KUALA LUMPUR, THURS:

An Umno veteran feels that the spat between former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has reached a stage where it can only be resolved by the intervention of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin as the mediator.

Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Tapa, 85, said only the intervention of Tuanku Mizan, as the representative of the Malay rulers, can bring the two leaders together for talks to end their quarrel.

“It (the spat) has reached a difficult stage for them to resolve on their own. As such, I would suggest that, if possible, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong summon both of them to have discussions.

“I feel no one else can act as the mediator because both of them are like fire. You cannot fight fire with fire. The matter has even gone beyond the stage where Umno veterans can help,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

Saying that Malays were bound by the deep-rooted traditional values of the rulers, he explained that it was not wrong for the Malay rulers to intervene in the dispute because it was Umno which had championed the cause of restoring the powers of the Malay rulers.
He said the Malayan Union proposed in 1946 would have usurped the powers of the Malay rulers except for their status as head of the Islamic religion but Umno championed the cause of restoring these powers through the initiative of the party’s founder Datuk Onn Jaafar.

He also said that at stake in the dispute between the two leaders was not just Umno but the Malays in general.

“I see this (dispute) as a harbinger of the destruction of Umno and disunity of the Malays. Pak Lah (Abdullah) heads a Cabinet now. He has won the elections. How can he step down? He cannot resign just because of that (Dr Mahathir’s quitting Umno).

“Many (people) have stated their expression of support to Pak Lah. Those who do not support him are maintaining silence. These are indications of a breakup,” he said.

Abdul Aziz expressed his feelings on what was happening to the Malays in a

“pantun” (poem) which implied that the Malays were in dire straits due to envious leaders, as follows:

Anak raja menjunjung kayu,

Sebab pemimpin berdengki-dengkian.

Former Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Aishah Ghani feels that the spat between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah was Umno’s domestic problem.

“It is unnecessary to involve the Yang di-Pertuan Agong because this is a party matter. Furthermore, this is not the first time that Umno has faced a crisis. It has been up against worst crises before, and we have resolved all of them.

“It is also not easy to bring these two leaders together for discussions.

They are not children,” the Umno veteran said.

Aishah said she was convinced that the dispute between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah could be resolved if all quarters involved placed party interests above personal interests.

“I feel the matter can be settled if Pak Lah is a little accommodating. My suggestion is for Pak Lah to say when he would step down. He has mentioned that he would step down but has not said when. Now is the time for him to dislose that.

“When there is a time frame, people wanting Pak Lah to step down will no longer keep urging him to do so because they know when he will do just that,” she said.

Aishah said she has been hearing talk among party members who have cynically questioned Abdullah’s statement on his stepping down.

“That’s the problem. It’s just talk. The same goes for (Deputy Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak’s) statement that he will discuss the transition of power with Pak Lah. Do so quickly. Do not just talk,” she said.

She said that as a veteran who had moved up the ranks in the party, she was saddened by what was happening in Umno now.

“We are unable to do anything. We are powerless. We are just ordinary members. What we have are experience and our love for Umno. It is due to this love for the party that we continue to give our views and advice. It is up to them (the current leaders) whether they want to listen to us,” she said.

Recently, political analyst Prof Dr Ahmad Atory Hussein had voiced similar views, saying that it would not be wrong for Abdullah to make the first move and meet up with Dr Mahathir.

“What more when it is in the interests of Umno and the Malays,” said the lecturer of the Law and Public Administration Faculty of Universiti Utara Malaysia.

However, it may be difficult to carry out the suggestions of Aishah and Ahmad Atory because since the spat between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah began, both leaders have met but the dispute has remained unresolved.

And, Dr Mahathir has continued to hurl criticisms at Abdullah and has described the prime minister as weak and being under the influence of people close to him, including his family.

Abdullah, who took over as prime minister, Umno president and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman from Dr Mahathir on Oct 31 2003, has maintained silence rather than reply to the criticisms.

The dispute between the two leaders reached a “shocking” stage last Monday when Dr Mahathir, who had served as Umno president for 22 years, announced that he was quitting the party after having lost confidence in Abdullah’s leadership.

Many quarters see the move as a last-ditch attempt by Dr Mahathir to remove Abdullah from Umno and the government.

Article source:

The New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, shocked that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would resort to quitting Umno, reiterated that he would not succumb to pressure and step down as party president and prime minister.

“Why should I? I have work to do,” Abdullah said in response to Dr Mahathir’s demand that he resign to take sole responsibility for the election results.

“What is important now is for the party to remain calm and for members to realise they must be loyal if they want Umno to be strong and to continue with its struggle.”

Abdullah was confident the majority of members would stay with the party and support the leadership.

“I know that they care about the party. If they still love the party, they will not leave,” he told a packed press conference here yesterday.
Abdullah, however, did not deny that Dr Mahathir’s resignation could influence some Umno members to walk out with the former party president.

“Yes, it may happen because we have about three million members. But I don’t think the members of parliament will take the same action.

“If we are true Umno members, we must be patient. If a member does not want to be with Umno any more, it means the party’s spirit and struggle are no longer in him.

“If they want Umno to be strong, there would be no logic for them to leave the party,” he said.

Abdullah said he would not give in to Dr Mahathir’s long-running campaign to unseat him from the leadership of the party and country.

“I am a loyal party member who has never left the party and I will continue to fight for the party.

“Umno has contributed much to the people and our nation of many races - it all depends on us,” he said.

Dr Mahathir’s resignation would be discussed at the next party supreme council meeting but Abdullah dismissed a question on whether he would meet his predecessor.

Article source:

The New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno members must counter the notion that they are arrogant and corrupt, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Umno president said the party must show the people that it always had their interest at heart.

“This is very important,” he said at the party’s 62nd anniversary celebrations at Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.

He said there were accusations hurled at Umno that it was arrogant and weak.

“We should not close our ears to these accusations. God gave us ears to hear. We must dispel these accusations against us and clean up what is not right,” he said, adding that there was strength in integrity, a virtue that every Umno member should have.

He also said it was important to safeguard the party’s, coalition’s and government’s integrity.

“I do not want people in government or those who are MPs and assemblymen hauled up in court for corruption, abuse of power or other criminal offences.

“I don’t want to see newspapers highlighting such cases because I expect something better from you all,” he said.

Touching on the 12th general election results, he said, it was clear that voters gave the party and Barisan Nasional a “signal” that something was not right.

“I admit the results were really not good. I feel sad, really sad about it. But we should remember that although our majorities were reduced and we lost support, we still won a substantial number of seats.

“Umno won 79 parliamentary seats which is far more than PAS and PKR put together. So we should not be in a state of panic and chaos and act as if our party lost, and allow the losing (Opposition) parties to behave as if they won,” he said. Calling on Umno members not to patah semangat (lose heart), Abdullah said it was crucial to fulfil promises made to the people and take care of their needs.

“We must be united and be of service to the people. That is our party objective and slogan all this while. Bersatu, Bersetia, Berkhidmat (United, Loyal and of Service) – what’s the meaning of our slogan if we forget to do this?” he added.

Abdullah said the country was currently going through another economic crisis due to high oil prices and rising food prices globally and that the impact was felt by the people.

He said it was important for the Government to act to ease the burden on the people, and pointed out that the petrol subsidy borne by the Government had grown to RM45bil a year compared to RM35bil the previous year because of the world crude oil prices.

Touching on the non-Malays, Abdullah gave the assurance that although Umno was a Malay party, it always gave support to its non-Malay component parties and members.

Abdullah also said in the past 62 years Umno had gone through many ups and downs.

“But Umno has survived until today because we carry the party in our hearts. Even when Umno was deregistered, we did not die because the Umno in our hearts can never die,” he said.

Article source:

 mStar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has come out with the strongest indication yet that he would be contesting one of the top two positions in the December party polls.

He said he had received a lot of feedback from “grassroots, advisers and proposers” who told him that it was time to move up the party hierarchy. As vice-president, “a move up” would mean a challenge for the deputy presidency or presidency.

The International Trade and Industry Minister, who hit out at the party’s restrictive quota system which prevented members from contesting for posts without a specific number of nominations, said he would consider many things, including having to face “incumbents and the powers-that-be”, before making a decision.

”It is not an easy decision to make. But people say (to me): ‘You have been vice-president for three terms. Now you have to look at something else’.

“I think I will make the right decision, hopefully, when the time comes,’’ he told The Star in an interview at his ministry office (see above).

The 61-year-old Muhyiddin, who was first elected vice-president in 1993, described himself as an innovator and “someone who would not take things lying down.”

Referring to the party’s quota system, he said: “It is undemocratic. I would like UMNO to go back to where it was before … allow whoever wants to contest to contest.

“One nomination, a proposer and seconder, like in the (general) election, that’s it. Why should the position of party president be so sacred, sacrosanct ? that nobody can challenge? “This is against the spirit of democracy,’’ he stressed.

Muhyiddin, who is also the party’s Constitution Committee chairman, said most members had rejected the quota system during a feedback exercise conducted by him previously.

“(This is) because the quota system actually promotes money politics,’’ he added.

Prime Minister and party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said last month that the 30% quota of support from divisions for the president’s post, 20% for deputy president and 10% for vice-presidents would stay despite calls for its abolition by some party members.

On Abdullah’s decision to defend his presidency in the Umno polls, Muhyiddin said it was his prerogative and right to do so.

“But there are people who want to contest against him, they, too, are exercising their democratic right.

“At the end of the day, it is the delegates who will decide. The leaders don’t decide, it’s always the delegates, and we have got a process of elections,” he added.

Article source:

TheStar News 

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh has been accused of politicising things by warning the Prime Minister that he will not hesitate to take legal action against the premier and his deputy if they continue attacking him publicly.

“Karpal Singh likes to politicise things. We expect what he’s doing is just to get publicity,” Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said yesterday after presenting awards to outstanding Malay individuals and non-governmental organisations in conjunction with Umno’s 62nd anniversary celebration.

Karpal Singh had on Friday warned the Prime Minister that he would not hesitate to take legal action if the premier and his deputy persisted in attacking him over his statement that the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah did not have jurisdiction over the transfer of state Religious Department director Datuk Jamry Sury.

Asked why he lodged a police report against Karpal Singh at Brickfields police station on Thursday, Tengku Adnan said: “I’m asking the police to investigate. To me, it (Karpal Singh’s statement) is seditious.

“I think some action should be taken against Karpal Singh and whoever talks against the rulers of the country.”

Earlier, Tengku Adnan advised the people, especially youths, who liked to read about allegations against Umno leaders posted by bloggers on the Internet, to check with the Umno headquarters if there was any truth to the stories.

In Ipoh, Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Taib said yesterday that Karpal Singh should have sought an audience with the Sultan of Perak to voice his opinion on the reinstatement of Jamry.

“He should not have done it in public. He should be more refined, respectful and courteous,” he said.

Meanwhile, Perak MIC members, led by state chairman Datuk G. Rajoo, staged a protest against Karpal Singh at their party headquarters in Medan Kidd in Ipoh yesterday.

“We urged the state government to view this issue seriously and the police to start investigations on Karpal Singh for his unethical statements,” said Rajoo.

Article source:

TheStar News 

PENANG: Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh fears for his safety now after the Prime Minister’s call to the Attorney-General to decide whether to charge him for questioning the powers of the Perak Sultan.

Karpal Singh, who is DAP chairman, said what Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had said carried a lot of weight and had serious implications and consequences which made him worried about his safety.

“His statement urging the AG to act quickly because a lot of people were interested to know what the appropriate punishment should be, clearly amounted to him directing the AG to punish me even before I have been charged in court,” he told a press conference at his office in Green Hall yesterday.

“The statement gave the public a pre-conceived idea that I had committed an offence and should be punished,” he said.

Yesterday, police officers Asst Supt A. Sidambaram and Asst Supt Azry Akmar Ayob from the George Town police headquarters questioned Karpal Singh for two hours at his office here from 11.30am.

Karpal Singh was questioned over the reports made against him in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, on April 25 and in Ipoh, Perak, on May 5.

He said the Attorney-General must not be influenced by Abdullah’s call and should act without fear and favour.

Karpal Singh said he would raise the matter in Parliament tomorrow.

He added he had to justify his stand that Perak Sultan Azlan Shah did not have jurisdiction over the transfer of state Religious Department director Datuk Jamry Sury.

Meanwhile, acting state police chief Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Salleh Mat Rasid said the police would expedite investigations into Karpal Singh’s case.

“We will forward the investigation papers to the deputy public prosecutor’s office maybe in two or three days as requested by the AG,” he told reporters at the Patani Road police station yesterday.

On whether Karpal Singh would be arrested, SAC Salleh said police would take appropriate action if there was sufficient evidence.

Article source:

TheStar News