The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced yesterday that the Barisan Nasional (BN) Supreme Council has decided on “Mission 2057” to ensure continued development in all aspects since independence and after Vision 2020 had been achieved. “Mission 2057” would become the development guideline for another 50 years.

It sounded a rather tall tale that the BN Supreme Council met yesterday to take the policy decision to formulate Mission 2057, when it is not only dubious that Vision 2020 could be achieved but very clear that Abdullah’s Mission 2004 is heading towards a big flop.

Before Abdullah trots out Mission 2057 about Malaysia in another half-a-century, he should deliver Mission 2004 which he had promised in the 2004 general election to lead an efficient, clean, incorruptible, accountable, transparent, just, democratic and progressive administration which is prepared to hear the truth from the people — and for which he had won the unprecedented victory of 91 per cent of parliamentary seats which had never been achieved by the previous four Prime Ministers.

When he became the fifth Prime Minister in November 2003, Abdullah pledged to make anti-corruption the top agenda and proclaimed “zero tolerance for corruption”.

To mark the first three months of his premiership, Abdullah reiterated in an interview with senior editors of major newspapers his priority commitment to change the mindset of Malaysians to match the country’s first-class infrastructure with a first-class mentality, including the eradication of public and private sector corruption.

On his first 100 days as Prime Minister, Abdullah declared in his address to the Cambridge Foundation on 10th February 2004: “My first 100 days was my statement of intent. Now we get to work and walk the talk.”

However, after the unprecedented 91% parliamentary majority victory in the March 2004 general election, Abdullah had forgotten his declaration of “zero tolerance for corruption” or his pledge to make the fight against corruption as the top priority of his administration, as his “statement of intent” of his first 100 days remained mere “statement of intent” for the next 1,115 days till today without any “walk the talk” whatsoever. Read the rest of this entry »