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©Bernama (Used by permission)
by Yong Soo Heong
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
says he did not regret his decision to expedite the handing over of the reins of
power to his successor, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
"The decision did not trouble me. A decision had to be made and I had considered
it very well. I felt good about it and that was why I could be cheerful," he
said in an interview with Bernama in response to a question as to how he
could be cheerful when making the announcement last Wednesday as it meant giving
up the trappings of power.
"I thank God for making it easy for me to decide. I think what I'm doing is in
the best interest of the country and the party," said Abdullah, who appeared
relaxed in a brown Baju Melayu at his official residence at Seri Perdana.
Having made the decision, it would "allow us to focus on the job at hand", he
said in reference to the over-politicking that had taken place since the March 8
general election and the need to focus on fulfilling the aspirations of the
people.
"I fully intend to utilise the months ahead to implement my agenda. Leaving the
limelight and giving up power is not my main concern," he said.
When asked what went through his mind before he made his decision, he replied:
"I must say this. After the elections, there are people who said that I must go.
Some people held me responsible for the results which nobody (in Barisan
Nasional) liked, which shocked the party people, particularly Umno.
"But there are also others who are strongly for me, urging me to stay on to
continue my work. And they have been coming to the house in groups, telling me
that "you cannot leave, you have your mission, you have to complete your
mission".
"I listened to every side but, at the same time, I had to look at the real
situation, into the future and finally I made up my mind that it was the right
time to hand over the responsibilities."
Asked whether he had informed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of his decision not to
contest the Umno presidency, the prime minister said he had not as it was purely
a party matter.
"I'm still the prime minister. When it comes to the need to hand over or to
appoint the successor to the prime minister, only then it is important to inform
the king," he explained.
Abdullah said the government had put in place a good foundation and, guided by
the National Mission, the country could achieve its aim of achieving Vision
2020.
"I am confident that my successor will continue my work and do what it takes to
get us there, he said, adding that regardless of whether he was there as prime
minister, a good foundation had been laid for other leaders.
"Yes, I believe the time is right for a new generation of leaders to take over.
What is important is that Umno and Barisan Nasional must be united in dealing
with all the challenges we are facing.
"I believe the attitude and behaviour of party members will determine the future
of the party - that is very important. If they put public interest before their
own, Umno will be fine."
Asked on demands by some quarters for him to leave the stage now and not in
March or that he should not say anything between now and the time he handed over
power, he said he was well aware of what he wanted to do.
"I have planned my retirement, I have planned ahead on when I need to hand over
and what to do. I am not staying on just to bask in the glory of being prime
minister. I have decided to stay on because I have a mission. I must make good
on the promises I have made, especially on the reforms. Remember, I was
criticised for having promised something which the people liked and welcomed and
then they said that I did not deliver.
"But I did not complete them in the first four years because I had concentrated
on other things. But there is one thing that I would like to mention, that my
election manifesto in 2004 was not only for the four years (lasting until 2008)
of the duration when I am in power and later on I would make another manifesto."
Abdullah said he had come into power just after the first half of the
implementation of Vision 2020 and he still had three five-year development
periods to implement various programmes.
"I was thinking of the second half where I thought I could choose to implement
what I wanted and at what stage. But there was a feeling of unhappiness on what
the people expected I should do and things I had not done.
"So when I announced the beginning of the reform of the judiciary and the
Anti-Corruption Agency, there was very strong support. Some people now
questioned why hadn't I announced these reforms before the last elections and
said they would have supported them.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter now as what happened has happened. I will make sure
that I will implement a few reforms and some economic programmes."
Abdullah also said that since he was still the prime minister, he did not see
why he should keep quiet.
"Maybe those who are asking me to keep quiet want to monopolise the spotlight
for themselves," he added.
Asked whether he would miss the hustle and bustle of the highest office of the
land, he said: "Maybe, but I will know it when I retire. It will be someone
else's time. I can safely say that I will not be trying to govern from the
sidelines."
Abdullah, when asked to list down his high points during his tenure as prime
minister so far, replied: "Well, my time is not over yet. Let us talk after I
have served for the period until I retire."
Asked whether a lack of support led to the poor results in this years general
election, he said, "That's what people say and I tend to believe what they say.
Those were some of the serious complaints because the reform promise moved a lot
of people, judging from the comments in the newspapers after the 2004
elections."
He said the government should have done more and it had faltered in implementing
several programmes.
"We didn't complete them. Anyway, what is past is past. I have always wanted to
institute these changes, but I wanted to do them gradually.
"But maybe people wanted me to move quicker and maybe that's why they expressed
their disappointment. In any case, I have stated that I want to deliver on these
institutional reforms and also launch the social safety net which will cover
110,000 households."
Asked whether he would have done it differently in terms of timing and other
issues if he had another chance to handle the 12th general election, he said the
timing was carefully thought.
He explained that he had wanted to get a renewed mandate because before the
elections there were so many criticisms over many issues.
"So I thought that it would be good to get a new mandate. That was why I decided
to have the elections at a time when many people felt it would be a bit too
early. But I thought that if I were to delay, it may be a risk. Look at what has
happened after the general election, when the price of oil went up, food prices
as well. And with some other problems cropping up, I thought it would be more
difficult for us to have the kind of results that we got in the elections where
we had 58 seats more than the Opposition."
Abdullah said that if the BN had delayed the polls, it may have been worse,
"because we would have to deal with problems like higher oil prices, inflation
and the global economic turmoil that we are experiencing now."
He said that in many developed countries, having 58 seats more would have been
described as a landslide victory.
"I have met many of my (foreign) colleagues and they asked me why was all the
big noise happening in Malaysia. I told them I did not get a two-thirds majority
and they said, "What? We never got two-thirds. Why are you so concerned about
two-thirds?"
"I told them that Malaysians are Malaysians, they always like to have the
portion that they are having. Whether they are hungry or not, it does not
matter, they always like to have the portion they are used to."
Asked whether his stance on giving greater leeway to freedom and openness had
led to his downfall politically, he said many people have their own views.
"But let's be realistic about this. In this era, where people have access to
information through so many different sources, the logic of this development is
that you have to be able to embrace openness. You don't muzzle the press. If
certain newspapers were to have heavy censorship on one particular subject,
people can still have access to information through other sources. So the
newspapers are worried in that they may seem to be not telling the truth. That's
the kind of openness that you have to admit and accept (these days).
"A new generation of well-educated, young and better informed has emerged.
People are not stupid or ill-informed, so BN must learn to explain its policies
better. The most important thing is recognising this development. I have always
held this view even before, that we must give more space and freedom for
democratic discourse."
Abdullah said the problem in the past was that the government had not been able
to explain its policies to deal with the situation more effectively.
"It is a new situation for us, even for me. After we had allowed this freedom
for openness, we have to cope with it. And the people had reacted to it in the
most enthusiastic way and they think that freedom means that they can say
anything that they want. Like what is happening in the web blogs.
"I am not saying that everyone is abusing it but I think the number or
percentage of those who tend to abuse it or can abuse it is big enough to cause
a lot of concern and problems."
As a result, he said, the country still needed laws like the Printing Presses
and Publications Act, the Sedition Act and Official Secrets Act as a check and
balance.
"But, of course, in implementing the Acts, we have to be wise. It is not a set
of laws to be exploited. We cannot abuse the laws we have with us. They are to
curb things we ought not to do."
Abdullah said he believed that it was unacceptable to have complete freedom.
"We cannot allow people to spread lies and slander freely, which is sometimes
the case with the alternative media. I just ask them to look at the environment
objectively. I think there is more open criticism of the government now than
ever.
"We have bodies like Pemudah, where criticism of government machinery is
expressed frankly to the faces of senior civil servants. And these criticisms
are acted upon. I believe when people view the situation objectively, they will
see that they have a lot more space for constructive discourse."
Abdullah said he believed that the government ought to know how to grapple with
this openness and freedom as it was a global phenomenon.
"It is all because we have access to more information from all sorts of sources
and the people are learning to communicate with one another in a different way
like SMS, YouTube or Facebook and not the way that they were used to before. The
new communication technology has given us this freedom to disseminate and
freedom to accept," he added.
Asked what he wanted to do most want once he has retired, he said he was at the
moment concentrating on finishing what he needed to do with the institutional
reforms and economic initiatives.
"After that I'll have more time for my "cucus" (grandchildren) and things like
golf and fishing."
Asked how he would like to be remembered, he said: "I will leave that to the
people to determine. I am just thankful that I have managed to serve my country
for this long."
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