#Asian |
- When Najib almost did not become PM
- You must earn, not demand respect, Umno minister tells Muhyiddin
- Too much sound and fury
- Insisting Pakatan Rakyat still alive, PAS says will work with PKR to ‘reorganise forces’
- Salleh: Najib defended PM, Muhyiddin didn’t
- Muhyiddin finally reveals the truth
- Tan Sri Muhyiddin is forgetting history
When Najib almost did not become PM Posted: 24 Oct 2015 10:48 PM PDT If you really want to discuss who 'made' Najib the Prime Minister then it would be Tengku Razaleigh. Tengku Razaleigh blew his chances of becoming Prime Minister when he told Dr Mahathir to go fook himself. And Dr Mahathir fooked Tengku Razaleigh back by dumping him in favour of Najib. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin Muhyiddin Yassin opened a very interesting can of worms with his latest revelation that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad offered him the post of Prime Minister but then, according to Muhyiddin, he turned it down and asked Dr Mahathir to give that job to Najib Tun Razak instead. So, said Muhyiddin, it was he who 'made' Najib the Prime Minister. Actually, that was not really how the story goes so let me tell you what really happened. By the way, those who have been reading Malaysia Today for some time will know that this is not a new story and that I have told this story before, more than once. Soon after the 'disastrous' 2008 general election (that is, disastrous for Barisan Nasional) Khir Toyo organised a seminar at the Hotel Singgahsana in Petaling Jaya attended by a few hundred Umno members. I, too, was there — just out of curiosity since I was not an Umno member. Dr Mahathir and his son, Mukhriz, were also there sitting at the main table on stage. Dr Mahathir then announced that Tun Abdullah Badawi should resign as Prime Minister (in fact, he had been saying this for two years since June 2006) for performing so badly in the general election, and worse, for losing Penang, the Prime Minister's 'home state', to the opposition. (Actually Dr Mahathir's home state, Kedah, also fell to the opposition although Dr Mahathir made no mention of this). What was most interesting, though, was that Dr Mahathir announced that a Presidential Council would be formed and that the next Prime Minister would be 'guided' by this Council. In short, the Council would run the country. But Abdullah's deputy then, Najib, was not only not prepared to push for the Prime Minister's resignation, to make it worse, he publicly declared that as the number two he will be loyal to his boss. And this upset Dr Mahathir who told Najib that if he wants the job of Prime Minister then he must fight for it. In other words, he must kick out Abdullah if he wants to take over as the Prime Minister. But Najib was not prepared to do that. Of course, there were allegations that Najib does not have the balls, he is not a fighter, he wants the job to be served to him on a silver platter, etc. Najib's argument, though, was that after a very bad showing in the 2008 general election, triggering an internal crisis and power struggle is not going to help Umno's or Barisan Nasional's cause. So Dr Mahathir decided to dump Najib. He then started talking to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Whether Dr Mahathir really wanted Tengku Razaleigh as the new Prime Minister or whether he was just using this to 'threaten' Najib that 'if you do not play ball I have other candidates' is not clear. Tengku Razaleigh, however, feels that Dr Mahathir was just using him to pressure Najib to go against Abdullah. In other words, Dr Mahathir was telling Najib that if he was not prepared to challenge Abdullah then he is going to be dumped in favour of Tengku Razaleigh. In this whole scheme of things, Muhyiddin was supposed to be the number two. It was either number two to Najib or number two to Tengku Razaleigh. Dr Mahathir had no plans to make Muhyiddin the number one, as Muhyiddin claims. Of course, Najib was Dr Mahathir's first choice. Tengku Razaleigh was Dr Mahathir's second choice or maybe not even a choice but just the leverage to get Najib to 'move his ass' and take on Abdullah. Tengku Razaleigh feels he was never really a choice at all from the very beginning but was just being used. Anyway, Dr Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh then met a few times. I think it was at least five or six times (once in Dr Mahathir's home). And Dr Mahathir laid down Tengku Razaleigh's 'terms of employment'. And amongst these 'terms of employment' was that Tengku Razaleigh had to agree to the formation of a Presidential Council to guide him in how the country should be run. Tengku Razaleigh was indignant and he replied with a big, fat no. No way Jose! If he becomes the Prime Minister then he runs the country the way he wants to and not become a puppet Prime Minister with a one-man Presidential Council as the de facto Prime Minister behind the scenes telling him what to do. So Dr Mahathir dumped Tengku Razaleigh and went back to Najib. After Najib became the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir started telling him what to do and when Najib could no longer take it he ignored the old man and stopped talking to him or taking his calls for six months. And that was when, last year, Dr Mahathir decided that Najib has to go. In fact, Dr Mahathir said this openly — that Najib has ignored him and refuses to talk to him for the last six months. But he needed an excuse to oust Najib, just like he needed an excuse to oust Abdullah — which was the Oil-for-Food controversy. And this is all now water under the bridge, of course, and that issue Dr Mahathir is using against Najib is 1MDB. So, no, Muhyiddin did not make Najib the Prime Minister. In fact, Najib almost did not become the Prime Minister because he would not go along with the plan to stab Abdullah. Muhyiddin was supposed to be the Deputy Prime Minister all along. The only thing is deputy to whom, Najib or Tengku Razaleigh? If you really want to discuss who 'made' Najib the Prime Minister then it would be Tengku Razaleigh. Tengku Razaleigh blew his chances of becoming Prime Minister when he told Dr Mahathir to go fook himself. And Dr Mahathir fooked Tengku Razaleigh back by dumping him in favour of Najib.
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You must earn, not demand respect, Umno minister tells Muhyiddin Posted: 24 Oct 2015 09:33 PM PDT (Malay Mail Online) – An Umno minister has hit out at Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over the latter's complaint of being sidelined by the party leadership, telling the senior leader that trust and respect has to be earned. The minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak, also noted that in his complaint at a Johor forum yesterday, Muhyiddin had claimed to have only done what he believed was good for the party he loves. "How does giving ammunition to the opposition to hit the party be considered for the good of the party?" Salleh asked his deputy president in a post on his blog. "Trust and respect need to be earned, not demanded, as the saying goes," he added. During the forum organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian, Muhyiddin had questioned his treatment in Umno following his removal as deputy prime minister, saying he was being sidelined despite having committed no offence. The senior Umno leader said he was ostracised by the party even though he remained the second most senior leader in Umno after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. He also insisted he was a loyal deputy, pointing out that it was he who had convinced Najib to take over as prime minister during Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's rule. But Salleh said that Muhyiddin had failed to mention that during that time, Najib had not wanted to betray Abdullah. "Najib felt the deputy should be loyal to the number one. So it is not that Najib took a long time to make up his mind but more that Najib did not want to oust the Prime Minister. "If Muhyiddin wants to relate history then let it be the correct version of history," he said. Muhyiddin was removed from the federal Cabinet in a reshuffle earlier this year following his open criticism of the administration's handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy. Aside from Muhyiddin, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal was also dropped as rural and regional development minister over public dissent on 1MDB in the same reshuffle. In June, Putrajaya announced a six-month plan to rationalise 1MDB's reported RM42 billion in debt and this month said it was on track for completion by the end of the year.
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Posted: 24 Oct 2015 08:55 PM PDT The current state of politics in the country is marked by a troubled ruling coalition and an opposition in disarray. Joceline Tan, The Star Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is still getting used to life in the slow lane. It will never be the same as walking in the corridors of power but there have been some visible side benefits. The Umno deputy president gets enough sleep these days, he has shed some weight, his complexion has improved and he looks better than when he was the deputy prime minister. A former aide said Muhyiddin is trying to keep a low profile and avoid talking unnecessarily but invitations to speak keep coming in. And everywhere he goes, people seem to expect him to comment on the "elephant in the room," that is, the 1MDB issue. He also gets the sense that some people out there think he will take on Najib for the top post but those who understand the nature of Umno politics would know it is not quite possible for now or in the near future. No one understands it better than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and that is why he wants Umno to throw out Najib rather than get someone to challenge him for the Umno presidency. Dr Mahathir has been hammering away at Najib since August last year – yes, it has been that long. The most recent hammering session took place at a press conference to condemn the use of Sosma or Security Offences Act on two of Dr Mahathir's supporters. The former premier also managed to get among others, Muhyiddin, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to join him at the press conference. The pro-Mahathir segment hailed it as an anti-Najib alignment of notables, and it was in a way. It was the first time that Muhyiddin and Shafie had appeared publicly with Dr Mahathir since their sacking. As for Tengku Razaleigh, everyone knows there is no love lost between him and Dr Mahathir, and seeing them together was a new development. The reaction to these big names coming out against Sosma has been mixed. Part of it had to do with the contradictory nature of their action. Muhyiddin and Shafie were part of the Cabinet that created Sosma while Dr Mahathir had used the ISA on political opponents in his heydays. Their past coloured their new sense of outrage. "I respect Tun Mahathir but the trouble is that almost everything he accuses Najib and the government of, he had done when he was in power – detaining people without trial, bailouts, mega projects. He even joined a street demonstration," said Datuk Alwi Che Ahmad, the assemblyman for Kok Lanas in Kelantan. Dr Mahathir's quest to topple Najib has become very personal, emotional and all-consuming. When he first began raising questions about the 1MDB scandal, many people in Umno believed he was doing it for the well-being of the party and country. Like him, the thinking segment of Umno also wanted answers. But one year down the road, many of them think it has morphed into a battle of wills and ego, that it has become less about the party and country than about Dr Mahathir's habit of always getting his way. "We may be wrong but that is what it looks like to us. I am really worried," said Alwi who was a former political secretary to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The 1MDB issue has dented Najib's image especially in the eyes of the urban middle class. There has been explanation after explanation but those who actually understand the issue are not buying it, while those who find the whole thing too complicated have switched off. And all this while, Dr Mahathir is playing the inimical role of pouring curry power to the bubbling pot. Najib's popularity rating has slipped to 44%, down from 48% earlier this year although analysts say that it has more to do with public dissatisfaction over GST and the cost of living as surveys have shown that 70% of Malaysians are clueless about what the 1MDB issue is about. Najib is also struggling with the fact that his coalition has only 5% support from the Chinese. The ruling coalition is not in a good place at this point in time. However, Umno, despite its liabilities, is still able to pull its weight but the same cannot be said of its partners in the peninsula. Barisan Nasional is more dependent than ever on Sabah and Sarawak and the outcome of the forthcoming Sarawak state election will have huge implications for the survival of Najib. The irony is that the opposition pact is in no better shape. It is stuck in a mess of its own making. The opposition parties have regrouped as Pakatan Harapan but it does not have the full support of PKR. Some PKR leaders support the new pact while others want to continue working with PAS. PKR deputy president and Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali is behaving as though Pakatan Harapan does not exist and his administration is still operating as Pakatan Rakyat. The fiasco over their Parliamentary motion of no confidence against Najib exemplified the disarray. They had been talking about it to all and sundry for months but there did not seem to be any coordinated effort. When the motion was submitted by an MP from PKR, DAP threatened to boycott it unless a new motion was tabled by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. This Parliament meeting was the first time that opposition MPs were coming in as Pakatan Harapan. The no-confidence motion bid would have been a moral victory for the new pact but they tripped. Instead of embarrassing Najib, it exposed their own internal rifts. The Barisan side then turned the tables against them and moved a motion to suspend Lim Kit Siang for remarks made about the Speaker. The vote count on Lim's suspension also showed who has the numbers – 107 Barisan votes against 77 from the opposition bench. To save face, the opposition claimed they were in secret discussions with Barisan MPs to move the no-confidence motion against Najib. But it was so clearly another "Sept 16" kind of ploy and it is no longer amusing. "We've got to choose again in a few years' time. Barisan is in deep water but there is no viable opposition. Who is there to vote for?" said a Malay executive from a public-listed company. It is a rather bizarre state of politics. The opposition claims it is ready to govern Malaysia, yet is unable to take advantage of the troubles of the ruling coalition. Despite being cast out of the opposition pact, PAS still has the numbers given the 60,000-strong crowd at its "green rally" in Kota Baru last week. The collection from the crowd that evening was a staggering RM237,000. "The numbers basically mean that PAS will survive under Tuan Guru Hadi," said Roslan Shahir, the former press secretary to Datuk Seri Hadi Awang. The PAS rally also coincided with the 25th year of PAS rule in Kelantan and Hadi summed it up well when he claimed that nowhere else in the world has a government by an Islamic party survived this long. The next night, the PAS president told a ceramah in Tumpat, Kelantan, that renown Islamic scholar Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi had informed him that it was haram (forbidden) for the PAS breakaway group to form a new party to go against an existing Islamist party. It was a damning verdict because Sheikh al-Qaradawi, as he is known, is a big name in the Muslim world. Choosing Tumpat to deliver the news was quite deliberate – the MP for Tumpat Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar had quit PAS to join PKR. His party recently scored another moral victory when the Federal Court threw out a bid by Gerakan politicians to challenge the constitutionality of the Hudud Bill passed by the Kelantan Government. The Budget meeting of Parliament will take off in earnest now that Najib has unveiled his Budget for 2016. It is going to be a long, hot and highly politicised meeting. There is talk of the opposition attempting to vote against the Budget as a means of registering their protest against Najib. But sabotaging a Budget is rarely a good idea because it will lead to a government lockdown, deprive government servants of their salaries and jeopardise amenities and services for the rakyat. And all because politicians are out to play politics and score political points. The two-party system has brought about greater checks and balances in government. Unfortunately, it has also ushered in an unprecedented degree of politicking and a culture of quarrelling and fault-finding. Traits like basic goodness, kindness and common sense that one sees on the ground seems to get translated into mean-spirited and irrational politics by practitioners. And it is seen in those determined to stay in power as well as those eager to attain power. It is so debilitating, it is the primary cause of political fatigue among ordinary Malaysians and it should stop.
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Insisting Pakatan Rakyat still alive, PAS says will work with PKR to ‘reorganise forces’ Posted: 24 Oct 2015 08:44 PM PDT (Malay Mail Online) – PAS believes Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is still a functioning coalition even without the DAP, and has announced plans to strengthen the pact with the help of PKR and other parties in the peninsula as well as in east Malaysia. In a statement, PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that without the DAP, PR is still seen as a sturdy and viable political platform. "PR still exists and this is proven by the support and political cooperation we have in Selangor and Kelantan," he said. "PAS will strengthen PR and reorganise our forces… along with PKR and other parties in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak," he added. Tuan Ibrahim also said a meeting held last week with PKR resulted in an agreement to strengthen cooperation through discussions at the state level and the federal territories. "PR without the DAP is a political platform that is strong and still exists until today," he stressed. PAS had earlier this year cut off ties with the DAP, leading to the reported demise of the seven-year-old PR pact. The death of the pact, announced by the DAP, later led to the formation of Pakatan Harapan, which includes PAS offshoot Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). Although Pakatan Harapan is said to have left its doors open to PAS, the Islamist party has refused to join the pact. The situation has created uncertainty on the opposition front, particularly in Selangor, which currently counts members from both DAP and PAS as well as PKR as part of its administrative team. Earlier this week, PKR deputy president and Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali said Selangor and Penang's differing situation meant a Pakatan Harapan government was not needed in the former state, also reportedly confirming that PKR Supreme Council's resolution two weeks ago to work with all federal opposition parties including PAS, PSM and those in Sabah and Sarawak. PAS only holds one state seat in DAP-dominated Penang, while the Islamist party accounts for 13 of the Selangor state assembly against DAP's 15, PKR's 13, Barisan Nasional's 12, Amanah's two seats and one independent assemblyman.
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Salleh: Najib defended PM, Muhyiddin didn’t Posted: 24 Oct 2015 07:57 PM PDT Minister challenges story about challenge to Pak Lah and Muhyiddin calling himself a loyalist (Free Malaysia Today) – Communications and Multimedia minister Salleh Said Keruak has challenged Muhyiddin Yassin's version of history by pointing out that Najib Razak, as deputy to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had refused to betray his prime minister in 2009. In a blog posting today, Salleh contrasted Najib's behaviour to that of Muhyiddin who had "said and did nothing to defend Abdullah" when the then prime minister and Umno president came under attack from Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Salleh's article was a riposte to Muhyiddin's widely-publicised account yesterday of how he had persuaded Najib in 2009 to challenge Abdullah and how, on his own part, had refused Dr Mahathir's request to take on the challenge himself. "What Muhyiddin did not reveal was that Najib had refused to betray Tun Abdullah and instead publicly declared his support for the Prime Minister," said Salleh. Muhyiddin was dismissed as deputy prime minister in late July after he began questioning the reported deposit of RM2.6 billion in Najib's personal bank account in 2013 and has allied himself with Mahathir's yearlong campaign to oust Najib as Umno president and prime minister. Yesterday, Muhyiddin had related at a forum in Johor Baru how it was he who convinced Najib to take over as Prime Minister and that this was what Dr Mahathir wanted. "What Muhyiddin left out from this story is that Najib did not want to betray the Prime Minister by going against him," Salleh said. "Najib felt the deputy should be loyal to the number one. So it is not that Najib took a long time to make up his mind but more that Najib did not want to oust the Prime Minister," Salleh said. "If Muhyiddin wants to relate history then let it be the correct version of history.
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Muhyiddin finally reveals the truth Posted: 24 Oct 2015 09:32 AM PDT And this would also mean what Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said is true. Tengku Razaleigh said he refused to become the Prime Minister because he would merely be a puppet Prime Minister with Dr Mahathir pulling the strings from behind the scenes as the de facto Prime Minister. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin What Muhyiddin Yassin said as reported in the news item below is very interesting. First of all, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad decides who becomes Prime Minister. And if Dr Mahathir does not want you as Prime Minister or he wants you removed as Prime Minister then that is what is going to happen. The second point that Muhyiddin made was that Dr Mahathir was the one who chose Najib to replace Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister. Hence Dr Mahathir solely decided that Najib will run the country and the party, either Umno or Barisan Nasional, had no say in the matter. Muhyiddin also revealed that both he and Dr Mahathir were disappointed with Najib because he refused to challenge Abdullah and oust him. The impression that Muhyiddin gives is that Najib was loyal to Abdullah and refused to stab him in the back. The fourth point Muhyiddin made was that he pressured Najib to take on Abdullah and push him out. And according to Muhyiddin, if Najib refused to oust Abdullah then he (Muhyiddin) was going to become Prime Minister instead. What Muhyiddin said tells a lot about what is going on today. Seven years ago Najib was told he must challenge Abdullah and kick him out. So the story that now Muhyiddin is being asked to challenge Najib and kick him out makes sense. There is a pattern to what happened seven years ago and to what is happening now. The man who runs Malaysia is Dr Mahathir and whoever becomes Prime Minister is merely the puppet Prime Minister with Dr Mahathir as the de facto Prime Minister. And this would also mean what Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said is true. Tengku Razaleigh said he refused to become the Prime Minister because he would merely be a puppet Prime Minister with Dr Mahathir pulling the strings from behind the scenes as the de facto Prime Minister. ************************************ Muhyiddin: How I made Najib the PM Ousted DPM says Mahathir asked him to replace Abdullah but he said Najib as deputy should be the one (Free Malaysia Today) – Muhyiddin Yassin has revealed that he was instrumental in Najib Razak becoming prime minister, and that he had declined when asked by Dr Mahathir Mohamad to replace Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Muhyiddin related the background to Najib's assumption of power when speaking at a dialogue in Johor Bahru yesterday. The dialogue was organised by publishing company Karangkraf and its daily newspaper Sinar Harian. He said he had met Najib and urged him to challenge Abdullah after the Barisan Nasional suffered severe losses in the 2008 general election, losing power in five states. "The thing with Najib is, he takes a long time to make up his mind," Muhyiddin said, according to Malaysian Insider. "That was when I met Dr Mahathir and he asked me to go for the presidency. But I said no, I can't, I am only party vice president, and Najib is the deputy president, so he should go for it." Muhyiddin said he was eventually the one who convinced Najib to take up the challenge and become prime minister. "It was on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Senai that I told him that he needs to make up his mind quickly and I told him that Dr Mahathir had asked me to take up the challenge instead. That was when Najib said okay, he will do it. He agreed to it on a flight to Johor," said Muhyiddin. About 400 people, most of them Johor Umno members, attended the dialogue session, held in a hotel in Johor Bahru. Muhyiddin became deputy prime minister after Najib took power, but was dismissed by Najib in late July after making muted criticisms about a reported RM2.6 billion donation deposited directly into Najib's personal bank account. However, he remains Umno deputy president. He said he had no regrets about helping Najib become prime minister. "I won't say I regret it. At that time, it was the right thing to do. He was qualified and capable to lead the country," he said. Dr Mahathir, however, has spoken of his regret at choosing Najib to replace Abdullah and has been at the forefront of a year-long campaign to force out Najib as Umno president and prime minister. Muhyiddin said he was aware of implications after speaking his mind at the dialogue yesterday. "I know I might face further implications, but it is better for me to tell the truth," he said. "No one can doubt my loyalty. I have always been loyal to the leadership. In my years as part of the government from 1981, I had never spoken out of line against the leadership," he added.
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Tan Sri Muhyiddin is forgetting history Posted: 24 Oct 2015 08:55 AM PDT Salleh Said Keruak Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today that he is not a 'gunting dalam lipatan'. The closest English translation to this proverb would be a wolf in sheep's clothing, meaning in short a betrayer. Muhyiddin said whatever he did he did for the good of the party and because he loves the party and not with intentions to destroy the party. He also said he is the lone voice in the party and condemned all those who refuse to voice out and speak their mind. How does giving ammunition to the opposition to hit the party be considered for the good of the party? Muhyiddin also complained that the Prime Minister is sidelining him and no longer gives him the respect and that he is no longer entrusted with the job of chairing certain meetings like in the past. Trust and respect need to be earned, not demanded, as the saying goes. Maybe Muhyiddin forgot that when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was no longer the Prime Minister and began criticising Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi, it was Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who publicly declared that his loyalty was with the Prime Minister. Muhyiddin, however, said and did nothing to defend Tun Abdullah.
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