Today’s emergency UMNO Supreme Council meeting, second in a week, exposes Umno in a white-heat crisis to Malaysians.
There were all sorts of rumours last week, including the quite “unbelievable” one (which I mentioned in my blog) that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been given up to Sept. 26 to step down as Prime Minister – although nobody was able to explain why Sept. 26 as the deadline for at least a clear-cut announcement of his retirement intention rather than the more believable Oct. 9.
But as they say, there is no smoke without fire! This explains the emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting today.
The full effects of the political tsunami of the March 8 general election, which dealt a fatal blow to Umno political hegemony, destroyed the hitherto unchallenged Barisan Nasional mould of race and money politics, and gave heart to Malaysians that there is hope after all for Malaysia to fulfill her great potential and promise of human, intellectual and natural resources, end and reverse the costly brain-drain, taking her rightful place in the global community – have still to be played out.
These are the pains, trials and tribulations of Malaysia becoming a more normal country after 51 years of nationhood so that Malaysia can truly join the ranks of the fully-developed nations.
But is the Umno Supreme Council emergency meeting today just for the sake of Abdullah and the UMNO warlords or is it going to grapple with the weighty national issues for the sake of returning Malaysia to her promise and potential as a great nation?