Sinking, finally sank?
Thursday, September 18th, 2008 | 3:25 am @ SK
As a last resort for the PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to cling to the power, a swap of ministry portfolio was done between him and his deputy Najib Tun Razak.
Pak Lah will take over Defence Ministry while Najib will take over the coveted Finance Ministry, in which according to Pak Lah finance portfolio is an important porffolio traditionally held by the PM.
It’s believed that the latest move is to quell rumors of a possible transition earlier than the scheduled mid-2010 following the attempt by Pak Lah’s predecessor Mahathir Mohamad to rejoin Umno, who has earlier quit Umno in hope of triggering a mass exodus from the party in order to topple Pak Lah from the premiership, in which obviously wasn’t working as expected.
Now with the open call from the Umno vice-president Muhyiddin Yassin asking Pak Lah to step down earlier than expected, as well as the open support from Mahathir towards Tengku Razaleigh Umno’s presidential bid, Pak Lah is very much feeling threatened.
However, with this latest move, besides killing any possible impact as a result of the comeback from the ex-Umno strongman, it’s expected to pacify Najib’s supporters who’ve been urging Pak Lah to handover the power to Najib soonest possible in view of political instability and subsequently minimize the possibility of witnessing the BN government being toppled by the PR coalition.
Nevertheless, we know for the fact BN is akin a sinking ship awaiting for a miracle to happen, especially with the latest pullout announcement from the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) led by Yong Teck Lee who has openly shown disgruntlement towards the BN ruling coalition.
Together with the latest threat from no other than the PM who declared Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim as a "threat to the economy and possibily security" as well as the resignation of Zaid Ibrahim from the Cabinet in protest of the ISA ruling against the three, these are among the few little things which have irked the people and it’s only a matter of time before the ship finally sank.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Dear All … just my 2 sens view. FYI the Finance Portfolio is not really as termed "traditionally’ held by PM … its just that for Malaysia, PM Mahathir took over during the 98 crisis. Prior to that the post is held by Minister of Finance. I believe that we Malaysia should have a proper person taking care of the portfilio … no need for PM to do that. PM can be 2nd Finance Minister … let the proper person runs the whole thing. Just look elsewhere in the world … everywhere there is a Finance Minister / Secretary (like USA) … Yes the post is important … but if PM wants to hold on to that … then may be he should think of letting go his PM portfolio & concentrate on Finance of the nation alone. PM … I think have a lot more & better things to take care off. That is one of the problem for us the past 5 years … we’re nor here nor there!
September 18th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Careful now Anwar, Badawi finally got C4 access.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Know the Difference: Transition, not Handover.
For the moment, the UMNO leadership crisis appears to have been averted with the announcement of the cabinet portfolio swap between Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his Deputy Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak. As recently as last week, analysts and commentators were anticipating Najib to make a move on the Presidency before the year’s end. And why would they not? After UMNO Vice President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin rekindled the debate about Abdullah’s position, Najib appeared to position himself for an assault on the post when he remarked that the divisions should decide for themselves when the transition should occur – essentially informing that he was more than ready to receive nominations for the post of Party President.
But with the portfolio swap, Najib may not see a need to gun for the Presidency – and by implication Premiership of the country – so soon. Notwithstanding the fact that a transition of power is, as Abdullah quipped, a process and not something carried out overnight, Abdullah must be credited for such a bold move. Skeptics have characterised it as a calculated political decision to neutralise any potential threat from Najib. Political considerations there definitely were, but by paving the way for Najib to take helm of the Ministry of Finance, Abdullah has also demonstrated magnanimity and sincerity to groom his successor for the top job in 2010.
Being Prime Minister with little experience in managing the country’s economy will likely prove a mammoth task for anyone. And as it turns out, Najib is no ordinary figure with an ordinary past. With ample ammunition for the Opposition to take aim at his credibility – the SAS (Sukoi, Altantunya, Submarine) scandals spring to mind as illustrations – a Najib administration could use a head-start in spearheading economic recovery at a time when global financial uncertainty is affecting countries in this region, too.. It is further also to Najib’s convenience that the Budget for the year 2009 has just been announced with much of the implementation left for him to oversee. As such, Najib does not have the baggage of others’ inefficiency to contend with – a prevalent concern whenever an economic plan is carried out.
As things, at least for the time being, cool down with regards to any contest for the Presidency of UMNO, it would be interesting to see Tun Dr.. Mahathir’s next move. Commanding a yet formidable following, his end-game for quite a while now is to unseat Abdullah as Prime Minister. His peculiar friendships with Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Najib are telling – those individuals are all nothing more than instruments to his ultimate goal: the downfall of Abdullah.
Ultimately, Abdullah’s supporters will hope that the PM’s move will be repaid with loyalty by Najib. Even to many who may not be Abdullah’s biggest fans are wary of the damage that an open contest will cause the party. Even they would gladly take two more years of Abdullah over the prospect of an internal split that will likely occur should we witness a repeat of the embarrassment suffered by the late Tun Ghafar Baba at the hands of a ruthless Machiavellian by the name of Anwar Ibrahim.