Pak Lah has finally retaliated – firing back at his chief and unexpected nemesis, his predecessor Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on all fours.
In his broadsides, the Prime Minister and Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also did not spare his other nemeses – Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, one snippet of news about yesterday’s “open war” by Abdullah deserves greater attention.
Abdullah announced that Datuk Seri Najib Razak is the natural successor to the Umno presidency, saying: “ I assure you there are no problems between us, and he is the one who will be succeeding me.”
What should pique interest is not the omission by Abdullah as to when such handing over of power will take place, but Najib’s uncharacteristic silence in declining any comment on Abdullah’s assurance when approached by the media after the closed-door briefing for Umno grassroots leaders yesterday.
Does this connote another shifting of power equation in Umno?