Attempt to oust Pak Lah by UMNO MT almost succeeded

A powerful faction, led by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in the ruling Umno party failed to force Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down yesterday, although it has accelerated his departure from office.

After a two-hour emergency meeting, the 25-member Umno supreme council decided against demanding Abdullah's immediate resignation and gave him three months' breathing space by postponing party elections scheduled for December until next March.

However, Abdullah, who has come under pressure since the Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its worst election result in March, has been given until Oct 9 to decide whether to defend his position as party president or throw in the towel. On that date, Umno's 191 divisions will meet separately and nominate their candidate for party president.

The council yesterday overwhelmingly rejected Abdullah's original offer to hand over power to his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in June 2010 as "too far off and unrealistic".

Under the rules, Abdullah or a challenger must win at least 30 per cent or 58 nominations to contest the presidency.

The council has left it to Abdullah to decide if he wants to put his name forward. If he decides to do so it would signal a full-scale battle that is expected to seriously divide the already weakened party.

If he decides not to take part, he would continue as president until March and then quit, gaining notoriety as the only Umno leader to have nearly lost the government to the opposition.

Under attack from both inside and outside his party, Abdullah put on a brave front yesterday.

"I am not leaving any time soon, I am not under pressure, I will decide for myself," he said. "I will announce my decision [to contest or to quit] by Oct 9."

Umno leaders say Abdullah has become so unpopular since the March 8 election, which saw the coalition lose its two-thirds parliamentary majority, that he might not garner the required 58 nominations from the divisions.

A faction led by Dr Mahathir applied strong pressure to get Abdullah to quit yesterday.

Originally Abdullah agreed to hand over to Najib in June 2010 but under pressure he agreed to bring the date forward by a year provided he was returned unopposed as president in December and allowed to stay for another year.

"He wants Najib to make it happen for him," said an Umno supreme council member who did not want to be identified. However, the Mahathir faction was against the plan. Instead they want a handover in December or, failing that, an open and fair contest. "We are very upset the council has agreed to defer elections to March," said another council member allied with the faction.

Yesterday's outcome shows the powerful influence of Najib, who leads a third faction in the supreme council. "But even Najib could only persuade the leaders to agree to postpone to March and with a caveat that Abdullah has to decide by Oct 9," said another council member.

"What does a few months really matter?" a member allied with the Mahathir faction said. "It is very clear Umno does not want him but we feel he is a good man and we want to give him a graceful exit," he said. "The general feeling is not to embarrass him, especially during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan."

Abdullah is also under pressure from his supporters to garner enough nominations and fight it out.

Najib, who leads the most powerful faction, is unsure whether to wait for the handover or challenge Abdullah.

"Abdullah has bought himself some time but his days are clearly numbered," said political commentator James Wong. "In about 10 days he has to decide — fight or walk away." — South China Morning Post