A jumble of thoughts. A mish-mash of questions.

These describe my feelings when I sat in the cavernous plenary hall of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre for the official opening of the 54th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference this morning.

I made a special point to be punctual as the official invitation card asked all guests to arrive by 9.40 am, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi scheduled to arrive at 9.50 am to officiate the opening ceremony.

But Abdullah did not turn up. It was Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who appeared instead.

Najib did apologise on behalf of the Prime Minister for being unable to attend the function but he did not explain what was the urgent business of state which had prevented Abdullah from fulfilling his long-standing engagement which would have been finalized well in advance with the Prime Minister’s Office.

One thought I could not push away at the KLCC this morning was whether we are witnessing a “headless” government in Malaysia – and whether this was the result of the two-year “power transition” plan announced by Abdullah on July 10 that he would hand over the offices of Umno President and Prime Minister to Najib in June 2010.

This thought gains traction from the following observations at the opening:

• The virtual absence of Cabinet Ministers in an international event which clearly deserves greater support. Apart from Datuk Shafie Apdal and Datuk Dr. Ng Yen Yen on the stage because of their “host” capacities, there was only one other Minister at the opening – Datuk Shahrir Samad. This does not speak well for the Cabinet’s commitment whether to the Commonwealth or parliamentary process. I doubt that there had been so many empty seats in the first few rows in other international conferences held in the country as compared to this morning.

• According to the programme, the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin delivers a 10-minute welcome speech in his capacity as “host” followed by a 30-minute keynote address by the Prime Minister. In the event, the Speaker’s speech not only exceeded 10 minutes but was even longer than Najib’s unusually short speech. It would appear that it was the Speaker rather than the Deputy Prime Minister who had delivered the “keynote address”.

• The theme of the 54th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference is “Expanding the Role of Parliament in Global Society: Environment, Development and Security”. Nothing wrong with the theme. But there is something very jarring when in the past five months since the March 8 “political tsunami” which saw the historic firsts in Malaysian elections ending the Barisan Nasional’s unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority and Umno political hegemony, nothing has been done on “Expanding the role of Parliament in Malaysian society” – whether on parliamentary reforms in general or establishing parliamentary select committees in particular!

• But there was a dark and most disturbing thought. What were the 600 foreign delegates and their spouses, and some 150 local Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) members, thinking when Najib took the podium to stand in for the Prime Minister? Were they honoured at being able to have a preview of the next Prime Minister of Malaysia or were their foremost thought wondering whether a person hounded by so many questions related to the murder of Mongolian Altantunya Shaariibu and private detective Bala Subramaniam’s Statutory Declaration 1 and 2 scandal could legitimately become the next Prime Minister of Malaysia?

• Equally troubling was the real reason for Abdullah’s last-minute non-attendance? Was this because he was too embarrassed by the latest Merdeka Centre opinion survey that his popularity rating had plunged from 91% in late 2004 to 42% early last month, despite his putting up a bold public front dismissing it as “the fate of all politicians everywhere”?

Of late, Malaysians are being bombarded with one example after another of a “headless” administration, and the two latest examples are:

1. The public lament by the Home Minister, Datuk Syed Hamid Albar about the pervasiveness of money politics in UMNO –that “money politics within Umno had become so cancerous that it had even affected the grassroots” –to the extent that he had denounced Umno branch meetings in his Kota Tinggi Umno divison as “tainted” with the terrible indictment: “I am not sure if we can heal this cancer, but the contest this time has reached an all-time low.”

2. The second closure with the reappearance of cracks on the Middle Ring Road 2 in Kepong, less than two years after an atrociously exorbitant RM70 million repair of the RM238 million project. The MRR2 has become a quadruple scandal for four reasons:

(i) Having to be closed down the first time in August 2004 because of flyover cracks within two years of its original completion, when it should be able to meet international standards and last for 100 years;

(ii) the four-fold cost overrun in its repair bill, from the originally estimated RM18 million to the final bill of RM70 million.

(iii) The personal and direct intervention of Abdullah to resolve the intense turf war between the then Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and the PWD, requiring the covening of a special meeting on a Friday on 3rd February 2006, which was attended by among others the second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcob and the then Chief Secretary Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.

(iv) Another closure of the MRR2 after a RM70 million repair – when the amount approved by the 3rd February 2006 meeting chaired by the Prime Minister was for RM18 million!

Is the MRR2 Scandal 2, where Abdullah owes to Malaysians a direct responsibility to give full and proper accounting because of his personal involvement in the decision-making in the RM70 million repair, the cause for his inability to keep his appointment with the 54th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference?