Wednesday 8 October 2008

BN leaders to be briefed on the leadership transition plan

Update:

Abdullah - will he now stay or go?

Syed Jaymal Zahiid Oct 8, 08 12:22pm

Embattled Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has decided to defend his post after a three-hour meeting with his supporters that dragged into the wee hours of the morning.

In a posting on his blog (read here), Umno leader Ruhanie Ahmad said the meeting, which started at about 11pm, was held at the prime minister’s official residence in Putrajaya.

Ruhanie, the former Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairperson and three-term Parit Sulong parliamentarian, added that some 200 supporters had attended the meeting, including some of the staunch supporters of Umno vice-president Mohd Ali Rustam.

He said that Abdullah is expected to announce his decision to stay on at the BN special supreme council meeting scheduled for 3.30pm this afternoon. To continue: here (for subscribers only).

Earlier posting:

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be meeting Barisan Nasional component leaders in the afternoon to brief them on the leadership transition plan.

The meeting is scheduled for 3.30pm at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). This was confirmed by BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (
Malaysiakini).

Under the original plan, Abdullah, the Umno president, was to have handed over power to Deputy Prime Minister and Umno deputy president Najib Abdul Razak in June 2010.

However, it was decided later that the transition of power take place earlier than that date, and the Umno general assembly scheduled for December this year has been postponed to March next year to facilitate this.

Last week, Abdullah
told reporters that he would be briefing BN component leaders on the new transition plan after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.

(
Will Pak Lah do the right thing today? asks rocky. That’s a sixty-four millon ringgit question. Well, like you , we're waiting - with bated breath for the announcement to be made. And, put an end to this "Guessing Game" of "will he or won't he - defend his post". )

Read Sakmongkol AK47's entry The Plot thickens and The Star Supporters provide moral support for Abdullah .

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pak Lah. I beseech you. Please do the most honourable thing.

Please Undur-Lah.

Anonymous said...

Dear Hon. Prime Minister,

Just quit and call it a day, if thre's any dignity left in you.

Anonymous said...

Haiyo, according to blogger Ruhanie Ahmad of Kuda kepang, Pak Lah has decided to defend his post following a meeting with his supporters.

link: http://kuda-kepang.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

my gut feeling. Pak Lah will not let go.

He is gonna defend his post.

Anonymous said...

My gut feeling. Pak Lah will say NO way!

He is gonna defend his post.

Anonymous said...

I share the sentiments of the two commentators above.

Pak Lah will defend his post.

Anonymous said...

tok mommy,

sorry for the double entry. You are at liberty to delete either one.

Anonymous said...

The "update" is proof of how desperate his (Pak Lah's )cronies & supporters are to save and prop him up.

Anonymous said...

Badawi’s fall —Farish A Noor

At the rate things are going in Malaysia — Malaysia’s Central Bank has reported a capital flight of 1.1 Billion US dollars in August alone — the fall of Badawi and the UMNO-led government may come sooner than later

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, or hasn’t, travelled over the past 50 years of its independence.

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?”

Cocooned 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.

In time, historians like myself will have to take up our pens and write the political obituary of Prime Minister Badawi. The portrait will not be a pretty one: While this ‘man of the people’ was surrounded by a closed circle of relatives and family friends who were his confidants, Badawi seemed totally oblivious to the fate of millions of ordinary Malaysians who had to endure five years of his lacklustre non-leadership.

Badawi claimed to be the ‘Prime Minister of all Malaysians’, but showed scant concern for the plight of dozens of Hindu temples that were being demolished in the country. And when Malaysia’s Hindu community begged and pleaded for his intervention to save their cherished places of worship, this ‘leader of all Malaysians’ chose to look the other way and was cowed into submission by the more vocal, communitarian and sectarian bigots of his own right-wing ethno-nationalist party.

Time and again, Badawi could and should have done the right thing to control the extremists in the ranks of his own party. But he chose instead to let them play to the gallery to shore up his own flaccid personality and lagging popularity. On two occasions — at his UMNO party’s general assembly — the leader of the Youth Wing of UMNO brandished a weapon in public while professing that the Malays were the community that deserved a special position and privileges in Malaysia.

Such hotheaded right-wing rants are befit for a demagogue of a fascist party, but once again Badawi did nothing to curb the excesses of the extremists of his own party UMNO.

The most recent outrage came when yet another UMNO leader — Ahmad Ismail — caused a ruckus in the state of Penang when he and his followers openly threatened and insulted Malaysians of non-Malay origin at a press conference. In a statement calculated to inflame tempers, the UMNO members called on the Malays to unite and warned the Malaysian Chinese community not to behave like American Jews. A photo of a Malaysian Chinese politician was torn, and tempers flared as expected.

Again, the Malaysian public is asking: What is Badawi going to do?

For decades, Malaysians of all walks of life have had to live by the propaganda of the UMNO party and the coalition it has led. Malaysians have been warned about the dangers of communism, socialism, class-based workers and student movements; and even taught to fear a free and independent media. Yet the vile and poisonous racist outbursts that have emanated and echoed across the corridors of power in the country have by and large come from UMNO and its band of vociferous sabre-rattling leaders, whose only recourse to an intelligent argument has been vile racist remarks, sexist jokes and abuse.

How many times must Malaysians have to tolerate this party whose leaders and members remain the most brazen and vocally racist in the country? And how much longer do Malaysians have to wait before the present prime minister, whose impotence and inability to act and speak decisively has been one of the root causes of Malaysia’s social fragmentation?

It is doubly ironic that Ahmad Ismail’s racist remarks came just as the fasting month of Ramazan was beginning. This, being a holy month where patience and forbearance are lauded above all, made the timing of his press conference and abusive remarks all the more pointed and bitter.

At the rate things are going in Malaysia — Malaysia’s Central Bank has reported a capital flight of 1.1 Billion US dollars in August alone — the fall of Badawi and the UMNO-led government may come sooner than later. Historians will no doubt have ample time to write and ruminate about the manifold failings of Badawi, but his fall will serve as a benchmark in the country’s history as it signifies the moment when Malaysians have had enough of the most ineffective governance the country has had for five decades, and were willing to accept anything else instead, whatever the cost.

Dr Farish A Noor is Affiliated Professor at Universitas Muhamadiyah Surakarta, Indonesia

pistolair said...

Rosmah Bakal Perdana Menteri Malaysia? – Bahagian Satu: Belanja Lumayan, Anak Suami Tak Dilayan

Sebelum rakyat dan ahli-ahli UMNO memberi sokongan kepada Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak sebagai Presiden Parti dan Perdana Menteri negara, wajarlah tingkahlaku dan dosa anak Perdana Menteri kedua Malaysia ini diselidiki sepenuhnya. Tolak ketepi dahulu kebarangkalian pengbabitannya dengan pembunuhan ngeri Altantuya Sharibuu yang mengaibkan kerajaan Malaysia di mata dunia. Imbasan ringkas sejarah busuk Najib dan isterinya Rosmah sudah cukup untuk mengajar kita betapa bahaya parti dan negara jatuh ke tangan gandingan suami-isteri (atau lebih sesuai, ISTERI-suami) ini.

Belum sempat keperitan hati keluarga mangsa-mangsa Helikopter Nuri diubati, kronisme dan nepotisme Najib-Rosmah terserlah dengan penggantian Nuri dengan Eurocopter, meskipun ia merupakan model paling mahal sejauh 25% dan tidak diuji medan perang. Mengapa Najib sewaktu menjadi Menteri Pertahanan sekian lama enggan memeterai perjanjian untuk Sikorsky Blackhawk yang jauh lebih murah dan mempunyai rekod cemerlang di zon-zon perang?

Jawapannya datang dalam bentuk seorang adik bernama Nazim Razak yang muncul berkecimpung dalam isu-isu pertahanan negara sungguhpun merupakan seorang arkitek. Dengan rangkaian luasnya dengan pencipta-pencipta Eurocopter, Nazimlah sebenarnya yang menandatangani perjanjian Eurocopter sekaligus meraih komisen besar sewaktu rakyat Malaysia sibuk memikirkan kos sara hidup yang kian meningkat.

Yang cukup membimbangkan kita, sebenarnya bukan Najib yang berkomplot langsung dengan adiknya Nazim dalam hal Eurocopter ini. Tetapi isterinya Rosmah, yang berkelakuan seperti wanita sihir atau "witch" dalam cerita kanak-kanak Inggeris! Rosmah cukup bijak; wanita durjana ini menghabiskan wang yang diberi Nazim, untuk bersuka ria di London. Siapa tak kenal Rosmah dan perangai borosnya itu di negara perantauan. Dalam satu kes, cukai-tambah-nilai sahaja dilaporkan oleh penguatkuasa di England sebanyak 50, 000 pound (sekitar RM350 000)! Jika cukainya yang tak sampai 20% pun sudah bernilai RM350 ribu bayangkanlah berapa tinggi nilai sebenar perbelanjaannya.

Tak cukup lagi dengan keborosan di kedai-kedai mewah di London, Rosmah juga menghabiskan RM 500 ribu untuk pembedahan plastik dan botox di London tahun lepas. Jika tak percaya, lihat sajalah wajah wanita sihir itu dulu dan sekarang; mustahil cukup tempe di Malaysia ini!

Mungkin sikap Rosmah ini tidaklah memeranjatkan, jika kita lihat sejarahnya yang lampau. Sudahlah mencuri suami orang (Najib pada awalnya berkahwin dengan Tunku Puteri), Rosmah cuba sedaya upaya menghalang Najib untuk menghadiri majlis akad nikah anaknya sewaktu bersama Tunku Puteri, Nizar Najib bersama anak usahawan mahsyur dan bekas Exco Wanita UMNO Malaysia Dato' Maznah Hamid. Kuatnya pengaruh Rosmah ke atas suaminya, Najib hampir-hampir akur dengan saranan Rosmah untuk tidak ke majlis tersebut.

Setakat ini sahaja bahagian satu siri Rosmah Bakal Perdana Menteri Malaysia. Tiga isu yang dikupas setakat ini:

1) Perjanjian kronisme Eurocopter yang menguntungkan Rosmah
2) Perbelanjaan lumayan Rosmah di London (wang rakyat!!)
3) "Queen Control" hinggakan perkahwinan anak sah Najib pun tidak direstui