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 ©The
Sun (Used by permission)
by Husna Yusop
PUTRAJAYA (Sept 11, 2008) : Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
today expressed surprised over the statement made by Umno vice-president Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin that he should rethink his transition plan to step down by 2010
as the timeframe is too long.
Abdullah, who is also Umno president, said: "He already agreed on that before
and now he said it again. The cabinet understood it and agreed with it. The Umno
supreme council had also agreed on that. I am surprised a member of my cabinet
should come up with that kind of statement which is against what has already
been agreed."
Speaking to reporters at his office after chairing the 20th MSC Malaysia
Implementation Council Meeting, Abdullah said:
"I am not staying on just for the pleasure of staying on. I tell you this is not
a work that I can regard as pleasure. There’s a lot of responsibilities and
problems that need to be attended to.
"There’s a lot of programmes that I have already indicated that I must do my
best to complete."
Muhyiddin had claimed in Singapore on Wednesday that the transition plan, for
Abdullah to hand over the post of prime minister, the chairmanship of Barisan
Nasional (BN) and presidency of Umno to Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, had "sunk
away" and the people were not thinking about it anymore.
Abdullah said among the things he needed to do were the reforms in
Anti-Corruption Agency and the police.
He said although the reforms in the police force started more than two years
ago, there is still the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission
(IPCMC) which has yet to be looked into.
He said he had also promised to achieve eradication of hardcore poverty. In
addition, he said, there is also a lot of work to be done to reform BN, as well
as Umno, to expand their capacity in serving the people.
"This is something that I have made it my responsibility to undertake it and to
help Najib also to achieve the objectives of the programmes I have just stated,"
he stressed.
Asked whether he is going to meet Muhyiddin on this matter, a visibly annoyed
Abdullah said: "There is no need to ask me what I’m going to do. Enough of this.
Next question."
On former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s intention to rejoin Umno as
mentioned by Muhyiddin on Tuesday, Abdullah said the matter has yet to be
discussed and he personally could not make a decision on it.
"My view alone is not enough. This is a matter for the party. I cannot make a
stand on this."
Asked about rumours that some Negri Sembilan assemblymen will cross over to the
opposition, Abdullah seemed further irritated said: "You ask me to comment on
rumours? And lend credibility to rumours? Enough lah. Too many rumours, all
kinds of rumours.
"And you people (reporters) just swallow them and create credibility to all
these rumours by asking people to comment on this. There is no need for this.
Let rumours be rumours."
Asked whether there was any new decision on the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP),
he said the Umno supreme council on Wednesday had met for a specific reason,
that is for the Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s case, and no other subject was discussed.
On MSC Malaysia, Abdullah said the meeting has agreed for a second stage of
expansion for it to focus on after successfully completing the first development
stage which had involved among others, the e-government project.
For this purpose, MSC will set up a committee to itemise the various steps
needed to be taken and it will later be presented to the implementation council
for it to go through and if money is required, the cabinet will be informed.
Asked whether the government would continue with its policy not to censor the
Internet in the second stage of the MSC, he said: "We will not censure the
Internet. That’s Internet Protocol. But if they abuse the use and freedom of the
Internet, to the extent that it goes against our law, of course we have to take
action."
When suggested that the ban on Malaysia Today portal did not show this,
he said there were other reasons that Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar
was aware of that have led to him taking such an action.
"You can ask him (Syed Hamid) for details. It is entirely his responsibility," he added.
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