri Musa

    I wouldn’t put it in quite those terms.

    Pointing to Abdullah as a major impediment is to understate the ‘forces’ working in the shadows to manipulate his every move. Certainly his departure would not solve the problem.

    For Abdullah, “May the Force be with you” has strange and different ramifications. Indeed that may well be the title of an emerging best seller.

  32. “Thankfully my earlier dire prediction on Abdullah was misplaced. Abdullah has not destroyed Malaysia, only UMNO and Barisan Nasional. Malaysians can all count their blessings for his legacy not being any worse”

    I think the last sentence says it all:
    The transition away from racist politics has been made peacefully and due credit should be given to AAB as after all even TDM was not able to get this done by his powerful persuasion.

    Of course there will be damage done to political parties but these should be smart enough to change.
    http://malaysiawatch3.blogspot.com/2008/04/ok-this-is-what-handover-discussion.html

  33. Just came across this article (‘Perkatan Rakyat : A Need for Discipline’) posted by Mali Imtiaz Sarwar in his blog. DAP should be picking up articles like this for its blogsite, not like those biased and politically motivated articles that we often see in LKS’ blogsite

  34. Now AAB said he want to contest in December. May be he can win. May be all UMNO delegates are in his pocket. We can analyse base on logic. How much do we really know who owe to whom within UMNO?

  36. Tun Dr Mahathir said he was “happy to face a royal commission of inquiry” over lawyer Param Cumaraswamy’s allegations of his abuse of power, will Dr Bakri Musa support such an idea of a royal commission of inquiry to clear or indict TDM as regards Param’s allegations?

  38. Abdullah Badawi solely to be blamed for the dismal result?

    It’s a sad fact of life that when one is down, one is left to stand alone. One is asked to shoulder all blame though, in life, this is never the case. One is isolated, cast to the wolves. In worst cases, the ones one has helped and whom one has placed one’s faith in, joined with the crowd to go for one’s blood. All these, from the mildest to the worst scenarios, are now being played out in UMNO!

    Having been through one month of humiliation, he must be at his lowest, right now. For all his faults, this treatment meted out to him is not fair. If, the UMNO people do not want to speak out for him, the rakyat should.

    The present state of the nation (the emergence of the 2-party system), which we think is good for the nation, would not have come about if not for AAB’s more tolerant and liberal attitude.

    A more basic consideration is the human values. What democratic principles are we talking about if we don’t offer a peron his basic right – the democratic right to dignity and respect!

  39. They have to find a scapegoat for their decades of bad leadership and governance of the country to give meaning and focus to their party’s struggle at all costs.

    For this to happen, sadly, the PM has to be sacrified – irrespective of the enormous bagages he inherited from the previous PM.

  40. It is fatuous to target biggest ass within ruling firmament for blame on 8th March debacle when the ruling firmament itself can no more effectively rule when the other side controls the majority and has enough crossovers numbers to topple the government, and the only reason it is not yet done is only because the slim majority does not suffice for stability of government due to the prospects of reverse crossovers enticed by BN’s side. Time has come to face the naked truth that neither BN nor PR could effectively rule when they’re neck to neck, which means that sooner or later, and better sooner there will have to be dissolution of parliament and fresh election to get the clear and commanding mandate….PR needs not isolated but enmasse defections. I suggest the PR draws a line at those pro reform for a better Malaysia as against those within BN that are reactionary and anti reform and pro TDM. To break impasse, tell Anwar to secure and work out a deal with the beleaguered PM and those on his side favouring reform, Gerakan, Sabah and Sarawak parties to share power under an enlarged grouping – Barisan Rakyat (“BR”) – to dilute PAS’s agenda of Islamic state….After deal struck, go through the motions of getting a vote of no confidence going, dissolution and fresh election for crossovers to be legitimized and with a stronger mandate, with some “redeemable” reform inclined ex members of present BN (but with present PR’s members dominating) form the government to govern Bolehland.

  41. Jeffrey’s idea is a little similar to a government of national unity without having to conduct more elections.

    Maybe AAB needs help to understand this mechanism or be ceremoniously defeated at the December UMNO polls. It seems he will not be able to defeat the “dark” forces in his own party.

    But whatever way, he will have to make way for a new PM. In fact he can recommend who should be the future PM and not necessarily an UMNO candidate.

    But while there is life, there is hope and so far only the MIC leader has come out strongly to support him.
    This is the bleak picture.

    http://malaysiawatch3.blogspot.com/2008/04/take-2-on-handover-problems-or-why-pm.html

  42. HJ Angus, actually, a behind the scene “deal” need to be first struck for enmasse cross over of certain sections from BN that are not adverse to reforms for better of country (but could not do so whilst still in present BN because of overwhelming opposition from reactionary forces against reforms within BN). With a pact (that Anwar is so good at forging) then precipitate dissolution of parliament for 13th GE. Crossovers then only occur. Present Opposition candidates as well as defectors will then be fielded by opposition to ensure the win is not just 51 – 49% but by a wider and comfortable margin (preferably two third majority).
    If Pak lah is not in picture (defections) – and it is hard to think he will be – then Anwar could straightaway take over as PM uponm winning. But politics is art of the possible, if he were part of equation, then Anwar being not in hurry – he owes one to Pak Lah for releasing him – can give him one term with Anwar as deputy. The situation envisages an enlarged grouping beyond the present Pakatan Rakyat. In that scenario, BN will be put to rest for a long time to come.

  43. My theory that Pak Lah deliberately released Anwar is to prevent Najib to suceed him. Well, it is a good decision that Pak Lah still hold on despite all the calls for him to step down. [deleted]

  46. So why not take down the original UMNO (UNITED MALAYS NATIONAL ORGANIZATION) signboard on top of PWTC and replace it with the new UMNO (UNITING MALAYS NATIONAL ORGANIZATION) signboard. The Malays NEVER seemed united since its establishment in 1946! What a disgrace!!!!!!

  47. Dear YB Lim. I think AAB may be a weak leader, in a sense that he cannot control his people. But our Tun M used all the sticks & carrots (to the extend deprived all M’sian of liberty justice honour ^ humanity) available to him. The person whom had consumed the carrot, are now rotting in the eyes of Malaysian (Tun turn a blind eye). The person who who was subjected to the stick, are now either mellow down or had stand up against him.

    The control by AAB is weak, in my opinion, let us control with him. If after year 2004, AAB immediately fired SamyVelu + Rafidah + Khairy + battle face to face with Tun++, he will be in better position. In regard to Tun, he should be controlled b’cos PR should by now digging all his faeces and dump in front of house so that Tun M & Mukriz can clean them up slowly, leaving AAB time to manage the country.

    Look here if you look at the slogan “work with me, not for me” we should help AAB control his men. PR should now aim to all the armours against TunM & Mukriz, the rest as the story goes, is history. After that , the battle will be against those who are corrupted or abuse their power. Will give the idea for the next battle.

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