Politics 101 Malaysia

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s decision to step down in favour of his deputy in mid-2010 has not silenced calls for a prompt change of leadership after a drubbing in March elections.

Abdullah said Thursday he had struck an agreement with his deputy Najib Razak to hand over power, but first wanted the opportunity to implement reforms and projects promised since he came to office five years ago.

The premier has faced repeated calls to resign from within his ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), after unprecedented losses in the elections and a fuel price hike that triggered public outrage, reports AFP.

Although his announcement was aimed at silencing these dissident factions, and averting a challenge in UMNO leadership polls in December, rumblings from within have already begun. ”Continued”

Oh No! How can our great leader, Pak Choy, put an expiry date on himself.

Please don’t quit in two years. You would have betrayed the limited, but in the majority nevertheless, support of voters who wanted you to lead.

Another two years may not be enough time for you to completely muck up the whole country.

Please stay on till after the next round.

Commentary by Ong Kian Ming & Oon Yeoh, malaysiakini, July 11.

At first glance, it would seem that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak should be happy at Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s announcement that he will hand over power in the middle of 2010. But dig a little deeper and you would find that the announcement actually only further cements the precarious political situation that Najib finds himself in.

British Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously said that ‘one week is a long time in politics’. As we’ve seen lately, a lot can transpire within just a few days. Two years can be an eternity in political terms.

By announcing a firm schedule for stepping down, Abdullah has bought himself some time. This removes some of the pressure from those within Umno who want him to commit firmly to passing the baton to Najib.

It also gives him ample time to rebuild his support base as well as provide ample time for Najib’s enemies – be they from de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim’s camp or from Abdullah’s – to further weaken the already embattled DPM. ”Continued”

Malaysiakini, 7 July.

Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) has made it clear that it has not changed its stand on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Secretary-general Richard Yong in a press statement stated that “the party’s stand on Sapp’s loss of confidence in the PM remains”.

He faxed a statement to Malaysiakini following newspaper reports today quoting the party’s Tawau MP and vice-president Dr Chua Soon Bui as indicating that the party has dropped its plan to submit the motion.

Yong said the party would file the motion when the time is right, but “not at the moment in order not to fall into the trap of some racist opportunists especially in view of the current volatile situation in the country”. ”Continued”

DAP Sarawak is urging BN legislators in the state to take the cue from their Sabah counterparts to quit the BN in order to make Sarawak’s voices heard louder and clearer.

Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen said in a statement today that “as the largest opposition party in Sarawak, the DAP is openly inviting all Barisan MPs and state assembly representatives to join us in our struggle for the betterment of Sarawakians.’

“They can either join our party as members or join us on a party-party basis as equal partners to form a new alliance front,” he added, reports malaysiakini. ”Continued”

As more talk swirls about possible defections from the national coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN) big guns are now in Sabah to head off what could become a revolutionary change in the political landscape, reported Malaysia’s The Sun.

Apart from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who flew into the state on Tuesday, Khairy Jamaluddin (United Malays National Organisation youth vice-chief) has been in Kota Kinabalu for days, and Tengku Adnan (BN secretary-general) arrived in the state on Monday.

Also in the state are Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

They are are apparently there to contain the situation and prevent a domino effect should BN component parties start quitting the coalition. ”Continued”

by Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun, May 26, 2008

The verbal sniping match between Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and his hand-picked successor Abdullah Badawi has blossomed into a full-blown political brawl that some predict will bring down the coalition that has ruled the country for 51 years.

Mahathir, who considers himself the father of Malaysia’s economic and social success during his 22 years in power, began about a year ago publicly questioning his own judgement in handing leadership to the underwhelming Abdullah in 2003.

Abdullah has been more restrained in his responses, but 10 days ago he moved the contest from being a war of words in the newspapers into the realms of a grudge match.

Abdullah is fighting for his political life after the bad showing of the ruling 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition in March elections. ”Continued”

By MOHSIN ABDULLAH, Editor in Chief for News and Current Affairs of Ntv7 and 8TV

The results of the 12th general election has been described as one that “transcended racial and religious sentiments”. Rightly so.

If not how can one explain Chinese from new villages voting for PAS candidates when only sometime ago, the mere sight of the white “kopilah” or skull cap was enough to frighten them away.

Indian voters too broke from the norm and picked candidates they had not voted for before. And how would you explain so called “red blooded” Malays voting for candidates from the “very Chinese” DAP ? This augurs well for all of us as Malaysians. ”Continued”

Wanita Umno today decided not to support Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’’s call for the party emergency general assembly on May 11.

The wing’s chief Rafidah Aziz said that although the wing respected the former vice-president’s suggestion, the focus was however now to make the party stronger following the battering it received in the recently held general election.