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?
It is a great disappointment bordering on grave breach of national trust that the emergency UMNO Supreme Council meeting today had only time for the political future of Abdullah and the Umno war-lords, but no time or thought for the deepening multiple crisis of confidence confronting the nation in the past seven months since the March 8 general election.
When the Umno Supreme Council could hold an emergency meeting over the political future of Abdullah and the Umno warlords, but no time for the multiple national challenges on the political, economic, educational, institutional, good governance and nation-building fronts, Malaysians are being told in no uncertain terms as to how irrelevant the Umno leadership have become to the popular hopes and national aspirations of the people in Malaysia.