(1) KUALA LUMPUR: An English daily’s report that certain Umno Supreme Council members had asked Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to speed up the transition plan at their meeting on Thursday was inaccurate, Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday.
(2) In Shah Alam, Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Mu-hammed Taib said members who supported the call for Abdullah to speed up the transition of power to his deputy were not supporting the Pakatan Rakyat’s moves to wrest control of the Federal Government.
One of the two Umno leaders-cum-Ministers is telling a lie. Which one?
The marvel is that these gems of contradictions appear in the same report in Star today, “Hishammuddin: English daily’s report inaccurate”.
Hishammuddin was referring to Star’s front-page report yesterday “Pak Lah under pressure to exit” by Joceline Tan, viz:
PETALING JAYA: The Prime Minister is under pressure to fast-forward the transition plan that would have seen him handing over power to his deputy in 2010.
Umno supreme council members had reportedly told Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in their meeting on Thursday that the political situation was not improving and that he should consider an earlier exit.
At the same time, Abdullah’s supporters are rallying around him to ask him to stick to the transition plan and defend his president’s post, if need be.
Home Minister and supreme council member Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar revealed that Abdullah listened intently and asked for time to discuss the matter with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“He is conscious of the wishes of the grassroots and he said he is willing to exercise flexibility.
“I don’t think there is any necessity to talk about applying pressure. Let him make the decision,” said Syed Hamid.
The minister said Abdullah was also aware of the time line “Oct 9” when Umno divisions will begin their annual meetings to nominate candidates for party posts, including those for the president and deputy president.
Five supreme council members spoke during the closed-door meeting, four explaining the need for a quicker exit plan saying that it would not be feasible for the party president to stay beyond December when the party convenes for the General Assembly.
The four were vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Wanita chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and supreme council member Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who is Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister.
Rafidah is said to have told Abdullah that Wanita grassroots members had informed her that he might not even be able to secure the minimum 58 nominations required to defend his presidency. Her no-holds barred approach caused several of those present to ask her to tone down.
Kelantan Umno chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa was the only one who spoke up for Abdullah, criticising those asking him to go.
He reminded the two top leaders that they had committed themselves to the 2010 transition plan.Several more were about to speak but Najib, noticing that Abdullah was visibly affected, stepped in and ended the discussion, saying that those who spoke had made their point. He asked that Abdullah and him be allowed to take the discussion to a more “private level.”
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latif Ahmad said the supreme council must be informed about details of the transition because “this is not a private love affair between two people.”
“We should not be kept in the dark because it affects the country, Barisan Nasional and Umno,” he told The Star.
Analyst Datuk Seri Annuar Zaini said a captain needed accurate information to negotiate stormy seas.
“The decision lies with Pak Lah and it is good he knows the situation on the ground,” he said.
A senior member of the supreme council has been tasked by the others to meet Abdullah soon to secure a more definite answer from him.
Datuk Alwi Che Ahmad, the Prime Minister’s political secretary, said of now, Abdullah stood by the 2010 transition plan.
At the Selangor Umno liaison committee meeting yesterday, 20 of the 22 divisions wanted state party chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib to ask Abdullah “to have a big heart and accept that the political situation calls for change.”
They also called for a smooth and graceful transition that will not involve a contest for the top post.
Malaysians with powerful political antennaes are asking whether Abdullah can last as Prime Minister beyond October 9. There are even those who set an earlier date – Sept. 26, for instance. Seismic events are afoot.
This makes the following blog Sakmongkol AK47 more than interesting:
SATURDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2008
An Honourable Discharge Nonetheless
Sakmongkol has long advocated an honourable discharge for our commander. The UMNO leadership must understand and apply this concept. Otherwise, people will look at UMNO as wanting in a very crucial department- to act with honour and integrity. Sadly, these are fast depleting under the callous and cavalier UMNO leadership. From the top to the grassroots levels.
Sakmongkol has written about this in some earlier blogs. About the code of honour involving the dismissal of an officer and gentleman.
Yes, we all want Pak Lah to go. But it must be done in a dignified way. The UMNO people must learn from the shameless ways they treated Tun Mahathir. The John Q public or the man on the Clapham omnibus do judge us by our deeds.
The fate of UMNO is unfortunately linked to the leadership of Pak Lah. So when people, including UMNO stalwarts agitate for the exit of Pak Lah, they must know that they are in fact, damning themselves too. Because since 2004, the leaders have implicated themselves in the huge charade of masquerading mediocrity as leadership quality.
During the MKT meeting, Sakmongkol has been told that Pak Lah was about to burst into tears. He was saved from this embarrassment by Tan Sri Dato Seri Pahlawan Anuar Musa. ( phew! That’s a mouthful). Azalina Othman cried like a baby, thus confirming once and all, that there’s a woman hiding underneath that rugged masculinity.
Sakmongkol now realise that Pak Lah’s days are numbered. He is racing against the clock. He must quicken his pace lest he be swallowed by internal pressures and the quickly gaining momentum of Anwar Ibrahim’s bulldozer.
How does Sakmongkol realise that Pak Lah is about to write his own Closing Chapter? ( the title of a book by Lord Denning). When Sakmongkol noticed that his loyal-to-a-fault, the true blue Abdullah loyalist Adnan Yaakob found himself on that day, deficient in trying to defend his boss. When you are no longer defensible by such a person, that means the end is near.
But please don’t besmirch the unwritten code of honour and dignity by a summary execution.