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UMNO Ministers – take 5-month Cabinet leave for party election campaign instead of neglecting national duties

Umno Ministers are neglecting and abdicating their Cabinet and national responsibilities to gird the country to face the worst global economic crisis in 80 years because of protracted Umno party election politicking.

This could be seen from the absence of two Umno Ministers from Parliament during the winding-up of their Ministries on Thursday, namely Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

This is most shocking and irresponsible, as both Hamid and Hishammuddin are responsible for important Ministries at this critical stage when the country is faced with a crisis of competitiveness – a safe and low-crime society where citizens, investors and tourists are not increasingly worried about personal or property security as well as having an education system which could nurture a creative culture of talents for the country to climb up the competitiveness ladder with a core group of highly-educated and competent people in all areas of the economy. Continue reading “UMNO Ministers – take 5-month Cabinet leave for party election campaign instead of neglecting national duties”

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Will Abdullah again be humiliated at Umno Supreme Council meeting tonight?

Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi again be humiliated at the Umno Supreme Council meeting tonight or will he able to redeem dignity of his office after repeated battering in the past few months?

Abdullah will again be humiliated if the Umno Supreme Council ends tonight with a final modification of his original mid-2010 power transition plan, shortening it from June 2010 to March 2009 and then to December this year!

The mounting call led by Umno Vice President and Minister for International Trade and Industry, Tan Sri Muhyideen Yassin, and the Umno eminence grise Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that the Umno party elections revert back from March next year to December is a subtle subterfuge to shorten Abdullah’s remaining five months as Prime Minister by another three months.

Will Abdullah be able to fob off the latest attempt in Umno to shorten his premiership and even to redeem the dignity of his office by getting full endorsement by the entire Umno leadership for meaningful reforms on the judiciary, police force and anti-corruption before he steps down as Prime Minister? Continue reading “Will Abdullah again be humiliated at Umno Supreme Council meeting tonight?”

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Looking For UMNO’s Next Ex-Leader

by M. Bakri Musa

At a recent gregarious social gathering a colleague, whose luck in personal relationships could best be described as challenged, was teased on whether she was scouting for her next ex-husband! With the current frenzied UMNO divisional nominating meetings, I am tempted to ask a similar question of its members. Are they too looking for their next ex-leader?

If there is any lesson UMNO members should have learned is that the way they pick their leaders needs to be revamped. By now they should have realized the devastating consequences of the “no contest rule” for the two top positions and the onerous nomination quota system, as well as the equally atrocious track record of any one leader (no matter how seemingly wise and brilliant at the time) in anointing his or her successor.

There are indications that this reality is now gradually sinking in, at least on the brave and perceptive few. Thus far that is all there is, only a realization, and nothing more.

Shahrir Samad, cabinet minister and UMNO Supreme Council member, called for “a generational change” in his party’s leadership. He viewed UMNO as becoming overly bureaucratic, with heavy emphasis on seniority and hierarchy. At age 58, Shahrir considered himself too late and too old to go for a top post.

Whether that is a statement of reality or merely an undisguised expression of lack of confidence on the current generation of leaders is for Shahrir to clarify. Both Najib Razak and Muhyyidin Yassin, leading candidates for the number one and two slots respectively, are of the same vintage as Shahrir. Continue reading “Looking For UMNO’s Next Ex-Leader”

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Can Abdullah’s last five months as PM survive the return of Mahathirism?

“Who is he, asks Abdullah” is the New Sunday Times headline for the report of what it described as “The gloves came off yesterday.”

The New Sunday Times reported from Kota Kinabalu yesterday that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s “patience finally wore off and he lambasted his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad”, viz:

Abdullah said Dr Mahathir was acting as if it was he (Dr Mahathir) who should determine who played what role in the party.

“Who is he? He has left Umno but he still issues orders to members of Umno. The party does not need to take orders from anyone who is no longer a member of the party,” said Abdullah who was here to attend the Hari Malaysia and closing of the Merdeka month celebrations.

“He is trying to create a rift and (incite) anger and hatred. What is wrong with people who work with me? He is trying to teach people to hate one another.”

The Umno president said this in referring to a posting on Dr Mahathir’s blog, calling on Umno to rid itself of all those who supported Abdullah, referring to them as “toadies”.

“Who is he when he is no longer a member of UMNO?”

Abdullah cannot be naïve in not knowing the answer to his own query, although his rhetorical question is meant to convey his frustration, impotence and bitterness than to elicit a real answer. Continue reading “Can Abdullah’s last five months as PM survive the return of Mahathirism?”

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Why DAP blamed for Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in BN” speech?

Why is the DAP blamed for the outgoing MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in Barisan Nasional” speech at the MCA General Assembly opening ceremony yesterday?

Ong’s speech led to denials by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi resulting in newspaper frontpage headlines like “UMNO IS NO BULLY” (New Sunday Times) and “Umno bukan pembuli: PM” (Berita Minggu), who instead blamed the DAP for “stirring up the issue to see the split of the MCA or Gerakan” as well as Hindraf for targetting the MIC.

Abdullah caught everyone by surprise by his bald denial.

He said Umno “is not a ‘bully’ party” or many component parties would have left BN by now, and asked:

“Do you think Ka Ting allows himself to be bullied? You think (MIC president) Samy (Vellu) can be bullied? You think (Gerakan president Dr. Koh) Tsu Koon wants to be bullied?”

Abdullah has forgotten an elementary rule of life – “don’t ask if you don’t want the answer”!

Does he really want the answer to that loaded question of his? Don’t have to ask the Malaysian public. Just ask the MCA, Gerakan and MIC delegates or members through secret ballot whether they think their leaders have been bullied by Umno in Barisan Nasional, and I have no doubt that the answer would be a resounding and thundering “yes’! Continue reading “Why DAP blamed for Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in BN” speech?”

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Is M orchestrating Abdullah’s earlier exit as PM?

At the DAP Bagan 6,000-People Solidarity Dinner in Penang last night, I said I did not know whether Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will continue to be Prime Minister by next March, although Abdullah has said that he wanted to devote his last five months as Malaysia’s fifth Prime Minister to accomplish some of the reforms which he had failed to honour – in particular, the judiciary, anti-corruption and the police.

I told the dinner crowd that a campaign was afoot inside Umno to force Abdullah to leave the Putrajaya corridors of power earlier than the March deadline.

This pressure has now surfaced publicly with UMNO Vice President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin again playing the “stalking horse” in suggesting a scenario which will see another modification of Abdullah’s original but tattered mid-2010 power transition power and his earlier exit as Prime Minister in December this year.

Muhyiddin’s call is deliberately timed so that it could be endorsed by the Umno divisions holding their meetings this weekend as to create a “popular” momentum which could justify a further UMNO Supreme Council modification of the power transition plan. Continue reading “Is M orchestrating Abdullah’s earlier exit as PM?”

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Abdullah – can he redeem his premiership by instituting three fundamental reforms?

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is a decent human being.

He was always personable and very approachable until he was cut off from the public by his gatekeepers whether fourth-storey or otherwise – and the common complaint after his first two years as Prime Minister was that he was more difficult to see than Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in the latter’s 22 years as Prime Minister!

I had two meetings with Abdullah in his first two years as Prime Minister which led to the establishment of parliamentary select committees but since then I had stopped trying to meet him for it was just impossible to get through his handlers.

I do not know whether it is possible to see Abdullah again in has last five months as Prime Minister.

In his press statement yesterday, Abdullah said that he would complete three reforms he had pledged when he became prime minister before stepping down by tabling three bills in Parliament to establish the Judicial Appointments Commission, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption and a Special Complaints Commission.

The question is whether Abdullah can redeem and salvage his five years of ineffective premiership by instituting three fundamental reforms in last five months in office?

I am surprised to read a very objective and level-headed political commentary in today’s New Straits Times, “In the end, he made a sensible decision” by Zubaidah Abu Bakar, with the very telling opening:

Continue reading “Abdullah – can he redeem his premiership by instituting three fundamental reforms?”

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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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Five to contest UMNO Deputy President post – Abdullah no more in political radar of Umno leaders

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has still four days to go before Oct. 9 to announce his Hamlet decision of “To Do Or Not To Do” – “To Defend Or Not To Defend the Umno President (and Prime Minister’s) Post”.

However, the declaration by five Umno leaders, led by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam, of their decision or interest to contest for the Umno Deputy President’s post before it falls vacant is very eloquent testimony that Abdullah has ceased to exist in their political radar well before his Oct. 9 announcement.

Clearly, Abdullah has already been ousted from the mainstream Umno currents and relegated to the periphery of Umno politics although he is still incumbent Umno President and Prime Minister. How fast the powerful have fallen!

But will Abdullah drop a bombshell of a surprise in his “before Oct. 9” announcement – as former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad seems to think, when he said today that he does not believe that Abdullah intends to announce his departure before the start of Umno divisional meetings on Oct 9. Continue reading “Five to contest UMNO Deputy President post – Abdullah no more in political radar of Umno leaders”

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Abdullah – “to be or not to be”

For the past week and the next five days, the nation’s top question is the Shakespearean one: “To Be Or Not To Be.”

Will Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shock Umno and Malaysians by acting completely out of character by announcing before October 9 that he has had enough of being pushed around by Umno heavyweights, that the ultimatum of the “926” Umno Supreme Council emergency meeting is the “last straw” and he will defend the post of Umno President in the March Umno party elections?

The overwhelming majority of Malaysians do not expect Abdullah to give such an answer to his Shakespearean dilemma of “To Be Or Not To Be” to defend the dignity of the office of Prime Minister from being publicly humiliated by party politicos – although there are Putrajaya fourth-storey boys who are urging him to do just that.

Even if Abdullah is to bow to the ultimatum of the Umno warlords and announce before Oct. 9 that he will not defend the post of Umno President and will step down as Prime Minister next March, let Abdullah not exit as a lameduck Prime Minister but write a glorious reform programme for police, judiciary, anti-corruption, ISA and press freedom in his last six months in office. Continue reading “Abdullah – “to be or not to be””

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Plot to make Teresa anti-Malay & anti-Islam bogey

Teresa Kok Is Still On Their Target, But For a Different Reason Now

From Malaysia Wave

The powers that be has failed. They attempt to use Teresa Kok as the bogeyman for Malays has failed. Their attempt to create feeling of anger and dissatisfaction among the Malays against DAP has failed.

What’s more important, the Malay dissatisfaction they fail to create has also resulted in their failure to convince PAS members that Barisan Nasional is the answer to the security and the future of Islam in Malaysia. THIS IS THEIR BIGGEST FAILURE.

Teresa Kok has successfully fend off all attempts to paint her as Anti Islam and Anti Malay. She issued a statement denying her involvement in the “azan” controversy long before she was arrested under ISA. Her Press Secretary writes very good Bahasa Malaysia too, so her statement was well understood and accurate.

After Teresa’s release, she attended a Buka Puasa while wearing a skirt on the compound of the Masjid. Suddenly all hell broke loose. Her skirt was suddenly painted as an abomination and Teresa was painted as someone with complete disrespect to Islam for entering a mosque compound wearing a skirt. Continue reading “Plot to make Teresa anti-Malay & anti-Islam bogey”

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Ousting of Abdullah as PM by next March – let MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP, Sabah/Sarawak BN parties take a stand

In his speech to the Federal Territory (FT) Gerakan Wanita and Youth delegates conference yesterday, Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon rightly called for a meeting of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council to discuss the candidacy for the Umno President.

Koh said that although Umno party elections and post allocations are internal Umno matters, as Umno is the backbone of Barisan Nasional and the UMNO President is the Prime Minister, there is a need for the Barisan Nasional component parties to participate in the discussion and to give input on this issue in order for a consensus to be reached.

I commend Koh for giving a correct analysis on what should be the respective positions of the other Barisan Nasional component parties vis-à-vis the power struggle in Umno.

This is not an interference in the Umno internal party affairs, as Malaysians as a whole have an equal stake and interest as to who will become the Umno President as he will also be the Prime Minister so long as the federal government comes from the Umno-hegemonised Barisan Nasional.

The position taken by Koh should be the position for all other BN component parties, whether Gerakan, MCA, MIC, SUPP or other BN parties from Sabah/Sarawak. Continue reading “Ousting of Abdullah as PM by next March – let MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP, Sabah/Sarawak BN parties take a stand”

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Over 60% of grassroots in Gerakan, MCA, MIC and over 80% of members of Sabah/Sarawak parties want to quit BN

The front-page headline in the evening edition of tomorrow’s Chinese newspapers is the speech by the Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon that at least 60 per cent of the grassroots in Gerakan want the party to leave Barisan Nasional (BN) to be “relieved of the heavy emotional burden of BN”.

Speaking at the opening of the Federal Territory (FT) Gerakan Wanita and Youth delegates conference this morning, Koh said the Gerakan Central Committee would undertake a more objective and rational analysis of the “quit BN” sentiments in the party.

I dare say without much fear of contradiction that if given the opportunity to voice out, it is not just over 60 per cent of the grassroots in Gerakan but also over 60 per cent of the membership in MCA and MIC would want their parties to leave Barisan Nasional – and the percentage will be even higher for many Barisan Nasional component parties in Sabah and Sarawak, easily exceeding 80%.

This is because the UMNOputra leadership, despite the major blow suffered by UMNO political hegemony in the March 8 general election by a multi-racial and multi-religious Pakatan Rakyat, has proved to be utterly insensitive, blind and deaf to the legitimate aspirations of all Malaysians, including ordinary Malays. Continue reading “Over 60% of grassroots in Gerakan, MCA, MIC and over 80% of members of Sabah/Sarawak parties want to quit BN”

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“916” Not A Failure

by Bakri Musa

When (it appears less of an “if” now) Anwar Ibrahim takes over the government, he will face the monumental twin problems of undoing the damage wrecked upon our institutions as well as containing the inevitable implosion of UMNO.

Failure in either would effectively doom Anwar, Pakatan, and Malaysia. The good news is that both challenges could be handled simultaneously through the same strategy, and with the subsequent success benefiting all.

The blight on our institutions and governmental machinery, as well as the urgent need to rectify it, is well appreciated. Less recognized is the need to manage UMNO’s certain breakup.

For those who venture that UMNO’s fate is the least of Anwar’s (or our) concern, consider this. The tumultuous and unpredictable demise of the Soviet System may have ended the Cold War, but the world paid a severe price, one that could have been mitigated had the breakup been more orderly.

The world is still paying the price. There is the recurring nightmare that the Soviet’s old nuclear warheads might fall into unscrupulous hands. Those still unconvinced of the price being paid, just ask the Georgians and Ukrainians.

UMNO dominated Malaysia for over half a century; its implosion too will have unpredictable fallouts. If not skillfully managed, the consequences on Malaysia would be on a scale similar to that inflicted on Eastern Europe by the collapse of the Soviets. Continue reading ““916” Not A Failure”

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2 more options, increasing to 5, open to Abdullah to mull over his political future

The month of September has given birth to two momentous dates – first “916” and then “926”.

“916” signifies political “sky-change”. Its importance does not lie in whether the change in federal power takes place on Sept. 16 but in the sea-change in the political mindset, attitudes and expectations of Malaysians about power change.

Six months ago, the Barisan Nasional was so monolithic and impregnable that it was unthinkable and impossible to envisage that it could be toppled from the federal government level.

In the past six months however, the dream and possibility of change of federal power have spread like a prarie fire among Malaysians that it is no exaggeration to say that today the overwhelmingly majority of Malaysians believe that change of federal power is possible while a clear majority would want such a change to take effect immediately.

This is what is most important about the “916” magic – not whether the “skychange” took place on September 16, 2008 (which it did not) but that the political moment in Malaysia has arrived when change of federal power is no more an impossible dream but has become a practical possibility and it is only a matter of time when this “skychange” transforms the political landscape in the country.

When the “916 skychange” takes place remains a very immediate political agenda in Malaysia – whether 1016, 1116, 1216 or in an early 13th general election. Continue reading “2 more options, increasing to 5, open to Abdullah to mull over his political future”

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Abdullah’s premiership de facto ended yesterday (26.9.08)

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s premiership de facto ended yesterday, September 26, 2008 – 54 months after scoring the most stunning landslide electoral victory for any Prime Minister in the nation’s 51-year history.

How far and how fast Abdullah has fallen!

All the Umno heavyweights are now engaged in a marionette play – how to plunge the dagger into Abdullah’s back without blood being seen to be drawn or better still even camouflaging from the Malaysian public the act of dagger-stabbing altogether.

Although Abdullah claimed that it would be his decision, “whether to contest or not” the post of Umno President, there could be no doubt that if Abdullah departs from the script and fails to announce by before October 9 that he would not be offering himself as a candidate as Umno President, the marionette play would be abandoned and the dagger-stabbing would be a very public and bloody one.

Even the sweet-sounding praises by Umno leaders yesterday over the scuttling of Abdullah’s original mid-2010 power-transition plan and the postponement of the Umno general assembly from December to March next year sounded rather ominous if Abdullah ignores the unmistakable signal that he should not dilly-dally any more in making his exit. Continue reading “Abdullah’s premiership de facto ended yesterday (26.9.08)”

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Abdullah’s mid-2010 transition plan scuttled – can he salvage his premiership when the writing is on the wall?

The fifth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is now on his last leg. He has at most six months. The end could come even faster, in a matter of weeks.

A coup d’etat was staged at this morning’s emergency UMNO Supreme Council meeting, where Abdullah’s mid-2010 power-transition plan was scuttled for good.

Although Abdullah declared after the meeting that he had not decided whether to defend the Umno President’s post in March next year, asserting that “The decision is mine, you can go on guessing”, these are empty brave words as the writing is clearly on the wall of another Prime Minister and Umno President being forced out of office.

Can Abdullah salvage his premiership to leave behind some honourable legacy to future generations?

Continue reading “Abdullah’s mid-2010 transition plan scuttled – can he salvage his premiership when the writing is on the wall?”

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Emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting – for the sake of Abdullah or Malaysia?

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. Continue reading “Emergency Umno Supreme Council meeting – for the sake of Abdullah or Malaysia?”