Before he lost the battle in GE 2008, he has been very critical of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

He said the accusations of the Hindraf against the government were made blindly without considering the progress achieved by the Indians in the country.

He said the government and the MIC had provided various kinds of aid and support in upgrading the livelihood of the Indians.

He said Indians are definitely not being marginalized in this country.

He was asked to step down, but he rejected the idea.

He was simply proud of himself and said only the Indian community and not anyone else to decide when is the end date for him.

That was before he lost both his parliamentary seat and minister post he had held for almost 30 years!

Hence, his dream materialized when he was voted out on that faithful day.

Now, the same man called for the release of the five Hindraf leaders held without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

He said he is going to meet the PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Internal Security Minister Syed Hamid Albar to discuss the release.

He said the Government has to make a decision regarding the release because one of the detainees is very sick while another one is an elected assemblyman.

He said he is pitiful towards the family as the detainees’ families members approach him for help.

He said he is not willing to see the detainees being kept inside.

He is no other than the most obvious chameleon in this country - S Samy Vellu.

No wonder even the mainstream media who is proven to be extremely supportive of the ruling coalition is quite skeptical too, to the extent of reassuring their readers that they’re right to read what they read.

(SOURCE: The Star, 30 March 2008)
Just wondering whether this one audacious man has a shred of pride and dignity left in him, never mind the facts that he and his coalition partners had just suffered the most severe political whitewash recently.

Lately, it’s apparent that the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lost a few important battles, ever since the ruling coalition lost the 2/3 majority in the Parliament.

The royal tussle in both Perlis and Terengganu, the homestate for ex-Yang Dipertuan Agong and current Yang Dipertuan Agong respectively, went to the royals.

Pak Lah’s choices of MB in the 2 states were denied outrightly.

No U-turn, no compromise candidate and definitely no "save face" measure.

Before that, two deputy ministers declined their new postings after the Cabinet line-up announcement. Apparently, they’re not happy with Pak Lah’s decision not to promote them to full ministerial rank.

And the latest for today, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Ghapur Salleh resigned eight days after accepting his appointment, citing his resignation as not interested in any government post, hence it remains puzzled on why he accepted the post when the line-up was first announced.

Hence, another slap in the face for Pak Lah.

What about the rumors of defection from the ruling camp to the Opposition camps, with PKR de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim saying that he is moving towards forming a new Government?

What about the open challenge by veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah?

What about the letter from Mukhriz Mahathir that Pak Lah doesn’t want us to read?

It seems that there are too many uncertainties that Pak Lah needs to handle, and at the same time, with the quality of leadership shown thus far, I doubt he will survive the party election this year?

To me, for whatever it takes in order to form a new leadership, my wish is that it would be done appropriately while keeping the democracy legitimate.

Having said all that, anything less than that is not a gracious thing to do.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wanted his man Idris Jusoh to be the next Terengganu’s MB.

He said his man commanded commands majority support among the elected representatives.

Hence, in a way, he expected His Royal Highness to act as a rubber-stamp and approved his selection.

However, the Palace defied the PM and announced Kijal state assemblyperson Ahmad Said as the new MB of the state.

So, Umno decided to sack Ahmad from the party for disobeying party leadership by agreeing to take up the post.

On the other hand, Pak Lah declared the appointment of Ahmad Said as the new MB as unconstitutional.

As the royal tussle is being seen as unprecedented in Malaysia, in addition to the kind of language chosen by the PM, I’m afraid such statements verge on being disrespectful.

While veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah slams PM for his "stunning ineptness" in managing fundamental relationships and straightforward functions of government, I’m wondering whether this act of provocation can be considered as an act of treason?

By the way, the Teregganu’s constitution has clearly stated that the appointment of MB is at Sultan’s discretion too.

Daulat Tuanku!

The Star’s SMS alert at 5:28pm.

Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek says he will not control bloggers but will listen to them, hopes to meet them soon to get feedback.

Look like we’ve a minister who really has a pair of big ears and opens to ideas from the blogging community.

Besides learning from the past mistakes committed by his predecessor ZAM, he is smart enough to engage bloggers, like what his counterpart in Indonesia did since last year.

What about having more MPs from BN to blog as part of the strategy to have more of direct interaction with the grassroots, rather than complete reliance on reports by their intelligences?

Nevertheless, way to go, Mr. Info. Minister, I’m here to give you the benefit of doubt since you’ve shown the courage to engage us.

Now, walk the talk.

A day after announcement of the new cabinet line-up by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, things happened at such a fast pace that I can hardly catch up with.

Immediately, two appointed deputy ministers declined their posts.

To add salt to the wound, one of the Perlis-duo Radzi Sheik Ahmad, who was excluded from the new cabinet line-up, resigned from Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general posts effective today, saying that he would not be able to discharge his duties effectively as the secretary-general of Umno and BN as he was not in the Cabinet.

Surprisingly, the PM "invited" the former minister, who is alleged to be one of the main character in the VK Lingam video to replace Radzi, merely a day after the appointment of former Kota Baru MP Zaid Ibrahim as the Minister in the PM’s Department tasked with law-affairs and gives suggestions on how to reform the Malaysia’s judiciary system?

How ironic is the PM? Even if it’s a sandiwara, let’s put up a more convincing show rather than the temporary viagra effect!

Anyway, let’s forget about that, we do know how flip-flop the PM is, don’t we? Remember the whole episode of the parliament dissolution?

But more importantly, if before this leadership crisis in the current administration was seen as an aspect which needs dire attention, the focus has now shifted.

The internal rife within UMNO, starting from the letter by the Umno Youth exco member Mukhriz Mahathir urging the PM to step down shouldn’t be taken lightly.

This is followed by a letter written by UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh to 193 Umno division leaders urging them to call for an EGM on May 11 to discuss on the party’s unprecedented electoral setback faced on the GE 2008 and the latest today, Ku Li said that he wanted to challenge Pak Lah for the president post in the coming party polls by offering himself as a leader to rehabilitate the party.

If the above mentioned is not severe enough to destabilize the PM’s position, latest warning by PKR de-facto Anwar Ibrahim saying that he is moving towards forming a new government, with the help of defectors from the ruling coalition must be taken seriously, in view of the weakening grassroots support towards Pak Lah’s administration ever since the heavy defeat suffered by the BN in the recent election.

However, Pak Lah is unperturbed, at least this is how he appears to be. He dismissed talks that the Government is in verge of being toppled and denied of any infighting within Umno.

So far, we do not know how true is the claim by Anwar, however, as much as I’m dissatisfied with Pak Lah’s performance, it’s not my wish to see the current government being toppled in such an undemocratic manner and the new Government is formed with defecting MPs from the BN’s coalition.

This is due to the fact that when the rakyat voted in March 8, it’s their wish to see their elected representatives from whichever parties they represent to walk the talk and fulfill the promises made.

How disgraceful it would be if their choice of MPs chose to betray the mandate given and cross path for their own political gain?

How can you expect the people to trust their wakil rakyat in the future when their democracy rights are denied outrightly in this undemocratic manner?

Say if a new Government is established, unfortunately via the strategy mentioned above, how proud can the leader be?

It’s time to start from scratch, just like a baby first learning how to crawl before learning how to walk, hence the immediate task now is to focus on the development in 4+1 states, prove to the people that the Opposition too is at least capable, if not better in managing the states government before putting sight in winning the next GE.

Anything more than that is not a gracious thing to do, no matter how weak the ruling coalition is.

Remember Zaid Ibrahim, the conscience of Umno?

Remember how he was dropped as a candidate to defend his Kota Baru parliamentary seat?

He is now appointed as Minister in the PM’s Department!

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Zaid is appointed to take care of law-affairs and gives suggestions on how to reform the Malaysia’s judiciary system.

He will be sworn in a Senator while the SIL Khairy Jamaluddin is not among the candidates appointed into the cabinet.

Big names like S Samy Vellu, Ong Ka Ting and Rafidah Aziz are excluded, in the exception of Nazri Aziz who is now re-appointed as in the similar role as Zaid.

Besides, two candidates from Perlis Radzi Sheik Ahmad and Azmi Khalid, who were seen as making a move against the appointment of Shahidan Kassim as the Perlis MB, together with Jamaluddin Jarjis were dropped too.

Generally, ministries are cut down from 32 to 27, only 17 ministers have been retained and only five of those in their old portfolios.

MCA secretary general Ong ka Chuan is appointed as housing and local government minister replacing his brother and MCA president Ong Ka Ting, vice-president Ong Tee Keat is transport minister, Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai is  appointed health minister while Women’s wing chief Ng Yen Yen is women, family and development minister.

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

As for Gerakan, its Wanita chief Tan Lian Hoe is made Deputy Information Minister.

Pak Lah has awaken? We shall see as the PM said he wasn’t under any pressure in picking the candidates.

But I’m pondering over the inclusion of Mat Tyson a.k.a Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

Why?

Click here to find the full list of 2008 cabinet.

Read the rest of this entry »

Starting from the day after the GE 2008 on March 8,  with what’s taking place in our home turf, I was under an impression that the excitement is no less than when you’re reading a fictional book, full of conspiracy theories, one will never know the result until the D-Day has come.

The best word to describe? Dramatical.

The political eagerness, or maybe the level of arrogance shown by a mixed of young and veteran leaders, it’s despicable.

The continuous debacle of MB’s appointment in a few states indicates the power struggle continues everywhere, be it in the ruling coalition or the Opposition camps.

The bickering in Barisan Nasional’s component parties, the finger pointing show has just started.

But the most eye-catching so far should be the leadership crisis in both the Government and UMNO.

So, some say Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi days as PM are numbered.

Some say ex-Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is attempting to make a thunderous comeback in a few weeks?

Some say the next-in-line Najib Tun Razak will be pushed into the limelight soon?

Whatever it’s is, to me, the most shocking theory, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to be the new dawn of Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who seems to be putting in enormous effort to right the wrong or to resurrect his political career?

Ironically, besides Pak Lah, those names mentioned above should play tribute to the SIL Khairy Jamaluddin in making things possible for them.

It’s a disaster for Pak Lah, but to them, it’s a bless in disguise.

Between New Economic Policy (NEP) and New Economic Agenda going to be introduced by PKR and DAP coalition, the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said NEP already ended in 1991.

So, why the dissatisfaction?

I’m sure by now, the focus is on the the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also the UMNO’s president.

Besides under tremendous pressure from various quarters urging him to step down as the premier, I took the latest appointment of Perlis MB as another strong indication that he is not in favor to continue to helm this country.

This morning, it appeared certain that the incumbent Shahidan Kassim is going to become the next Perlis MB when he announced that he had received his letter appointment on Tuesday and will be sworn in on Friday noon, as reported by Bernama.

However, the scenario took a twist when The Raja of Perlis appointed Bintong state assemblyman Md Isa Sabu as the new MB in preference over Pak Lah’s choice, which is Shahidan.

Hence, it’s apparent that the Raja of Perlis snubbed Pak Lah’s decision to retain Shahidan as the next MB, in which Shahidan expressed his disappointment for certain BN members to go against Pak Lah’s decision and showed disrespect towards his leadership.

"This is Barisan Nasional’s pride. If there is no respect for Barisan Nasional and Umno, who else will respect them? […]

 "(The issue is) I have been appointed as Mentri Besar by Barisan Nasional but it would seem that the decision had not been respected.

"This is a clear indication that the party, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and even the people’s decision have been disregarded," he said.

Earlier, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and his son Mukhriz Mahathir, who is also the newly elected Jerlun MP, in separate statements called for PM to resign after the ruling coalition’s unprecedented election setback.

The letter by Mukhriz to the PM was published by Pro-UMNO’s website MyKMU can be found here.

Looks like the internal revolt within UMNO is pretty obvious, trying to push Pak Lah’s down the stage.

But up to which extent? Step down on his own accord or coup d’état?

Some 1,000 Umno members and supporters, led by Penang Umno secretary Azhar Ibrahim staged an one-hour protest outside the Penang state government office in Komtar this afternoon, to protest Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s declaration that the new DAP-led state government would do away with the New Economic Policy (NEP) policies.

Earlier, the state UMNO called upon the federal government to scrap all the mega projects in the state as Penangites voted for change, in which to the Penang’s UMNO, it means that Penangites rejected development.

The mega projects in the state, include those planned under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), the second Penang Bridge, the light monorail transit system, the Penang Outer Ring Road, the Penang Sentral and the RapidPenang bus service.

Luckily, former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon, who is also the Gerakan’s acting president spoke some sense when he rejected the Umno’s call by saying that those infrastructure projects are crucial for the future economy and quality of life for Penang and its neighboring states.

In fact, the right thing to do is for the losing party to realize that this is the kind of political arrogance that Penangites reject, as we can see based on the outcome of the GE 2008, in which Opposition coalition swept to a landslide victory.

Instead of playing to the gallery by provoking people’s sentiment, it’s wiser for the losing camp to conduct a thorough post-mortem on the disastrous lost and continues to serve the rakyat.

Besides, looks like a serial of events are in place to sabotage the newly established state government, in which rumors which are deemed dangerous enough to destroy the spirit of goodwill among the multi-races in Penang was rejected by the new CM.

"This new government is the government of all the people of Penang, irrespective of political background, race or religion. We want to represent all the people in this state," he said.

Furthermore, in his latest response, Guan Eng said UMNO leaders can see him to highlight problems in Malay community without the demonstration.

Having said all that, I think it’s fair that Penangites from various ethnic groups provide ample time for the newly establishment state government to settle down, without resorting to any knee-jerk reaction which may further worsen the situation.

Simultaneously, in return, the State Government must get down to work immediately and not to engage in political rhetoric and instead adopt a constructive and positive approach to sustain inter-ethnic harmony and social stability as well as to provide taking constructive steps to provide a conducive environment to ensure the smooth implementation of all projects for the continued economic development in Penang.

Anything less than that is going to going to create more loopholes for the doomsayer to capitalize on, which might put the state into another round of chaotic situation, giving an impression that the new state leadership as incapable and ruthless.