Archive for September, 2008
ISA for RPK and show-cause letters to three newspapers while 3-year Umno suspension for Ahmad Ismail – is this the Abdullah justice and rule of law?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Human Rights, ISA, Post-2008 general election on Friday, 12 September 2008
The detention of blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the show-cause letters to three newspapers, Sin Chew Daily, the Sun and Suara Keadilan why action should not be taken against them over their news coverage on a number of political issues must be condemned by all Malaysians concerned about human rights and democracy.
These actions make a mockery of the claims of the Abdullah administration to usher in a more open and democratic society under a just rule of law.
It shows the administration’s utter cynicism and Machiavellian politics in unblocking RPK’s news portal Malaysia Today after a two-week censorship only to arrest RPK under the ISA in less than 24 hours.
The unblocking of Malaysia Today was made to demonstrate the country’s commitment and allegiance to the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Bill of Guarantees to the world of no Internet censorship but it is just naive for the government to think that the world can be fooled by such subterfuge – as by detaining RPK and taking him out of public circulation, the Malaysian Government has effectively blocked off Malaysia Today and violated the “no internet censorship” Bill of Guarantee!
The detention of RPK had only deepened the multiple crisis of confidence besetting the Abdullah premiership.
RPK just arrested under ISA
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Announcement, Human Rights, ISA, Police, Post-2008 general election on Friday, 12 September 2008
The police have just taken Raja Petra Kamarudin from his house in Sg Buloh under the Internal Security Act.
Seems to be the beginning of a crack down.
Untimely gift of RM160,000 watch for Khir Toyo
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Friday, 12 September 2008
The Sun September 12, 2008
Untimely gift of RM160,000 watch for Khir Toyo
by Terence Fernandez and R. Nadeswaran
PETALING JAYA (Sept 11, 2008) : What can you buy with RM160,000? An X-ray machine for one, or five low-cost homes, breakfast for 1,000 poor schoolchildren for two years and feed a hardcore poor family of 10 for almost 20 years!
However, a company owned by the Selangor government, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB), deemed that it was better to spend the sum on a watch for its then chairman and mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo.
On Jan 8, PNSB paid RM159,250 for a Patek Philippe watch as “cenderamata untuk pengerusi PNSB” (souvenir for the chairman of PNSB) – Mohamad Khir at that time.
It is understood that the watch in white gold was presented to the former MB before the March 8 general election.
But Mohamad Khir returned the watch. And it was not until two months later that a buyer was found. Read the rest of this entry »
Whether 916, 1016, 1116 or in an early 13th general election, time has come for new federal government
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 12 September 2008
Will there be any “916” political transformation setting in motion the changes to bring about a Pakatan Rakyat federal government, ending Umno political hegemony and Barisan Nasional federal power?
This is the question uppermost in the minds of all Malaysians – and the reason for the farce of some 50 BN MPs forced to suffer daily media humiliation, Malaysian and Taiwan, in pursuing a “mong-cha-cha” (“blur, blur”) agricultural study trip to Taiwan just to foil the “916” political transformation.
However, whether the political transformation takes place in four days’ on 916, or 1016, 1116 or in an early 13th general election is a secondary question to the important fact that the Malaysian political mould has been completely recast and it is only a matter of time that a transition of federal power is effected.
What is most significant about “916” is not whether federal power will change hands from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat in four days’ time, but in the sea-change in the political attitude of Malaysians as compared to six months ago before the March 8 general election. Read the rest of this entry »
Clarification – Guang Ming report of 49 BN MPs on Taiwan junket are given RM500,000 each and that I knew of the “mysterious sponsor” incorrect and misleading
This is to clarify that the Guang Ming Daily front page report today quoting me as saying that the 49 BN MPs on Taiwan junket are given RM500,000 each and that I knew of the “mysterious sponsor” but it is not the time to reveal his identity is incorrect and misleading.
When answering the Guang Ming reporter who telephoned me on Tuesday, I had said that the BN MPs’ junket to Taiwan, allegedly for agricultural study tour but clearly to foil Anwar Ibrahim’s “916” plan, sparked a lot of talk and rumours in the country.
I mentioned that among the rumours was that the BN MPs would be given RM500,000 each. In reply to the question by the Guang Ming reporter whether I knew the person paying the money to the BN MPs, I said that a name was mentioned in the rumours but it would not be right for me to mention him.
I did not say that the BN MPs in the Taiwan junket had been paid RM500,000 each or that I knew who was the person who paid them.
Power transfer at national level – matter of time
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 11 September 2008
Kenyataan Akhbar
PAKATAN RAKYAT
11 September 2008
Peralihan Kuasa Tetap Akan Berlaku Kerana BN Telah Gagal
Kepimpinan Pakatan Rakyat yang bertemu hari ini yakin proses pembentukan kerajaan baru yang berlandasan Agenda Reformasi sedang berjalan secara lancar. Kami percaya kerajaan Barisan Nasional akan diganti dalam masa terdekat.
Pakatan Rakyat yakin mendapat bilangan ahli Parlimen yang mencukupi untuk mempunyai majoriti dalam Parlimen yang membolehkan penubuhan kerajaan baru. Bagaimanapun tarikh sebenar penubuhan kerajaan mungkin terpaksa dilewatkan dari 16 September sebagaimana rancangan awal akibat beberapa ahli Parlimen telah dipaksa ke Taiwan.
Umum mengetahui negara kini masih dicengkam permasalahan politik, ekonomi dan sosial yang getir. Akibat kehilangan keyakinan rakyat terhadap kepimpinan UMNO dan BN, timbul percubaan mengalih pandangan kepada isu perkauman sempit.
Masalah perkauman yang diapi-apikan berterusan sehingga kini menunjukkan formula BN yang dihantui kebejatan rasuah dan korupsi gagal mentadbir negara ini. Api perkauman yang cuba dibakar akan mengancam kestabilan negara dan kebajikan rakyat. Kepimpinan BN yang semakin lemah juga menyaksikan parti tersebut semakin berpecah dan semakin hilang arah.
Melihat kepada perkembangan semasa inilah ramai Ahli Parlimen BN telah hilang kepercayaan terhadap kepimpinan BN dan memutuskan untuk bersama dengan Pakatan Rakyat. Pakatan Rakyat menegaskan bahawa kami tidak pernah dan tidak perlu membeli atau menyogok Ahli Parlimen berkenaan untuk menyertai kami. Mereka didorong oleh kesedaran sendiri serta memberikan komitmen menyokong agenda perubahan. Read the rest of this entry »
Ahmad Ismail’s 3-year Umno suspension – “water off a duck’s back”
Posted by Kit in nation building, UMNO on Thursday, 11 September 2008
The Umno Supreme Council’s three-year suspension of Umno Bukit Bendera Umno division chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail of his Umno membership for his provocative, inflammatory and racist reference of the Malaysian Chinese as “penumpang” is too little, too late and too ineffective.
For Ahmad, the Umno Supreme Council decision is just like “water off a duck’s back”.
All these three attributes of the Umno Supreme Council decision being “too little, too late, too ineffective” were instantly evident from the immediate press conference held by Ahmad after the Umno Supreme Council decision yesterday, viz:
• Firstly, Ahmad remained defiant and unremorseful for his provocative, inflammatory and racist statement maintaining that he would not apologise although he accepted the Umno Supreme Council’s decision on him;
• Secondly, Ahmad declared that his “suspension” would not stop him from being active in the party, albeit unofficially, as he cannot hold posts defined in the party constitution, adding: “If my division is smart enough and creates a new post, such as division advisor, I can still be advisor.”
• Thirdly, he announced immediate plan to tour the country and explain to Umno divisions about the matter, and declared: “I promise one thing – I will make a comeback to Umno.”
• Fourthly, Ahmad’s defiance and total lack of remorse is not just individual bravado but clearly had powerful UMNO backing as indicated by the fact that he held his immediate press conference at the Umno headquarters at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur which was attended by the Umno Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah should direct the 54 BN MPs to cut short their “blur blur” agriculture study tour of Taiwan
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim, Foreign, Politics on Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Malaysia’s image and international standing are trampled upon and “rubbished” by the 54 Barisan Nasional MPs currently on a “blur blur” agriculture study tour of Taiwan as they are been tracked by the Taiwan print and electronic media as if they are bizarre or exotic creatures from a strange land if not from another planet.
Instead of conducting themselves as proud elected representatives of a nation held in high esteem in international circles, the 54 BN MPs are caught in a hide-and-seek with journalists as if they are fugitives from justice or agents of rogue nations as they are unable to give a honest and honourable explanation of the real purpose and reason for their sudden trip to Taiwan.
A Guang Ming Daily columnist has rightly coined the phrase “mong cha-cha” or “blur blur” tour to describe BN MPs junket to Taiwan, for the BN MPs were in a “blur” when summoned by SMS to submit their passports for the “trip to nowhere” as the country destination was not known and undecided, “blur” when they boarded the flight and continue to be “blur” when they landed in Taiwan.
The 54 BN MPs know that they have become a laughing stock in Taiwan and a standing joke wherever they go in the island republic. As a result, they cannot hold their heads high when appearing in public in Taiwan.
Racist Ahmad Ismail provocation – will 13 Penang Umno division leaders be disciplined too?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, nation building, UMNO on Wednesday, 10 September 2008
What action will the Umno Supreme Council take at its emergency meeting today to end the15-day national furore over Ahmad Ismail’s provocative, inflammatory and acist “penumpang” reference to Malaysian Chinese – a simple and straightforward issue which should have been nipped in the bud when it surfaced publicly on August 26 instead of being allowed to snowball into a “no-holds-barred” political and nation-building crisis escalating into the Bukit Bendera Umno divison chairman:
• Warning the Chinese in Malaysia not to mimic American Jews in seeking to control the country’s economy but also its political power;
• Wanting Gerakan to leave the Barisan Nasional;
• Demanding that Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon should be stripped of his post as the state Barisan chairman and the post be given to the MCA; and
• Public tearing of a picture of Tsu Koon.
What would have ensued if there had been a public tearing of the picture of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuik Seri Najib Razak by a Gerakan division leader of Chinese or Indian descent? Read the rest of this entry »
We are all “pendatangs”
Posted by Kit in nation building, UMNO on Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Jac Tan emailed a very interesting and timely blog from Syed Iman’s kuda ranggi.
Syed Imran is an Arab-Malaysian born in Penang, Malaysia, ex-Bernama journalist (1971-1998) and former press secretary to Minister in PM’s Department.
Syed Imran provides a Bangsa Malaysia voice in the nation-wide furore which had erupted as a result of Ahmad Ismail’s irresponsible, opportunist and racist reference of Malaysian Chinese as “pendatang” and “penumpang”.
Syed Imran blogged:
“Secara peribadi, saya tidak setuju dengan apa yang didakwa dikata oleh Ahmad Ismail atas beberapa sebab.
“Bagi saya, hampir 90 peratus rakyat Malaysia, khususnya di Semenanjung, adalah pendatang dan kita semua sebenarnya menumpang hidup di bumi Allah. Kita bukan pemilik kekal tetapi hanya menumpang…
“Kita adalah kaum pendatang yang menumpang hidup di negeri ini. Golongan yang boleh diiktiraf sebagai orang asal atau anak bumi tulen adalah mereka yang kita kenali sebagai Negrito, Jakun, Semang, Jahut, Orang Laut, Orang Darat, Senoi dan suku kaum masyarakat Asli lain yang masih menjadi penghuni belantara.
“Kita semua adalah rakyat Malaysia.”
Syed Imran’s blog touching on the lineage of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir, Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, Ahmad Ismail himself should be compulsory read for the agent provocateurs out to sabotage the realisation of a Bangsa Malaysia – whether by constant keris-wielding or the canard of “pendatang” and “penumpang”. Read the rest of this entry »
Of Pakatan, People, Principles, Patience and Prudence
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Martin Jalleh, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 10 September 2008
by Martin Jalleh
With each passing day, Umno, which had very arrogantly declared that it would bury Anwar Ibrahim politically, continues to dig its own grave.
The results of the by-election in Permatang Pauh sounded the death knell to the supremacist party. It was the last nail that the party drove into its own coffin.
After the General Elections in March it became evident that Umno is not short of leaders like Ahmad Ismail who desperately seek to write Umno’s obituary.
Sharing this privilege is Dr M, whose self-deceiving sarcasm puts him in a state of denial especially over the fact that Umno started to decay and decompose during his days!
Umno’s colleagues in the BN whose parties are also disintegrating have made it clear that they can no longer swallow nor stomach Umno’s political vomit and venom.
The PM increasingly looks like a lame duck, kept afloat by a pool of lame-brained ministers like Najib, Nazri and Syed Hamid – experts at offering lame excuses.
It is against this dark despairing scenario that Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) offer much-needed hope. There is great urgency to bring about real and radical change. Read the rest of this entry »
A Racist Start to Ramadhan
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor, nation building, UMNO on Wednesday, 10 September 2008
By Farish A. Noor
It is not often that I sermonise in my articles, and it has been a month since the OtherMalaysia.org research project was brought to a close. Yet despite everything the tone and tenor of Malaysia’s convoluted politics and the country’s slide into decline forces us to take stock of how far Malaysia has travelled over the past 50 years of its independence, or hasnt.
With the feeble administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi teetering on the verge of implosion and collapse, Malaysians are preparing themselves for the worst to come. Since 2004 Malaysia has in fact been running on autopilot, a point made clear to me by a European diplomat who once asked me ‘Is anyone running this country and does Badawi even know what is going on?” Coccooned from the realities of a society that has experienced large scale and even traumatic changes, the Badawi government proved itself to be totally dislocated and clueless over what was happening. Read the rest of this entry »
The 916 obsession – 54 BN MPs have Anwar to thank for the last-minute free junket to Taiwan
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Pakatan Rakyat, Politics on Tuesday, 9 September 2008
The last-minute free junket to Taiwan for 54 MPs is shaping up to be the greatest political farce in the nation’s 51-year history – all because of the “916 obsession” of the Umno/Barisan Nasional leadership.
UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders have put up a bold public front dismissing the possibility of any change of government come Sept. 16, dismissing the “916” speculation as political gimmick and “day-dream”, although in their heart of hearts, it has become a “living nightmare” to the Umno/BN leadership.
This is because Umno/BN leadership are acutely and painfully aware that six months after the March 8 general election, more and more BN MPs are convinced that the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional leadership have completely lost their way as illustrated by the latest Ahmad Ismail furore and have neither the vision nor political will to relate and become relevant to the revolution of new hopes and expectations of post-political tsunami Malaysia.
As compared to six months ago, there are even fewer BN MPs who are prepared to defend the policies and programmes of the Prime Minister and the BN leadership, as they have lost all hope and confidence in the their ability to manage a major turnaround of political support of the people.
Ahmad Ismail revolt – when will Abdullah stop his flip-flops and demonstrate that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, nation building, UMNO on Tuesday, 9 September 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suffered two mortal political blows within a short period of six months – the first “political tsunami” of March 8 general election which smashed UMNO’s political hegemony, ended Barisan Nasional (BN)’s unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority and drove BN into the Opposition in five states now run by Pakatan Rakyat governments and the second “political tsunami” in the August 26 Permatang Pauh by-election, where Anwar Ibrahim stormed back to Parliament with a thumping majority of 15,524 votes after an enforced absence for a decade.
Who would have thought that Abdullah’s third mortal political blow could have struck so fast and so devastatingly as to plunge his image, credibility, authority and legitimacy as Prime Minister to their lowest point since he took over from Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the fifth Prime Minister less than five years ago?
And this third mortal political blow to Abdullah was primarily self-inflicted, the direct result of his flip-flops over Bukit Bendera Umno division chief, Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s racist reference to Malaysian Chinese as “penumpang” in the country.
In this instance, Abdullah out-flip-flopped himself as he took at least five different positions in the past two weeks, viz: Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat leadership council condemns racism of Ahmad Ismail and Penang Umno leaders
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Monday, 8 September 2008
Kenyataan Akhbar
MAJLIS PIMPINAN PAKATAN RAKYAT
8 September 2008
Pakatan Rakyat Menjunjung Prinsip Perlembagaan Persekutuan
Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat yang bersidang pada hari ini 8 September 2008 dengan ini menegaskan penolakan kami terhadap usaha-usaha menyemarakkan politik perkauman yang sedang dilakukan oleh UMNO akhir-akhir ini. Kami amat bimbang isu ini sekarang digunakan untuk mengelabui pandangan rakyat yang sebenarnya merupakan usaha terdesak untuk menyelamatkan kepentingan segelintir golongan elit politik dan kroni mereka.
Kami sekali lagi mengulangi pendirian menjunjung prinsip-prinsip dasar yang termaktub di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ini termasuk soal-soal dasar seperti kedudukan Islam sebagai Agama Persekutuan dan menjamin kebebasan mengamalkan agama-agama lain, kedaulatan Bahasa Melayu sebagai Bahasa Kebangsaan dan mempertahankan hak bahasa ibunda, kedudukan dan kedaulatan Institusi Raja-Raja Melayu serta kedudukan hak-hak istimewa orang Melayu dan Bumiputera serta hak-hak semua kaum yang telah dijamin oleh Perlembagaan.
Berdasarkan prinsip-prinsip Perlembagaan ini kami menolak sekeras-kerasnya pendekatan politik perkauman sempit yang menjadi dasar UMNO-BN. Pendekatan inilah yang sengaja digunakan untuk memecahbelahkan perpaduan dan keharmonian masyarakat majmuk negara ini. Read the rest of this entry »
“The birds have flown” – BN MPs forced to flee from Malaysia because of “916”
Posted by Kit in nation building, Pakatan Rakyat, Politics on Monday, 8 September 2008
The Star front-page headline today “Off to Taiwan – 50 Barisan MPs begin eight-day study trip” is the latest update of the political farce which could be appropriately entitled “The Birds Have Flown” to tell the story as to how 51 years after Merdeka, two-thirds of the 75 BN parliamentary backbenchers were forced to flee from Malaysia to ensure that they don’t take part any “916” political changes.
Despite maintaining a public stanc of stoic indifference, there is no doubt that with the daily countdown to September 16, there is an increasing panic in Umno and Barisan Nasional leadership ranks over the degree of cohesion, solidarity and allegiance of the 75 Barisan Nasional parliamentary backbenchers, resulting in the farcical “forced flight” overseas by two-thirds of the BN MPs to make it absolutely sure that none of them will participate in any “916” developments.
The Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Bintulu) may pride himself for coming up with a “political masterstroke” to thwart “916”, but he did not realize that he has made the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the entire Umno and BN leadership look even more foolish in the eyes of Malaysians and the world! Read the rest of this entry »
Sycophantic Editors Ruin Trust
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Media on Monday, 8 September 2008
by M. Bakri Musa
The result of the recent Permatang Pauh by-election was a surprise only to those who depended on the mainstream media and the government’s massive propaganda machinery for their source of news and information.
A measure of how far detached from reality those who sit in the editorial suites of our mainstream papers can be gauged by the pre-election editorial of The New Straits Times where its Editor-in-Chief Syed Nadzri boldly predicted that Anwar would be defeated. Obviously Syed Nadzri was beginning to believe his own spin.
In coming to such a wildly off-the-mark conclusion, Syed Nadzri is either a lousy observer of the public mood or he is more concerned with sucking up to his political superiors. In either case, he does not deserve to be the custodian of such a valuable and essential institution of modern society.
To me Syed Nadzri is both. That he is a poor judge of the public mood can be seen by the ever declining circulation and influence of his paper. Syed Nadzri is only the latest in a long series of those who, through their lack of professional integrity and journalistic skills, have destroyed this once-valued brand name. As one naughty wag put it, that paper should now be more correctly called, The New S**t Times.
It pains me to note (what is obvious to all) that since the paper was acquired by UMNO, nearly all its senior editors and journalists are Malays. I refuse to believe that a Just Allah had not bequeathed upon the Malay race our fair share of talent. I also refuse to believe that past luminaries like the now-ailing Samad Ismail was an accidental fluke and not the trademark of our culture. He should be an inspiration for the present generation of journalists, a measure of what we are capable of producing.
Instead we have the likes of Syed Nadzri, individuals more adept at sucking up to their superiors. Syed Nadzri has obviously learned little from the fate and experiences of his many predecessors who were similarly afflicted. While such a trait may have facilitated their ascent to the top, once there it is no guarantee of career longevity.
Syed Nadzri should have learned, or somebody should have taught him, that while political winds and personalities may change, your professional duties and ideals do not. Yours is to ensure that the public be well informed, the prerequisite of a healthy, functioning democracy.
The slow but sure decline of The New Straits Times was interrupted only briefly when Abdullah Ahmad, a former Ambassador to the UN and a Mahathir appointee, took the helm. He survived but only briefly under Abdullah Badawi. At least Abdullah Ahmad left in a blaze of glory, having had the courage to speak his mind publicly.
As I look at its roster of past Editors-in-Chief, I am struck at how quickly they, with few exceptions, have descended into oblivion once deprived of their perch at the editor’s desk. Kadir Jasin has his widely-read blog where he gives the occasional pungent comments now that he is freed from the tethers of officialdom. Again remarkable because of the rarity, Abdullah Ahmad is one of the few editors whose writings have been respectable enough to appear in reputable foreign publications. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in for troubled and very divisive times following the woeful lack of Prime Ministerial authority and leadership
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, nation building on Sunday, 7 September 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!
BN forced to seclude its MPs in 12-day “overseas retreat” as it is not sure of the allegiance of 30 to 40 per cent of its MPs come “916”
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Post-2008 general election on Saturday, 6 September 2008
The Barisan Nasional leadership has been forced to come out with the idea to corral and seclude its Members of Parliament in a mysterious “overseas retreat” for 12 days from Sept. 7 – 19 as it is not sure of the allegiance of 30 to 40 per cent of its MPs come ”916”.
Some BN leaders are getting “cold feet” and more than a touch of panic.
While the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, have been claiming that nothing would happen on September 16, with the former even invoking the name of the Yang di Pertuan Agong as if the King is taking political sides, there is undoubtedly growing nervousness and jitters among the various levels of Barisan Nasional leadership with every passing day.
Revolt by Ahmad Ismail and 13 Penang UMNO divisions latest and probably most critical challenge to Abdullah’s power-transition plan
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, nation building, UMNO on Saturday, 6 September 2008
The revolt by UMNO Bukit Bendera chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail and 13 Penang Umno divisions backing Ahmad’s stance of no apology for his offensive, insensitive and racist reference to the Chinese as “orang tumpang” is the latest and probably the most critical challenge to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s power transition plan.
It is even more serious than the defection of support of the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and his quitting Umno as it is a direct challenge to the political and moral authority of Abdullah as UMNO President and Prime Minister shaking the very basis of his power base in Umno.
If the Penang Umno example is emulated by Umno divisions in other states, then Abdullah’s days as Prime Minister and Umno President are numbered, forcing him into an earlier departure than the June 2010 timetable he had set for himself under his power-transition plan to hand over power to his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
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