Dotmyhome’s Weblog

If work get’s you down, just remember that our glorious leader, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi is probably in more contortions than an acrobat. A second ago, I read Malaysiakini and the headline was “Abdullah not defending his position.” In The Malaysian Insider, “Abdullah IS defending his position.”

What a circus!

From Malaysiakini

Umno information chief Muhammad Muhd Taib today lashed out at former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad for launching scathing attacks on his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Sounds suspiciously like a temper tantrum. “Don’t be so bad to my fren!” *pout* Perhaps he’s seeing the considerable amounts he can bring to Australia evaporate before his eyes!)

Defending his party president during a press conference at his Rural And Regional Development Ministry in Putrajaya, Muhammad said people should stop pointing fingers at Abdullah.(Let’s blame the internet instead and try and divert attention away from the perceptions of corruption, arrogance, and greed)

“What Mahathir and people are doing now is very, very wrong. It is not fair to point fingers at one person when everybody knows there were many contributing factors.

“It is very unfair to dump the blame on the PM. This is unfair and done in bad faith,” he said. (It IS a temper tantrum. “SOOO BAAAD” *stamps feet and jumps about*)

Muhammad was referring to “unfair” comments from Mahathir made at a forum yesterday on how Abdullah was shameless in refusing to resign for Barisan Nasional’s biggest election setback last month.

‘Not a level playing field’

He pointed out that there were also other contributing factors to BN’s performance including the role played by bloggers, news portals and short messaging service (SMS).

“It wasn’t a level-playing field (between the BN and opposition). BN did not use the portals, SMS and ICT (information and communications technology) to the fullest,” he said.(“Waaaaahhhhhh. The bad people TOLD EVERYONE about EVERYTHING we did. SO NOT FAIR!!!! It’s NOT OUR FAULT! They told! They told! How caaaannnn!!!!” *lies on ground and kicks and screams* Just a question though…so the flip side of this is that, it’s been a “level playing field” all these years?)

Muhammad noted that the BN lost in the “virtual elections” while opposition had cashed in on using video CDs showing temple demolitions which caused the swing of Indian voters.(Hmmm, so the violent handling of the HINDRAF rally did not have anything to do with it lah…and the fact that the Indians felt that Samy Vellu aka MIC didn’t represent them anymore)

The former Selangor mentri besar also questioned why are the people picking on Abdullah when other leaders have also previously lost in the elections.

“We lost Terengganu in 1999. How come nobody asked Mahathir to step down then? When PAS lost Terengganu in 2004, how come nobody told (PAS spiritual leader) Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to step down?” he quizzed.

Muhammad noted that Mahathir was a good leader but his comments are not helping the party at this particular time.

“We are trying to fight one person but our guru is hitting us at the same time. Nobody can call for Mahathir to be disciplined because he is kebal (untouchable). This is too much,” he told reporters.

Football analogy

Asked whether ‘yes-men’ in the party had made Abdullah’s administration different from his predecessor, Muhammad said ‘no’.

“The ‘yes-men’ did not make a difference to the administration. I was under Mahathir since 1982 for 11 years. I think the way they did business and dealt with things is almost the same,” he asserted.

“Leaders are saying things that are pedas (scathing), bebankan (burdensome) and they label Pak Lah with all kinds of labels. That’s unfair,” he added.

The Umno veteran also said that what some party leaders are trying to do in abolishing the nominations quota system is like changing the rules of a football game.(I like these rules. I know these rules. I can use them to my advantage.)

“It is like changing the rules [...] and the goalpost itself while the game is going on. It should happen after the game,” he said.(Wait laaahhhh till I take some more moneeeyyy firsstt from the kampungs! Like this how caaann??)

With that, Muhammad stressed that the abolition of the nominations system should be done after the party’s elections in December this year.(So that we can intimidate people not to nominate anyone else lah)

The level of denial has reached stupendous proportions. Not to mention the shirking of personal responsibility. Where leaders actually say “well, I didn’t see that coming.” Or “lets get together and have a talk and see what we’ve done wrong and how we can correct this,” we have shirkers who have buried their heads and are spitting at each other while they’re in the sand.

In life, in business, and in politics (though I’m not well versed in the last, I’d imagine it to be the same), if you take a hit, you go away, and have a think to see what needs to be done differently so that you can do it well the next time round. And there is ALWAYS a next time round.

However, looking at the way our top leadership and leaders are looking at this, they’re scurrying around trying to frame an agenda that not only ABSOLVES them of responsibility but attributes it to external forces beyond their control. If actions speak louder than words, then let’s have a look at the following laundry list of examples;

1. The new cabinet – the number of political rewards tells you how much the message has actually NOT sunk in – Muhd2 Taib being the most glaring example
2. The altercation with the Sultans on the part of BN and how they’ve been handled – For one, these could have been avoided, for another, it would seem that these signal a blindness to new realities on the ground
3. Statements by Zainuddin Maidin and various other ex Cabinet Ministers like Samy Vellu who refuses to give up his seat or blames the electorate or even worse, warns/threatens repercussions for voting the opposition in.

What prompts this short sightedness can perhaps be understood by UMNO’s value set and to a lesser extent the “patron client” relationship which BN component parties have with UMNO which admires power and operates on a neo-feudal basis. Feudalism perpetuate idiocies like this. However, while it can be understood, it certainly should not be condoned.

For one thing, we have not seen any signs that there has been a “taking stock” where the whole BN comes together to have a good jaw, yarn, fight, of where they went wrong. Do it indoors and away from prying eyes for all I care but include the “little man.” Then come up with a list of things to address. It would, of course, be most effectively done with transparency but it looks like there’s fat hopes of that!

At this point, our Dear Leaders are caught in a North Korean bubble of their own making with no will to burst it. They’re like mice, scurrying around trying to fix their own little world which they see as the be-all and end-all of their existence with only a passing acknowledgement of the current reality on the ground.

Sad. Very sad; because the rest of the world looking in are doing so in amazement at how silly they look.

One thing’s for certain; in life, if you continue down the same road that you’ve been travelling on, you are certain to end up in the same place with the corollary to that being obvious. If you don’t like where you’re going, change the route and it’s probable you’ll end up some place different.

In BN’s and especially UMNO’s case, if they continue this ostrich-in-the-sand style of decision making, they’re heading for oblivion.

From Malaysiakini

Ku Li slams PM for ’stunning ineptness’

Veteran Umno politican Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah today fired his latest salvo against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for his “stunning ineptness” in the appointment of the Terengganu mentri besar.

“Abdullah’s statement yesterday that ‘the appointment of anyone but Idris Jusoh as Terengganu menteri besar is unconstitutional’ is wrong,” said Razaleigh in a hard-hitting press release late this afternoon.

“As in the recent crisis in Perlis, the prime minister’s actions suggest stunning ineptness in managing fundamental relationships and straightforward functions of government.”

According to Razaleigh, the situation in Terengganu is a “crisis of government, not of the constitution”.

“The sultan acted within his powers in appointing the person who, in his judgment, is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the State Assembly.

“Ahmad Said’s appointment is effective and he is now mentri besar of Terengganu. It is up to the properly convened State Assembly to test him with a vote of confidence in due course,” said Razaleigh, referring to Terengganu sultan’s choice.

He said that “petitions, threats, coercion and declarations of support” for the prime minister and his candidate, Idris – who was mentri besar in the previous state government – had no bearing on the legality of the sultan’s appointment.

“Perhaps we have forgotten what it is like to conduct ourselves with good manners and due respect for the constitution and the sovereignty of the ruler,” lamented Razaleigh, who himself is a Kelantan prince.

Last week, Razaleigh, who was former party vice-president, had offered himself as a candidate to challenge Abdullah in the upcoming Umno polls, due to be held in August.

He has also called for the entire ruling Barisan Nasional to step down to take responsibility for its worst electoral setback in history.

Umno’s leadership in jeopardy

Razaleigh also expressed concerned that the crisis in Terengganu would affect Umno’s control of the oil-rich state.

“This storm in Terengganu is just the latest in a series of crises brought on by an apparent failure to understand how state powers work relative to federal ones.

“This is alarming because the Barisan government now has five opposition-controlled states to contend with out of the nine in Peninsular Malaysia. The mishandling of chief ministerial appointments in Perlis, and now in Terengganu, mean that our leadership in two other states is now in jeopardy.”

In the wake of March 8 general elections, Razaleigh – who is Kelantan’s Gua Musang Umno division chief – has sent a letter to all party leaders urging them to convene an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the electoral debacle.

However, he has received lukewarm support for the idea.

In a latest development, MB-designate Ahmad said that he had full backing from the sultan and will start work tomorrow.

In the related article;

Ahmad to start work as MB tomorrow

Kijal state representative Ahmad Said, who has been appointed by the Terengganu sultan as mentri besar against the wish of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will start work tomorrow.

At a massive gathering at his house in Teluk Kalong, Kemaman, late this afternoon, Ahmad told his supporters that he would assume the post tomorrow.

Eyewitnesses say that several hundred people had gathered to hear Ahmad speak.

“I never dreamt of being the menteri besar of Terengganu,” he told his supporters.

“I will work hard,” he said, adding that he would be “going to office tomorrow”.

However, it is still unclear when Ahmad would be sworn in as MB.

Earlier today, he had an audience with Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin – who is also serving as the Agung – in Kuala Lumpur.

On his way back to Terengganu, he was escorted by a strong crowd of 2,000 from the Pahang border to his house – a 10-kilometer long journey.

It is also learnt that he has managed to convince 13 out of the 22 BN state representatives to back him for the post.

Meanwhile, opposition party PAS today fully supported the move by the Terengganu palace to appoint Ahmad as MB.

Hadi Awang: Respect palace’s decision

Party president Abdul Hadi Awang said he believed the decision by the palace was in accordance with the real wishes of the people of Terengganu.

“We are confident that the palace’s decision to appoint Ahmad was based in the dissatisfaction of the palace and the people of Terengganu against the former menteri besar,” he said in a statement today.

He added that the people of Terengganu would definitely understand and accept the appointment of Ahmad as it was them who had to “suffer in the hands of the previous person’s ineffectiveness”.

“We urge the people of Terengganu to respect the wishes of the palace for the sake of stability and prosperity in the state,” he added.

The state of Terengganu is presently in a constitutional turmoil following the appointment of the palace-backed Ahmad over the previous menteri besar Idris Jusoh, who has the support of Prime Minister Abdullah and the 22 BN state representatives in the state.

In the general election, Idris-led BN retained the retained the state comfortably by winning 24 out of 32 state seats. PAS won the rest. He was then given the assurance by the prime minister that he would be reappointed as the menteri besar.

However, the sultan is not in favour of Idris and has chosen Ahmad to lead the state. Ahmad is believed to have the support of the grassroots Umno members and leaders.

PKR: Don’t be provocative

Ahmad, also the Kemaman Umno division chief, received his appointment letter from the Regency Advisory Council yesterday morning, almost at the same time when the 22 BN state representatives submitted a protest letter to the palace against the appointment of Ahmad.

Idris and the 22 state representatives also met up with Abdullah last night to discuss the matter.

Umno too has decided to take action against Ahmad for disobeying the party line in accepting the palace’s appointment. He is expected to be sacked the moment he participates in the swearing-in ceremony, to be held on Wednesday.

Ahmad however is confident that he has the necessary support of the state representatives to form a state government. He has asked for two to three days to name his exco line-up.

Meanwhile PKR Terengganu today expressed its disappointment in the crisis over the appointment of the menteri besar.

The opposition party also urged Umno to respect the wishes of the palace in the appointment of Ahmad.

“Even if they disagree to that appointment, they should not be issuing provocative or insulting statements against the palace,” said the state PKR secretary Razali Alias in a statement today.

He added that all Terengganu citizens must firmly stand behind the decision made by the sultan, who is also the present agong.

Looking at the full cabinet list it looks like business as usual. Some cosmetic changes were included. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is the de facto Law Minister in charge of judicial reforms. How far he will be allowed to go will be interesting. He’s said things which actually sound very much like what voters want.

Datuk Amirsham is another professional brought in, I speculate, to calm the markets.

However, I doubt that the top leaders have learnt their lesson or heard the message of the voters.

While Datuk Shahrir Samad is a principled politician, and there are few enough of those in government today, most of the other appointments seem designed to reward political parties rather than to fulfill the roles of actually lifting the country out of the malaise and to deal with voter discontent.

Some of the old guard were dropped. But oh dear, SENATOR Muhammad Muhammad Taib of illegal money smuggling to Australia fame? How many million was it? And to have him made a cabinet minister through the backdoor.

And no one’s made mention of April 15 yet; when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be eligible to contest again.

You know, this really looks like a case of the Prime Minister being on a different planet than the reality on the ground.

Hmmm…

From Malaysiakini

Breaking news Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today announced his new cabinet.

During a 20-minute press conference at his office in Putrajaya, Abdullah said he has decided not to appoint any parliamentary secretaries – bringing the number of appointments to 68.

He has also dropped many notable veterans and roped in new faces, who now make up half of the cabinet.

Those axed are veteran leaders Rafidah Aziz, Jamaluddin Jarjis, Azmi Khalid and Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, who is known to be close to the prime minister.

Abdullah would not comment on the departure of Rafidah. “I don’t discuss why. I think she should make way for someone new,” he said when quizzed on this.

The premier has dropped his portfolio of internal security and outgoing foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar will run a newly merged home affairs and internal security ministry.

Abdullah retained his finance portfolio and Nor Mohamed Yakcop will continue to serve as second finance minister.

Ministries slashed

The number of ministries have also been slashed from 32 to 27. Among the interesting new faces are Zaid Ibrahim, who has been appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of legal affairs and Shahrir Samad who is appointed domestic trade and consumer affairs minister.

According to Abdullah, Zaid will be put in charge of legal affairs and oversee reforms in the judiciary.

Abdullah’s previous cabinet had a whopping 32 ministers, 39 deputy ministers and 20 parliamentary secretaries, with jobs handed out to many of the 14 race-based parties that make up the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

Only 17 of the 32 ministers in the previous cabinet have been retained – with five keeping their old posts while 12 moved to new profolios.

Among them are Dr Rais Yatim, who has been named foreign minister and Ong Tee Keat (transport minister).

Other interesting new faces are Muhammad Muhd Taib (rural development minister) and Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s son Sulaiman, who has been appointed deputy tourism minister.

Khairy not in the line-up

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin was not named in the cabinet line up announced by his father-in-law.

Prior to the elections, it was speculated that Khairy – the 32-year-old Oxford graduate – will be given an important post.

However, the March 8 polls reversed his fortunes. Many blamed the young politician for BN’s disastrous performance.

Since then, pressure had mounted on the prime minister not to include his son-in-law in the line-up.

MIC loses works ministry

MIC failed to retain its control over the works ministry and party’s secretary-general Dr S Subramaniam has been appointed human resources minister.

The previous works minister was MIC president S Samy Vellu. The party suffered heavy losses in the March 8 polls, losing six out of nine parliamentary seats and 12 out of 19 state seats.

MIC information chief M Saravanan has been appointed deputy federal territories minister while central working committee (CWC) member S Devamany is deputy natural resources and mining minister.

An Interesting development. From what I’ve read, Mukhriz refrained from calling for Pak Lah’s resignation during a press conference a few days ago. I wonder what the reason is for the timing.

Read the letter. I’d like to draw attention to the following sentence.

“Gerakan telah bermula untuk menarik wakil-wakil rakyat BN supaya melompat ke parti lawan. Musuh BN memerlukan hanya 35 kerusi untuk menjatuhkan Kerajaan Pemimpinan Dato Seri’.”

Verrrryyyy interesting!

From Malaysiakini 14 March 2008

Umno leader Mukhriz Mahathir has called for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign after the ruling coalition’s unprecedented election setback.

As a member of Umno’s influential young wing, Mukhriz is the highest-ranking member of the party to openly push for Abdullah to stand down.

“I feel that Abdullah has to take responsibility for our losses and that the honourable thing to do is to withdraw,” said Mukhriz Mahathir, who has written a letter to the premier calling for him to quit.

The call adds to the pressure on Abdullah, who heads the ruling (Umno), which leads the Barisan Nasional coalition that was humbled in the March 8 polls.

“By his resignation, then at least the confidence in Umno and Barisan Nasional will be somewhat restored in the eyes not only of the people but also our members,” Mukhriz told AFP.

Five days ago, Mukhriz’s father, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made a similar call for Abdullah to quit.

However, the embattled premier won his party’s backing in a meeting on Monday and he has vowed not to surrender.

‘Voters reject you as PM’

In his letter to Abdullah dated March 12, Mukhriz said the election result was a strong message from voters.

“The unhappy voters gave a clear message, that is they reject you as head of the government,” he said.

“Therefore if (Abdullah) does not resign soon, I really fear that the trust by the people in Umno and Barisan will disintegrate.”

Mahathir, who led Umno and the nation for 22 years before stepping down in 2003, lashed out at his successor after the worst performance in its half-century rule over Malaysia.

“My view is he has destroyed Umno, destroyed the BN and he has been responsible for this,” the veteran politician said on Sunday.

Mahathir has previously said he never intended for Abdullah to serve more than one term, and that he should have opted instead for influential deputy prime minister Najib Razak who is now leader-in-waiting.