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Can Pak Lah step up to the plate?


Sunday, 06 July 2008
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JULY 6 After a week of high political drama, all eyes are now focused, once again on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Many feel he has been a passive bystander during the explosive exchange of fire between his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and opposition icon Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Both men have traded bloody blows – some way below the belt – in a fight reminiscent of Anwar taking on former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

While in the court of public opinion Najib has come out worse off, Anwar is also not without his detractors. The latest about turn made by private eye, P Balasubramaniam, in retracting his earlier statutorydeclaration has set Anwar's charge against Najib back somewhat.

Clearly the situation between the two potential future Prime Ministers is fluid and it is anyone's guess what the next salvo will be and from whom.

Amid this tit for tat, the stock market has dived and investor confidence was not helped by a full day suspension in trading on Thursday because of a technical glitch.

As if to compound bad news on a day of market jitters, the police announced that it would conduct joint exercises with the armed forces to ensure public order. To most people, having soldiers on the streets means nothing less than martial law.

All of these developments have worsened the sense of uncertainty that began right after Barisan Nasiona's electoral setback in March.  It comes at a time when inflation figures are creeping up partly due to the Government's move to slash petrol subsidies and development expenditures have had to be reprioritized because of escalating costs.

For most Malaysians, if there was ever a need for strong leadership, it is now.  The big question is whether Abdullah can step up to the challenge.  The answer is, he has no choice but to do so.

He has to put together the best innings of his political career to get things back on track. Why?  Because, for now, there is no other alternative.

With all the accusations and counter-accusations, Najib will need time to repair his image and credibility with the wider public even though UMNO appears unperturbed by the damage inflicted on Najib over the last weeks. Any move for him to succeed Abdullah in the immediate future will cause further instability especially since Anwar has claimed that he has more dirt to dish on Najib.

Anwar himself is not an option. For all his huffing and puffing of crossovers from Barisan Nasional, not one has materialized so far. Even the renegade Sabah-based SAPP has decided not to leave Barisan Nasional.

Until Najib is able to resuscitate himself, Abdullah will have to dig deep into his reserve of experience, shake off his indecisiveness and take charge.  He has to calm the market by appearing focused on the economy and getting his economic ministers to send out positive signals to investors and businessmen. Government bureaucracy for the implementation of the rest of the Ninth Malaysia Plan projects must be cut so that there is economic activity and the corresponding multiplier effect.

Abdullah must send a clear message to the armed forces to stand down and honour the division of duties between the police and the military. He needs to tackle the spat between Anwar and Najib by ensuring speedy and professional investigations into all the allegations, protecting at all times due process.

In the case of the sodomy allegations against Anwar, Abdullah needs to get the police moving quickly to complete their investigations.On the allegations against Najib, a speedy resolution to the investigations into Balasubramaniam's contradictory declarations will reduce the political temperature considerably.

Most importantly, Abdullah needs to stay in front of the news cycle. Many feel that he is being reactive and merely responding to events as they unfold.  As the most powerful man in Malaysia, he should be pre-empting issues and directing swift and transparent responses that can ease speculation and rumour mongering.

This is a tall order for Abdullah.  Yet, this is still his mandate and since he has indicated that he does not want to resign, he must prove himself by showing Malaysians that his mind and heart are still in the game. This is a chance for him to come back from the political dead and assert his leadership that has been absent or the last few years.

The odds are against him to succeed, but Malaysia has no other choice for now. Not with the global economic turmoil at our doorstep.


Comments (14)Add Comment
...
written by purpleshoppe, July 09, 2008 02:38:03
Badawi will reign la.

Not because he is the best choice.... but because he is our only choice.

1. kuli - not enough grassroots support
2. mr C4 - we heard Jalan Tun Razak's name will be changed~ to Jalan C4, a murderor to lead the nation??????? a murderor and a fornicator is not even worthy to be a human, how to lead.... but he is the obvious successor la, because only through him Mr Flip Flop can guarantee Mr Rembau's future
3. mr PKR - kelantan clearly lashed out at the stupidly organised concert without proper screening, 2 right hands from within his most intimate circle betrayed him, SAPP chikening out on him.... no unity, how to lead?

sighs..... if only Lim Guan Eng was Abdullah Lim Guan Eng
...
written by Jack Sparrow, July 08, 2008 22:08:11
Forget it
...
written by rams609, July 08, 2008 13:23:18
Can he? No F**king way!
...
written by bunian, July 07, 2008 11:43:03
Can Pak Lah step up to the plate?

Absolutely (when he wakes up from his nap)!!!
...
written by Ninja, July 06, 2008 10:25:31
BODOHWI SHOULD STEP DOWN NOW!!!!

THE 'MONGOLIAN KILLER' SHOULD BE SUSPENDED AND INVESTIGATED. BY DOING SO, ONLY THEN THERE IS LAW AND ORDER IN MALAYSIA.

ALL UMNOPUTRAS ARE SHITTING IN THEIR PANTS FOR FEAR OF BEEN INVESTIGATED FOR CORRUPTION ONCE THE BN IS NO LONGER IN POWER.

IF THE COALITION PARTIES OF BN DO NO JUMP SHIP AND JOIN PR, THEY ARE EQUALLY AS CORRUPTED AS THE UMNOBASTARDS. LET YOUR ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS.
...
written by joeawk, July 06, 2008 10:23:42
Hey, why shd Pak Lah step in. Just let the 2 kill each other. Is Najib any good to Malaysia? Out there, is there anyone who would want Najib to be PM, not me, at least.

I would have a dog rather than him to be PM of Malaysia. That is a fact on the lips of many malaysians.

Someone,please contest against Najib in the December UMNO election and beat him so that he can go away and never come back.

As for Anwar, to be popular is one thing, to be manage for a properous malaysia where no group is sideline is a tall order and subsidy of whatever form is just not right.

The problem in Malaysia is our wages are at least 30% too low. Low wage is now equate to low productivity and the govt must enact a minimum wage of RM1,500.00.

Empoloyers will complain but it is for them to extract more productivity from their workers and workers must accept that there is no free meal and had better start to increase productivity across the board.

Care to study and compare the work attotude of malaysian worker and we will come to accept that there is much room for improvement.

...
written by joeawk, July 06, 2008 10:10:05
There is no technical hitch in the klse. Someone pull the plug to prevent the index from tumbling at least 30%, all because of the clever statement about the police and army joint exercise, that coupled with the fall in Europe.

It gave time for the govt linked fund investors to get ready the next day to support the index.

That was my take.
...
written by legallybotak, July 06, 2008 09:51:12
Who can authorise the Armed Forces to hit the street or is this a preemp to Martial Law??
...
written by ROBERTNGTG, July 06, 2008 08:05:06
Amid this tit for tat, the stock market has dived and investor confidence was not helped by a full day suspension in trading on Thursday because of a technical glitch.

HEY SLEEPY, SO,WHILE YR BUNCH OF GOONS ARE TRAMPLING EVERYTHING FLAT, U
ARE HAPPILY ENJOYING YR TIME OUT. WONT BE LONG THOUGH.
...
written by benny loh, July 06, 2008 08:01:29
4) I go for my foty (x40 ) winks.. ofo kayfay?
http://malaysiancartoons.b****...rland.html
...
written by benny loh, July 06, 2008 07:59:15
3) but don't under dress..
http://malaysiancartoons.b****...dress.html
...
written by benny loh, July 06, 2008 07:57:46
...
written by benny loh, July 06, 2008 07:56:05
1) you go on with the twist
http://malaysiancartoons.b****...twist.html
...
written by HARIMAU BIN ABDULLAH, July 06, 2008 07:38:38
The stock-market is in danger of suffering a major pull-out by both local and foreign investors. The CI is very close to falling below the 1,000 level. Watch out for Commerz Bank.

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