Najib is ready to end the special privileges for the Malays

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is ready to end the special privileges for the Malays, but stressed that this must be done gradually.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, the Prime Minister-designate said "if we do not change, the people will change us".

"In the not-too-distant future, we will see all the elements of the New Economic Policy being replaced." He didn't say when that might occur.

"It's a huge challenge," Najib said in the interview yesterday. "There must be this political will and desire to change within Umno. I don't think we can expect people to look at us in more favourable terms unless we change, unless we rectify our weaknesses."

The Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition used the scrapping of the NEP as a campaign pledge to inflict record losses on the ruling Barisan Nasional in the March general election.

The NEP was devised by Najib's father, Tun Abdul Razak, when he was Malaysia's second prime minister to boost the Malays' economic status — through job allocations, cheaper homes and other benefits — in a country where ethnic Chinese had long been more prosperous and remain so. About 65 per cent of country's 27 million people are Malay.

According to Bloomberg, by offering to scrap the NEP, at an unspecified time, and replace it with a needs-based system, Najib is moving closer to the stance of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who also supports a system based on economic need.

Anwar is trying to seize power but said on Wednesday he is finding it difficult to woo ruling coalition lawmakers to his side.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi plans to step down in March and has named Najib, his deputy, as his successor. Abdullah sped up his planned 2010 exit from the political stage as racial tension increased.

Some analysts Bloomberg spoke to expressed doubt that Umno, the leading party in the ruling coalition, is ready to give up a programme that helps its members. Political consultant Karim Raslan said Umno hasn't fully accepted how much it needs to change.

"I don't see enough frankness in terms of challenges facing the party," Karim said. "Many of the party leaders feel that by replacing Abdullah they will overcome these weaknesses. I have to disagree with them. I don't see many signs of revival," Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

Najib's family has held top positions in politics and business for generations. His father led Malaysia from 1970 to 1976. Najib's cousin is the current education minister. His younger brother Nazir Razak runs the country's second-biggest bank CIMB Group Bhd.

Abdullah picked Najib to succeed him despite misgivings by some over controversies surrounding the deputy prime minister.

Najib has denied suggestions that he is linked to the murder of a Mongolian woman in 2006, and that he had an affair with the victim. A political analyst who worked for Najib is on trial for abetting two police officers in the murder.

Anwar also has accused Najib of profiting from defence contracts and of being behind criminal charges that the opposition leader had sex with a man. Anwar denies the sex charge, and Najib denies both being involved in bringing the case against his opponent and making money from defence contracts.

Bloomberg also quoted former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as saying that Najib has to explain all things that are said about him. "Unfortunately, we don't have any other candidate. We have no choice but to choose Najib," Dr Mahathir said.'

In the interview, Najib called the allegations against him baseless.

"I'm telling you, I wouldn't stay in office a day longer if I knew I am involved in these allegations," he said. "There's no proof, no basis. I can sue people, but it's going to be a tedious process in court." (MalaysianInsider)

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What stopping Pak Lah from stepping down?

A question that is being asked again and again since the March general elections is: Why doesn't Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi just quit? He did promise Malaysians improved policing, a better judiciary system, and better rule of law, opening up the media, reducing corruption, etc.
Sadly, under him, crime has jumped, the judiciary remains shaky, the tough Internal Security Act law had just been unleashed again, the mainstream media is used to spin stories not write facts, and corruption seems to have gotten worse.
Added to these - race relations and the economy have also taken a beating.

There are actually good reasons, from his perspective, why he does not want to step down quickly.

* Umno is in a mess, with the ground angry, confused and scared of losing power.

* The civil servants are in disarray too on whether, and how far, they should help these four Pakatan states or not.

Four, and not five, because after 18 years under PAS, federal civil servants in Kelantan know how to play the game.

But one word, perhaps, sums up what he why he wants to stay on: Legacy.

(Of course, there is also a very good reason why he SHOULD step down also - namely, so that Umno could re-unite under a stronger leader, Deputy PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak).

But look at it from Abdullah's point of view - he cannot afford to step down now as he would be forever seen as the prime minister who did almost nothing.

Yes, he launched all those corridors. Yes, he did somehow, and without having real control, did open up the media space.

But he would want to go down in history as having achieved something tangible, something solid even.

Don't we all? Put yourself in his position - would you leave when you see things are not right?

He sees himself as a responsible person who should put things right first.

The unkind view would be that he did not want to step down because the people behind him want him there so that could remain in power too.

And that those who wanted to cling on include his family who are allegedly also profiting from his staying in power.

But to appreciate how Abdullah looks at himself, let us look at the contributions of the past prime ministers, and the titles given to them by some people:

No. 1 - Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Father of Independence

For whatever his detractors may say after the 1969 race riots, he did get Malaysia its independence.

You cannot talk about Malaysia's independence without showing that famous picture of Tunku shouting 'Merdeka' while a couple of white men dignitaries sat behind him - power handed over smoothly.

No. 2 - Tun Razak Hussein, Father of Development

The second prime minister, set up the New Economic Policy in 1971.

He is the father of deputy prime minister, Najib Razak, the man who could be prime minister very soon.

The policy has been much abused today by Umno, but it certainly helped to raise millions of middle class Malays.

The NEP backed poor Malays with financial aid so they could study abroad or locally, gave them top jobs (even though they might not be the most qualified), and even handed them cheap shares as Chinese companies which wanted to list on the stock exchange must have 30 per cent Bumiputra partners.

Of course, the Chinese and other minorities are angered by this, but it did help raise the middle class Malays today.

And Tun Razak, in trying to eradicate poverty among Malays, pushed Felda (Federal Land Development Authority), a legacy that helped Malays to own millions of hectares of plantation land - mostly palm oil and rubber. Some call him Father of Development.

No. 3 - Tun Hussein Onn, Father of Unity

He stood firmly behind the unity of the races and how to work the economy to achieve this, earning him the title Father of Unity.

He launched Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN), or the national unit trust scheme.

He also pushed the concept of Rukun Tetangga (Neighbourhood Watch scheme), where villages and residents of in town areas take turns to guard their neighbourhood. It was quite multi-racial in nature, in that neighbours from the various communities worked together in this scheme, from what I remembered.

No. 4 - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Father of Modernisation

He led for a record 22 years. He changed Malaysia from a rural economy dependent on rubber and tin to an industrial nation and the 17th biggest trading nation in the world.

Father of Modernisation is an apt title for him.

Though it must be noted (and many have these days) that the press was increasingly muzzled, and the judiciary lost its independence during his time.

And corruption in politics, like corruption in business, and the cosy ties between business and politics, just grew and grew.

Still, to many 'men-in-the-street' types, it was during his premiership that middle class Malaysians owned houses and two cars.

THE COUNTDOWN HAS STARTED

Now let us return to why Abdullah is not quitting.

He had said he will contest the December Umno elections and wanted to exit only in mid-2010, and that too under pressure.

He might now not contest the December polls and might quit before that.

Reverse a few days earlier, and people would remember him saying he wanted to 'put things right' before passing on the baton to Najib.

Obviously, he does not want to be known only as the fifth Prime Minister, the first one that did not have anything to show for it. The Premier with no legacy.

How then would they remember him? Making a joke that he would be remembered as Father of Kamaluddin and Father (in-law) of KJ, is easy enough.

Kamaluddin is his businessman son, while KJ, Khairy Jamaluddin, is his politically-ambitious son-in-law.

So Abdullah does indeed need the two years to 2010 to stamp his name on policies and issues.

But from what Malaysians have seen in the last five years, few people seriously think that he can do anything at all.

They say: If he could not and did not achieve anything while he was strong, how could he do it now when he is much weakened?

And today, sadly, almost everyone has started their countdown to his exit. - Singapore Straits Times


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Pak Lah may not seek re-election?

There is a possibility that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may not seek re-election at the December polls of Umno — of which he is president — following a meeting yesterday of the party’s supreme council, according to party insiders.

Even as recently as Wednesday, Abdullah had maintained that he would seek re-election. But the insiders said the meeting had been “lively and frank” and that while no firm decision had been taken on the handover of power — Abdullah has said he will hand over the job to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak by June 2010 — the message delivered to Abdullah was that he was not popular at the grassroots.

Abdullah has been under pressure following the Barisan Nasional’s disastrous showing in the March 8 general election. Since then he has had to continually fight bushfires that included ferocious and relentless attacks from former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Abdullah's popularity in the party further waned following opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's spectacular victory in the Permatang Pauh by-election. Anwar won an increased majority which indicated that the Malays were still staying away from the party that claimed to champion their cause.

A mishandled crisis in his home state of Penang further demonstrated that Abdullah had lost the support of his home base while last week's arrests of three people under the Internal Security Act lent further credence to the thesis that Abdullah's administration was losing credibility.

According to party insiders, the issues came to the fore during yesterday's meeting with some supreme council members speaking bluntly to the premier. One leader, apparently, even told Abdullah that he would not get the nominations necessary to run for party president. Under party rules, a challenger for the presidency needs 58 nominations to run for the post.

More tellingly, International Trade Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who said in Singapore two weeks ago that Abdullah should step down sooner rather than later, wasn't criticised, indicating that his statement was supported by a majority of supreme council members.

The meeting came to a conclusion when Najib stepped in to quell the debate, saying he would discuss the matter further with Abdullah.

This was reinforced by Abdullah who told the press he would meet Najib later. “Whatever decision I make, I will discuss with Najib and the supreme council will be informed,” Abdullah told reporters.

Meanwhile, Abdullah also rejected a challenge put forward by Anwar. The opposition leader threw down the gauntlet yesterday, asking the prime minister to convene an emergency parliamentary sitting to deliberate a no-confidence motion against his leadership “by no later than Tuesday, Sept 23”.

Anwar said that because Abdullah clearly did not believe he had more than 31 possible defectors, “then go to Parliament”. Anwar has consistently maintained that he had the numbers to topple the government.

But the premier declined to take the bait, saying that Parliament was due to meet after Hari Raya anyway.

Separately, Abdullah said that neither “Anwar nor anybody else” would be arrested under the ISA. There had been speculation that the government was planning to crack down on the opposition following Anwar's threats to topple the government.
— Business Times Singapore

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Zaid Ibrahim resigned !!!

De facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has submitted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister.

However, it is known yet whether Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has accepted Zaid's resignation.

According to sources, the senator tendered his letter of resignation to the Prime Minister's office just before 2pm on Monday.

Zaid could not be reached for confirmation.

The former Kota Baru MP was not fielded to stand in the March 8 general election.

Following the general election, however, Abdullah appointed him a Senator and a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

In announcing his new Cabinet on March 18, Abdullah said that Zaid would be responsible for legal matters and take on the role to reform the judiciary.

It was only last Tuesday that Zaid said he might soon become a full-blown Law Minister with the requisite authority and responsibility to help him effect legal reform.

“In fact, my own position will be reviewed to Minister of Law to give me more authority but that will take time. You can’t have responsibility without authority,” he had said then.

However on Sunday, Zaid broke from rank to say that the use of the Internal Security Act against civilians was wrong, adding that he was prepared to resign over the issue.

Excerpt from http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/15/nation/20080915142546&sec=nation

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