March 2008
Get Rid of Abdullah and UMNO's Hang Tuahs
It is utterly reprehensible that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi refuses to
take responsibility for the debacle suffered by his party at the recent
elections. Even more despicable were his enablers in UMNO, its senior
leaders.
They all dutifully lined up peasant-like at Sri Perdana to
pledge their personal loyalty to Abdullah the day following the electoral
debacle. These latter day "Hang Tuahs" – individuals loyal to leaders but
not to principles or the organization – included Najib Razak, Hishammuddin
Hussein, and Rafidah Aziz.
I am certain they all obediently bowed down low and kissed the
man's limp hand solemnly. Pathetic! When they should have been apprising
their leader of the grim political reality, they instead stooped low to
humor and flatter him. Those are the duties of court jesters, not of
ministers and leaders.
If these next leaders in UMNO cannot tell Abdullah the bad
news to his face, how can we expect them to represent us in dealing with
even more assertive foreign leaders? If these are the faces of the
future leaders of UMNO, how could we entrust them with the fate of our
community? Are these "lembik" (limp) characters the future "brave"
defenders of Ketuanan Melayu?
This whole crowd – and them some – must go. UMNO must get rid
of not only Abdullah but also his entire retinue of enablers and
latter-day Hang Tuahs. There is no alternative. The only choice is
whether UMNO members do the dirty job themselves and on their own
timetable, or watch voters do it for the party. The recent election is
merely a preview; the next time it would be even uglier.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir is wrong in saying that
Abdullah destroyed UMNO. It was not only Abdullah who did it; he had his
supporting cast of enablers to help him.
It is not all doom and gloom, however. The party had faced
many challenges in the past and had successfully overcome them. All it
took was the courage of a few or even of single individuals, as Mahathir
did to the Tunku, the Father of Merdeka. Where are the young Mahathirs
in today's UMNO?
As for Mahathir, he admits to his grave mistake in selecting
Abdullah. Give Mahathir due credit, at least he recognizes his error and
is trying his best to rectify it. He has demanded that Abdullah take full
responsibility for this electoral debacle. Meaning, Abdullah should quit.
Mahathir however, can only do so much. Besides, he has little or no
stake in the future of UMNO except in so far as affecting his legacy.
Another party veteran, Tengku Razaleigh, has also called for
Abdullah to take full responsibility. It is a crying shame that with
today's UMNO, only the old are leading the charge for change. This
should normally be within the province of youth. This reflects how far
UMNO has degenerated as an organization.
It is not enough however for Tengku Razaleigh to give press
statements to indicate his displeasure with Abdullah. Ku Li must lead
the change and challenge Abdullah, as he (Ku Li) did earlier. Even if
Tengku Razaleigh were to fail, he would still have paved the way for
others to pursue the matter.
Other senior UMNO members like Musa Hitam, Tengku Ahmad
Rithaudeen and Sharir Samad must also step up to the plate and fulfill
their responsibilities. They must help ease out Abdullah gracefully if
for no other reason that the alternative would be too ugly to
contemplate. I have no wish to see Abdullah publicly humiliated; enough
that he would get out of the way. Let the old man enjoy his pension and
new wife.
It those senior members abrogate their responsibilities, then
it would be up to UMNO's Supreme Council members – the party's governing
body – to take the initiative. At its next meeting they should pass a
vote of no confidence on Abdullah. Even if that motion were to fail, the
message would once again have been delivered. Abdullah is a slow learner;
it takes a while for a message to sink in.
Such a motion, even if unsuccessful, would also pave the way
for other brave members to introduce similar resolutions at the upcoming
party's general assembly. In short, UMNO members at all levels must
continue to put the heat on Abdullah and his coterie of enablers until he
and they all quit in shame.
This coterie would include Najib Razak and all the current
vice-presidents and leaders of its Youth, Wanita, Putera and Puteri
wings. They are not leaders but enablers.
I do not share Mahathir's high opinion of Najib Razak. He has
Hang Tuah's blind loyalty but without the bravery or charisma. His
tenure as Defense Minister is best summarized by the currently unfolding
Altantuya murder trial; a tale of intrigues, assassinations, and
megabucks commissions.
Mahathir's confidence in Najib has less to do with Najib's
talent but more in Mahathir expressing his terhutang budi (gratitude) to
Najib's father, Tun Razak, for having "rescued" Mahathir after he was
expelled from the party. Najib without the famous "bin" after his name
would be just another nondescript civil servant, perhaps a district
officer back in his hometown. Tun Razak's other sons all had
considerably more talent than Najib. If Mahathir felt an obligation to
the late Tun, he (Mahathir) should have groomed any one of Tun's other
sons.
We Malays, and that includes UMNO, have no shortage of talent.
We just have to be more inclusive and exhaustive in our search. We have
to cast our net deep and wide, and not be content with netting the fish
that float by us. Usually those are the rotting or nearly rotting ones.
The vigorous specimens are out there swimming and enjoying the deep blue
water. We have to make an effort to get them.
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