Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Malaysia in for troubled and very divisive times following the woeful lack of Prime Ministerial authority and leadership

By Kit

September 07, 2008

The nation-wide furore over the derogatory, insensitive, offensive and racist speech by the Bukit Bendera Umno division chief, Datuk Ahmad Ismail, has highlighted the waste of the RM100 million spent last year on the 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations and the abysmal failure of the Barisan Nasional’s nation-building policy and programme.

The founding fathers of the nation would never have thought that after half-a-century of nationhood, there would still be leaders in the ruling coalition who continue to regard non-Malays as “penumpang” although their overwhelming majority are local born and even have families who have made this country their sole object of loyalty for many generations – making nonsense of the 1957 Merdeka social contract, Malaysia Agreement 1963, Rukunegara 1970 and Vision 2020 objective of Bangsa Malaysia.

Equally shocking is the woeful lack of Prime Ministerial authority and leadership in handling the Ahmad Ismail furore, illustrated by Abdullah adopting four different positions on the issue in a matter of eight days!

On 30th August, Abdullah sought to condone and excuse Ahmad’s offensive and insensitive speech, claiming that Ahmad had not “meant it”.

On 3rd September, to head off the attack from all directions both inside and outside Barisan Nasional, Abdullah agreed that his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak should apologise on behalf of Ahmad, with Najib conceding: “It (Ahmad’s comment) was totally unwarranted and doesn’t reflect the position and attitude of Umno or the leadership of Umno. We regret it very much.”

When Najib’s apology without any personal apology or remorse from Ahmad could not assuage public protest, Abdullah adopted a third position on September 4, declaring that he was trying to contact Ahmad to ask him to tender a personal apology. He said he should be meeting Ahmad in Penang on Saturday.

Abdullah said Najib’s apology was the “right thing to do” although the sentiment on the ground was that the apology should come from Ahmad himself.

However, Ahmad jumped the gun the very next day. After Friday’s revolt by Ahmad refusing to tender any apology on the ground that he was the aggrieved party, which was endorsed by 13 Penang Umno divisions, Abdullah backed down and adopted a fourth position.

Yesterday, Abdullah virtually did a somersault and endorsed Ahmad’s self-serving claim that his speech at the Permatang Pauh by-election had been misinterpreted by the Sin Chew reporter, that he had dealt with historical facts and that it was not a racist statement.

It is outrageous that the Abdullah could be held to ransom by an Umno division leader with the threat of open revolt not only by other Penang Umno division leaders but also from other UMNO divisions in other states, which could end Abdullah’s premiership even earlier than the June 2010 timetable he had set for himself in the power-transition plan to hand over power to his deputy Najib.

Malaysia is in for troubled and very divisive times at the woeful lack of Prime Ministerial authority and leadership to the extent he could be held to ransom by a Umno division leader to set the national agenda as to whether Bangsa Malaysia should continue to be a national objective and mission.

This is all the more shocking when Ahmad’s claim that he had been distorted and misinterpreted by the Sin Chew reporter is so specious, unconvincing and even groundless.

Two other reporters, one from Nanyang and the other from Guan Ming, had come forward with eye-witness accounts to confirm what the Sin Chew reporter had written – that Ahmad had made the derogatory, offensive, insensitive and racist reference to the Malaysian Chinese as “penumpang” in a Permatang Pauh by-election speech on August 23 and that he was not just talking about “historical facts”.

Is Ahmad able to produce any other journalists present at his speech that night who could corroborate his claim that he had not made a racist statement in referring to the Malaysian Chinese as “penumpang” who could not be trusted as Malaysians?

How can Abdullah expect to end the deepening multiple crisis of confidence in his leadership and government when he had to knuckle under to the pressure from a Umno division leader in Penang?