Archive for category Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
UMNO power-crazy? Yes, says Pak Lah…
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Parliament, UMNO on Thursday, 26 March 2009
Is Umno power-crazy?
I had said in Parliament (video) that if Umno is not power-crazy (gila kuasa), it would not have suffered the shattering defeat in the political tsunami in the last general election of March 8, 2008.
For speaking truth to power, I was suspended from Parliament yesterday.
Now, outgoing UMNO President and Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has admitted as much that Umno is power-crazy.
In fact, he even gave five illustrations of Umno being so power-crazed as to create a crisis of credibility and erosion of public trust in Umno.
According to Abdullah, the five factors resulting in Umno becoming power-crazy are as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah’s warning against return of Mahathirism – Will Najib scotch talk of imminent ISA arrest of Anwar?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak on Thursday, 26 March 2009
In his farewell Umno Presidential speech today, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confirms his image as a basically decent and humble person who unfortunately could not translate his good instincts into government policy, measures and actions resulting in his being prematurely and ignominiously forced out by his own party and becoming the shortest-serving Prime Minister of the country.
Why is this so?
The fault cannot be borne by Abdullah alone, but must be on the shoulders of the rest of Umno and Barisan Nasional leaderships, for failing to give Abdullah the necessary support, and in many cases, for actively sabotaging him in the past five years to frustrate Abdullah from walking the talk of long overdue national reforms.
As a result, Abdullah could not even salvage and accomplish the minimalist legacy of reform he had hoped to leave behind before stepping down as Prime Minister – when the last of the trio of his final reform legislative programme, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) Bill, had to be again deferred although it was meant to be the “crown jewel” of Abdullah’s last parliamentary meeting lasting 22 days from Feb. 16 which ended yesterday.
Even the first two of the trio of his minimalist reform legislation – the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) Act and the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Act – have proved to be great disappointments and letdowns, but Abdullah seemed to have abandoned whatever is left of his reformist zeal in his last three months in office. Read the rest of this entry »
Wow! MCA Minister and Deputy Minister publicly telling the “lame-duck” PM and UMNO President to buzz off!
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Education, MCA on Monday, 9 March 2009
It was only last October that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denied that “UMNO is big bully in Barisan Nasional” when he spoke at the MCA General Assembly.
This makes it all the more unusual the spectacle of a MCA Minister and Deputy Minister publicly tell the “lameduck” Prime Minister and UMNO President to “buzz off” as evident from the following news reports:
(1) New Sunday Times (8.3.09) – “PM: Resolve language issue before it gets out of hand” –
KUALA LUMPUR: The prime minister wants the Education Ministry to decide quickly whether Science and Mathematics should continue to be taught in English.
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the contentious issue should be resolved before it got out of hand.
“This issue has become bigger and more sensitive. I hope the ministry will make a decision on the matter fast.
“If not, the issue will become even bigger and the pressure from non-governmental organisations will continue,” he said after launching a fantasy novel written by 13-year-old Adam Umemoto titled Dragonfire Hammer. Read the rest of this entry »
Sombre curtain closers marking Abdullah’s abysmal failures in police reforms
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Perak, Police on Saturday, 7 March 2009
The police used excessive and unnecessary force today, firing tear gas and water cannons, against peaceful protestors gathered to submit a memorandum to the Yang di Pertuan Agong at the Istana Negara opposing the use of English to teach science and mathematics from Standard One.
It is another example of the failure and futility of the blue-ribboned Royal Police Commission set up by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he first took office in 2003, and which came out with 125 recommendations to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional, world-class police service with three core functions to reduce crime, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.
In Abdullah’s last hundred days as the fifth Prime Minister, illustrations galore are being given by the police highlighting the failure and futility of the Royal Police Commission, with a former Chief Justice, Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah in the chair and the country’s most famous and longest serving Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar as deputy chairman.
These recent police outrages and scandals include: Read the rest of this entry »
Pak Lah’s Legacy
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Corruption, Police, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 7 March 2009
By Tunku Aziz
Mysinchew.com
As the prime minister begins the process of winding down his stewardship of this country that he inherited from his now much despised predecessor, he would have been less than human if he did not reflect upon the highlights and the low points of his stewardship that in turn cheered and depressed him.
He must wonder why, after such a promising start, fate should have intervened to deal him such a cruel hand. The humiliation of being forced to get on the bicycle and ride off alone into the political sunset prematurely has been, he must admit, largely self-inflicted.
He must sometimes wonder why he was so incredibly naïve as to swallow the proverbial hook, line and sinker, the assurances and protestations of complete and undying loyalty so glibly and convincingly uttered by his closest associates.
I personally would not myself touch them with a long barge pole, but then I suppose I am of a suspicious nature.
When Abdullah Badawi took over the reigns of government, I was among those invited by the media to comment on what his legacy might be. We were swept and overwhelmed by the euphoria of the moment, the dawn of a blessed new era and the end of a morally degrading and debilitating regime. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah/Najib – why their thundering silence on the Selangor Umno Youth mob in Parliament menacing Karpal and other PR MPs?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Parliament on Saturday, 28 February 2009
The outgoing UMNO Youth leader and contender for one of the Umno Vice President slots next month, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has proved it once again – that he has no qualms in subordinating parliamentary and national interests to personal and political interests in the upcoming Umno party elections.
In declaring his public support for the Selangor Umno Youth mob on Thursday which obstructed and menaced wheelchair-confined DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh in the discharge of his parliamentary duties in the very precincts and sanctity of Parliament and manhandled Pakatan Rakyat MPs Lim Lip Eng (DAP – Segambut), Fong Kui Lun (DAP – Bukit Bintang), Chong Chieng Jen (Bandar Kuching) and N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR – Padang Serai), Hishammuddin has shown that he is incapable of differentiating between right and wrong – in great contrast to the forthright denunciation of the Dewan Negara President Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Hamid Pawanteh of the incident as a national embarrassment caused by “hooligans” obstructing parliamentarians from doing their duty.
But Hishammuddin, Education Minister and aspirant to even higher office, has become a protector and defender of “hooligans” who subverted the parliamentary process by violating the sanctity of Parliament to obstruct and menace parliamentarians from discharging their duty.
Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah – retract statement that police report be lodged against Perak Speaker Sivakumar
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Constitution, Perak on Monday, 23 February 2009
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is right when he ridiculed the public statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir to lodge a police report against the Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar.
As Mahathir asked in his blog, “If the decision of the Speaker can be considered a crime, then what will happen when the Parliamentary Speaker suspends opposition members for whatever reasons?”
Abdullah has not only made a ridiculous proposal, he had set a bad example as Prime Minister in publicly calling for an open breach of the law, as the Speaker’s decision or action, whether one agrees or disagrees with it, is protected by law and conferred immunity from civil or criminal proceedings.
This is why the Police should stop harassing Sivakumar as the police should be the first to uphold the law rather than to break it. Read the rest of this entry »
Constitutional scandal of two Perak MBs – Abdullah should support dissolution and state elections
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Perak on Friday, 6 February 2009
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is wrong when he said that Pakatan Rakyat must now accept a new government in Perak just as Barisan Nasional had accepted the results of last year’s general election.
The comparison is totally inappropriate. In fact, he should be the last person to make such a statement if he is serious about national integrity and morality in politics and public affairs which is one of his major promises and biggest failures of his premiership.
Abdullah cannot be unaware that there is a world of a difference between last year’s general election result and the current political crisis in Perak engineered by Umno leaders.
Last year’s general election results were the outcome of the exercise of the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Perak to elect the government of their choice, while the present attempt to oust the legitimate Pakatan Rakyat government by UMNO and Barisan Nasional is a most unethical and opportunistic power-play frustrating the verdict of the voters in the March 8 general election last year.
If Abdullah is sincere and serious in wanting to eradicate political corruption and introduce ethical and principled politics, which he had repeatedly professed publicly, he should dissociate himself from the coup d’etat orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister and the new Perak Umno leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak through the defection of three and re-defection of one Perak state assembly person. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah’s sensible/commendable comments on nation-building – why not adopted in his heyday as PM?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Razak, nation building, NEP, UMNO on Saturday, 20 December 2008
In his interview with Sin Chew Daily in the past two days, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made the most sensible and commendable comments on nation-building in Malaysia.
The greatest pity is that he did not adopt them when he has the real power to influence the government and nation in his heyday as Prime Minister.
Firstly, in “Change Or Perish, Pak Lah Tells UMNO”, Sin Chew reported:
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the Malays have changed their old thinking and value system, only that UMNO seems to have “forgotten” that the Malays have indeed changed.
He said the Malays have changed, but if UMNO remains unwilling to change, then the party will eventually head for destruction.
“UMNO has forgotten that the Malays have changed their own thinking and perspectives. It has forgotten that the Malays have changed their value system. The Malays are no longer what they used to be. They unreservedly express themselves. They even wave the DAP flags!” Read the rest of this entry »
Road carnage – disappeared from Abdullah’s radar screen in his last 100 days as PM
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Razak, Transport on Tuesday, 9 December 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is in his last 100 days as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
His silence and indifference to the latest road carnage in the express bus North-South Expressway (NSE) crash in Tangkak which killed 10 and injured 14 on Sunday, taking place in his last 100 days as PM, is in sharp and sad contrast to his anger and outrage at the Jalan Kuala Lipis-Marapoh three-vehicle accident which killed 14 on 30th November 2003 during his first hundred days as PM.
This also signifies another major failure of Abdullah with regard to his First-Hundred-Days-as-PM pledges– to end the road carnage on Malaysian roads.
I can still remember Abdullah’s furious and emotional outbursts five Novembers ago, when he expressed his frustration and upset at the number of road fatalities recorded under Ops Sikap V, with 25 road deaths on the first day of Hari Raya and the death toll which rose to 104 in the first six days of Ops Sikap V. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib, 3 UMNO DP and 8 UMNO VP candidates – declare stand whether support Abdullah “reform” legislation
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Corruption, Judiciary, UMNO on Sunday, 7 December 2008
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has utter contempt for his successor Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, pouring scorn on Abdullah’s promises to push through reform before he steps down in March next year – particularly the bills to establish the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MCAC), reputedly patterned after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
Writing in his blog, Mahathir noted sarcastically that “after failing to implement any of the promises made in the 2004 or 2008 elections, it looks like nothing is being done either with regard to the promise to carry out a variety of so-called reforms” before Abdullah steps down as Prime Minister in March 2009.
It would appear that Mahathir is privy to information not generally known to the Malaysian public, that forces are at work to frustrate and roll back any reform legislation on anti-corruption and an independent judiciary which Abdullah had promised to present to Parliament next week.
I will not be surprised if Mahathir is hands-in-glove with these reactionary UMNO forces to undermine and even roll back any reform legislation to be proposed by Abdullah in Parliament next week. Read the rest of this entry »
When can we say the same to tourists in Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Police on Thursday, 27 November 2008
What struck me most in my first night of visit to Xiamen, Fujian is the confident assurance given by the local guide that visitors can go about the town at night as it is very safe from crime.
When can we say the same to tourists in Malaysia?
Dare we tell the same thing to visitors in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, Penang or even in the main towns in the country?
Unfortunately, there is no sense of shame or failure whether among the Home Minister, the Deputy Minister or the Inspector-General of Police at the galloping crime index in the country in the past five years of Abdullah premiership that it is even being criticised by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad when Abdullah had started his administration trying to demonstrate the big difference with his predecessor by establishing a Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional and world-class police service to keep crime low. Read the rest of this entry »
Why PM and DPM out of the country at same time this week – breaking 30-yr standing rule?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Constitution, Najib Razak on Monday, 17 November 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is in Uzbekistan for a four-day official visit, accompanied by his wife and Cabinet Ministers including Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Senator Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz (both from the Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Shafie Apdal (Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage) and Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (Higher Education). Abdullah will only return back to office for duty on Friday, 21st November 2008.
Tomorrow, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will leave with another team of Cabinet Ministers for the 16th Apec Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) in Lima, Peru, starting this week.
It has been reported that Najib will go ahead to New York from Peru and will only be back home early next month.
This would mean that for at least two days on Wednesday and Thursday, both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister would be out of the country at the same time – which will run counter to the 30-year standing rule or of longer vintage that both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister should not be out of the country at the same.
Why has this standing rule been broken this week? Read the rest of this entry »
RPK’s rearrest under ISA – Cabinet/Parliament must overrule Hamid
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Human Rights, ISA, Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Sunday, 9 November 2008
Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar’s announcement in Kota Kinabalu last night that the Home Ministry will appeal against the Shah Alam High Court decision on Friday to free Malaysia Today website editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) is most deplorable and reprehensible.
It shows Hamid’s utter contempt for the fundamental concept of the rule of law and the most rudimentary commitment to human rights in the country.
In ordering Raja Petra’s release after a 56-day ISA detention, Shah Alam High Court judge Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled in the blogger’s habeas corpus application that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in detaining Raja Petra under the ISA, as the grounds given for Raja Petra’s detention were insufficient rendering the ISA detention unlawful.
Syed Ahmad Helmy held that although Section 8 of the ISA on the detention order by the minister barred judicial review, there was a procedural non-compliance by the Minister resulting in an “ultra vires” order.
As illustration, the judge gave the example that the minister cannot act in bad faith to detain a person who decided to colour his hair red.
In actual fact, Hamid acted mala fide in a very substantive manner in issuing a detention order under Section 8 of the ISA late in the night of September 22 not because Raja Petra constituted a threat to national security but to frustrate the administration of justice and the rule of law by “killing off” Raja Petra’s earlier habeas corpus application. Read the rest of this entry »
MCAC – 3 reasons why no confidence in Abdullah’s last fling with anti-corruption reform
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Corruption on Saturday, 8 November 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced at the National Integrity Convention in Kuching yesterday that the Cabinet had endorsed the formation of the Malaysian Commission on Anti-Corruption (MCAC) and that the MCAC Bill will be passed at the current meeting of Parliament to replace the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.
He said the MCAC is modeled after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission on Anti-Corruption and New South Wales’ Independent Commission Against Corruption, “which are among the best anti-corruption agencies in the world”.
I have no confidence that Abdullah has the political will to carry out meaningful anti-corruption reforms, and that the MCAC will not end up as another toothless tiger for anti-corruption like the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) with its statutory duty to promote and protect human rights!
My lack of confidence that Abdullah is capable of one final fling with a meaningful institutional reform before he ends his hapless five-year tenure as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia is supported by at least three reasons:
Read the rest of this entry »
Of Pretentious Promises, Parachuting Promotions & Pressured Praise
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Judiciary, Martin Jalleh on Thursday, 6 November 2008
by Martin Jalleh
The Palace of Justice has a new “prince” – Zaki Tun Azmi. He was promptly sworn in as Chief Justice (CJ) soon after the Conference of Rulers went through the procedural motions and provided consent to his extraordinary elevation.
His Lordship had leap-frogged from the legal profession into the Federal Court last September. Two months later he was proclaimed Court of Appeal (CoA) president. Now (almost a year later) he is proudly perched on the highest post in the judiciary.
Zaki’s political “parachuting” has no precedent. But be not perturbed. Did not the PM promise (especially after his party had quickened his passage into the sunset) that he would produce profound changes in the judiciary?
Indeed, before he packs his bags and participates fully in Umno’s early retirement plan for him, Pak Lak would prove to the whole of Bolehland that he still has the penchant to produce the very opposite of what he initially promises. Read the rest of this entry »
Will Abdullah again be humiliated at Umno Supreme Council meeting tonight?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Police, UMNO on Monday, 20 October 2008
Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi again be humiliated at the Umno Supreme Council meeting tonight or will he able to redeem dignity of his office after repeated battering in the past few months?
Abdullah will again be humiliated if the Umno Supreme Council ends tonight with a final modification of his original mid-2010 power transition plan, shortening it from June 2010 to March 2009 and then to December this year!
The mounting call led by Umno Vice President and Minister for International Trade and Industry, Tan Sri Muhyideen Yassin, and the Umno eminence grise Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that the Umno party elections revert back from March next year to December is a subtle subterfuge to shorten Abdullah’s remaining five months as Prime Minister by another three months.
Will Abdullah be able to fob off the latest attempt in Umno to shorten his premiership and even to redeem the dignity of his office by getting full endorsement by the entire Umno leadership for meaningful reforms on the judiciary, police force and anti-corruption before he steps down as Prime Minister? Read the rest of this entry »
Can Abdullah’s last five months as PM survive the return of Mahathirism?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, UMNO on Sunday, 19 October 2008
“Who is he, asks Abdullah” is the New Sunday Times headline for the report of what it described as “The gloves came off yesterday.”
The New Sunday Times reported from Kota Kinabalu yesterday that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s “patience finally wore off and he lambasted his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad”, viz:
Abdullah said Dr Mahathir was acting as if it was he (Dr Mahathir) who should determine who played what role in the party.
“Who is he? He has left Umno but he still issues orders to members of Umno. The party does not need to take orders from anyone who is no longer a member of the party,” said Abdullah who was here to attend the Hari Malaysia and closing of the Merdeka month celebrations.
“He is trying to create a rift and (incite) anger and hatred. What is wrong with people who work with me? He is trying to teach people to hate one another.”
The Umno president said this in referring to a posting on Dr Mahathir’s blog, calling on Umno to rid itself of all those who supported Abdullah, referring to them as “toadies”.
“Who is he when he is no longer a member of UMNO?”
Abdullah cannot be naïve in not knowing the answer to his own query, although his rhetorical question is meant to convey his frustration, impotence and bitterness than to elicit a real answer. Read the rest of this entry »
Why DAP blamed for Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in BN” speech?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, MCA, UMNO on Sunday, 19 October 2008
Why is the DAP blamed for the outgoing MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in Barisan Nasional” speech at the MCA General Assembly opening ceremony yesterday?
Ong’s speech led to denials by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi resulting in newspaper frontpage headlines like “UMNO IS NO BULLY” (New Sunday Times) and “Umno bukan pembuli: PM” (Berita Minggu), who instead blamed the DAP for “stirring up the issue to see the split of the MCA or Gerakan” as well as Hindraf for targetting the MIC.
Abdullah caught everyone by surprise by his bald denial.
He said Umno “is not a ‘bully’ party” or many component parties would have left BN by now, and asked:
Abdullah has forgotten an elementary rule of life – “don’t ask if you don’t want the answer”!
Does he really want the answer to that loaded question of his? Don’t have to ask the Malaysian public. Just ask the MCA, Gerakan and MIC delegates or members through secret ballot whether they think their leaders have been bullied by Umno in Barisan Nasional, and I have no doubt that the answer would be a resounding and thundering “yes’! Read the rest of this entry »
Zaki’s CJ appointment – last nail in coffin of Abdullah’s judicial reform?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Judiciary on Friday, 17 October 2008
When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi finally bowed down to irresistible pressures in UMNO to scuttle his mid-2010 power transition plan and announced on October 8 that would not defend the post of Umno President, he said he would complete three reforms, including judicial reform, before he steps down as Prime Minister next March.
Is the appointment of Tan Sri Zaki Azmi as the Chief Justice to take over from Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamed, who retires compulsorily tomorrow, the last nail in the coffin of Abdullah’s pledge of judicial reform?
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department after the March 8 general election by Abdullah to shepherd the reforms into reality, had implied that the appointment of a new Chief Justice to replace Hamid would be made under the new reform format and regime of a Judicial Appointment Commission. Read the rest of this entry »
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