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Abdullah – Flip-flops to the very end

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi flip-flops to the very end!

This morning, the grapevine was abuzz with his latest flip-flop that he has decided to defend his positions as Umno President and Prime Minister after a three-hour meeting with some 200 of his supporters at his Putrajaya official residence which started at about 11 pm last night and dragged into the wee hours of the morning.

This was blogged by three-term Umno MP for Parit Sulong and former Backbenchers Club, Ruhanie Ahmad at 3.32 am.

If so, that was the penultimate flip before the ultimate flop, which Star editor-in-chief Wong Chun Wai blogged at 3.53 pm that SMS flying out from the ongoing Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting at PWTC was that Abdullah had thrown in the towel and succumbed to the Umno Supreme Council pressures for an early exit in March next year.

There was a pathetic last stand by a handful of Abdullah’s supporters at Putrajaya this morning and PWTC this evening, urging him to remain steadfast to the mid-2010 power transition plan instead of being forced out 15 months earlier in March next year.

The die is cast. This die was actually cast seven months ago in the March 8 political tsunami. Continue reading “Abdullah – Flip-flops to the very end”

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D-Day for Abdullah – honourable or dishonourable exit?

It was exactly seven months ago this day that the March 8 political tsunami struck the Malaysian political landscape, resulting in today as D-Day for Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi – whether he will defend the Umno presidency.

Yesterday was a day of utter confusion with conflicting news throughout the day that Abdullah had been persuaded to “fight it out” including against his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, with all the weapons available to him to defend the posts of Umno President and Prime Minister.

The general consensus, however, is that “sanity will finally prevail” and Abdullah will succumb to the Umno Supreme Council pressures for an orchestrated five-month exit as Prime Minister by not contesting for the top Umno post.

If so, then the two most pertinent questions are:

1. Is it going to be an honourable or dishonourable exit for the fifth Prime Minister? and

2. Will the five-month succession interregnum pave the way for an end to the worsening multiple national crisis of confidence in the past seven months or whether it will plunge the country into a deeper rut and rot?

Continue reading “D-Day for Abdullah – honourable or dishonourable exit?”

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Rest in Peace, Islam Hadari

By Farish A. Noor

Observers of Malaysian politics both at home and abroad have already begun to write the political obituary of the country’s embattled Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. While the global economy goes into a tailspin and markets across Asia tumble on an hourly basis, Malaysians seem more engrossed in the country’s on-going political drama that has turned into a comical farce of near-epic proportions: The fate of Prime Minister Badawi hangs in the balance as rival contenders for the coveted post of leader of the UMNO party and Prime Minister of Malaysia come to the fore, ranging from his current deputy Najib Razak to even veterans like Tengku Razaleigh whom many had written off years ago.

To be sure, the immediate verdict on Badawi’s period of rule will not be a pleasant one. The picture that is being painted at the moment is that of a less-than-rosy canvas, and the list of Badawi’s failings is as long as it is impressive. The man who started with such promise, and who promised so much to the electorate, may well end up in the history books of Malaysia as the one who lost it all. Continue reading “Rest in Peace, Islam Hadari”