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 ©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
• Eyes on race for Umno No. 2 post
THE mid-term departure of Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah
Badawi is regrettable, though not a surprise. It was self-inflicted chiefly on
account of a management style that was unfocused and often distracted. The
pithier significance is that the party revolt that forced his exit was patently
un-Umno, an apparent renunciation of the quasi-feudal Malay political tradition
of noblesse oblige. Although Datuk Seri Abdullah's leadership failings were
many, in the judgment of the party hierarchy and the grassroots, it has never
been the Umno way to tell a party president to his face that he has to go
because he is damaged goods. Malay disquiet over the erosion of bumiputera
political supremacy in the March parliamentary election, blamed on his wayward
stewardship, had to be intolerable for a leadership change to be undertaken in
this manner.
But, from another perspective, the transition makes Umno look positively
democratic: A party chief and concurrent government head who has lost the
confidence of Umno Cabinet officers and the party's state and divisional leaders
has no mandate left to exercise. Except, no-one is prepared to say how much
support Mr Abdullah actually has lost in the Umno supreme council. He did not go
willingly so much as he was pushed to make way for his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib
Razak, who must win the presidency in party elections to claim the prime
minister's job.
Malaysians will most want to know if PM Abdullah's removal is a watershed event
or only a sentencing. Does it signal that Umno has seen the future, after the
election fiasco, and is poised to reform itself to push an all-Malaysian agenda?
The election results proclaimed that demand. Malay-ism has been Umno's creed
since its founding, a value system that was rejected in the election for being
out of sync with the aspirations of a multi-racial, multi-cultural nation. Or is
the development a case of enraged Malay elites digging in their heels to defend
the privileges of political control, which only the ouster of a weak leader
could bring about? If so, Malaysians will conclude that bumiputeras are by
nature less concerned with nation than with race.
The people will get a clearer idea when Mr Najib, the presumptive successor,
takes over in March after Umno has chosen its leaders. Mr Abdullah will not
contest, the Umno way of declaring retirement. Mr Najib will inherit a Malaysia
that has looked a patchwork of discontent and self-destructive tendencies when
it could be a beacon of a progressive form of material secularism. He should
steer Umno towards the contemporary age and all that it will demand. This will
require a vision, exceptional leadership and courage in spades.
Eyes on race for Umno No. 2 post
By Hazlin Hassan, Malaysia Correspondent
With Abdullah stepping down and Najib likely to take over,
key fight is for deputy's post
 KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected
to take over the post of Umno president uncontested, but there could yet be a
fight for the No. 2 post for the first time in 21 years.
Positions on the Umno chessboard became clearer yesterday after leading members
made known the posts they were interested in.
This was a day after Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said he would not defend his
president's post in the Umno elections in March.
The announcements came as the party's 191 divisions began their closely watched
annual meetings. The meetings will last until Nov 9.
Every three years, when Umno holds its internal elections for the top positions,
the divisions are the kingmakers as the candidates must first secure a
sufficient number of nominations from them. The leaders who are keen to be
picked must quickly announce their intentions over the next few days. They did
not do so earlier as they wanted to know if Mr Abdullah would be defending his
post.
Datuk Seri Najib was the first to announce his plan yesterday by saying he wants
to become the next party president. If he wins, he will be anointed Malaysia's
sixth prime minister.
He said on a visit to Terengganu yesterday: 'I, humbly and sincerely, wish to
offer myself as a candidate for the Umno presidency.'
Although Kelantan prince Tengku Razaleigh is also expected to contest the No. 1
post, he is unlikely to secure the minimum 30 per cent of nominations from the
191 divisions, or 58 nominations, party insiders say.
There had been speculation that International Trade and Industry Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin might go for broke and contest the president's post.
But he indicated yesterday that he was not interested, by asking members to '100
per cent' support Mr Najib's aim to be the new party president.
His gesture will go down well in Umno, as members are tired of the months-long
infighting to oust Mr Abdullah while fending off challenges from opposition
chief Anwar Ibrahim.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin will announce the post he is aiming for today. It is widely
expected to be the deputy president's post - which will make him the new deputy
prime minister if he wins.
Contestants for the No. 2 post need to secure at least 20 per cent of the
divisions to support them, or 38 nominations.
 Mr Muhyiddin is expected to face several challengers. One of them, the Rural
Development Minister and a staunch Abdullah loyalist, Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad
Taib, declared his intention yesterday.
Mr Muhyiddin's other serious rivals for the post are likely to be Malacca Chief
Minister Ali Rustam and former federal territories minister Isa Samad.
Mr Ali has openly indicated his interest in the vacant post. Mr Isa has yet to
announce whether he will go for it.
But Mr Muhyiddin is expected to prevail as Umno chiefs are working behind the
scenes to ensure that he wins uncontested.
Even if there is a contest, he remains the odds-on favourite.
Party chiefs are wary of a fight for the top two posts because Umno was badly
split the last time it happened 21 years ago, in 1987.
Meanwhile, Mr Abdullah said yesterday that he does not care how people remember
him after he quits, insisting his goal now is to speed up the economic and
administrative reforms he started four years ago.
He also indicated that he is not about to bow out of politics and will defend
his post as the division chief of Kepala Batas in Penang.
His son-in-law, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, won a small victory yesterday by being
nominated for the post of Umno Youth chief in a meeting of a Kelantan division.
His rival, Mr Mukhriz Mahathir, was nominated for the same post in a meeting of
a Sabah division.
Two divisions will meet today to make their nominations for the top posts. A
total of 26 of the 191 divisions will have held their meetings by Sunday.
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