The End of a Dream, the Start of a Nightmare
As Abdullah Ahmad Badawi prepares to hand over the reins of the Malaysian premiership to his successor, we look back at a man who lost the plot completely as he became entrenched in petty party politics and totally forgot his responsibilities to the people of Malaysia.
Unlike the authoritarian Tun Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Badawi was perceived as a “soft” and religious man who ascended to this lofty position after the former deputy premier, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim was “blacklisted” and subsequently incarcerated on a political-motivated charge that was quashed years later. It was a time when the nation was the grand Southeast Asian success story – the great hope for the developing world. An affluent time when its citizens were content with making money, and a time of political innocence.
AAB became the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia in 2003 amidst fanfare that change has at last arrived on the shores of Malaysia. Cronyism and corruption, so ingrained in the Mahathir regime, must be eradicated, AAB said. Big-ticket spending must go, AAB said. Grandiose projects must be stopped, AAB said. Reforms must be initiated, AAB said. Human rights must be respected, AAB said. Transparency and Meritocracy, AAB said.
With these promises, AAB scored a massive landslide victory in the 2004 General Elections, winning 198 out of the total 220 parliamentary seats. Four years later in 2008, Barisan Nasional suffered a major setback in the General Elections, losing the two-thirds majority the party has enjoyed since Merdeka. The Political Tsunami caused the ruling coalition to lose an additional four state governments to the opposition. Certain coalition member parties were almost wiped out and several incumbent Ministers lost their seats. The son of the former premier, Mukhriz Mahathir, openly called for him to step down to be responsible for such a poor showing. So, what happened in the four years between 2004 and 2008 to have caused the ousting of his administration?
The answer is nothing. AAB failed to deliver on his promises not because he tried but was unsuccessful, but because he did nothing. Cronyism was rampant and corruption was at its highest levels. Human Rights remain non-existent. Reforms were a long way over the horizon. It was in fact a madhouse that he could not foresee, let alone control. His party warlords wrestled control over the party apparatus and AAB was just too forgiving to ever discipline them. However if he did, he would have been blocked right, left and center. Even his son-in-law got into the act and was taking full advantage of his father-in-law being the premier to advance himself. The country fell into disarray. The economy plummeted south and the prices for essentials skyrocketed. His administration was so pitiful that even the former premier asked for his immediate resignation.
From the peak in 2004 to the dumps in 2008. One positive thing that can be said of AAB is his tolerance for fair play and it was because of this trait that the opposition managed to make headway into the public’s perception of the “alternate” choice. Anyone except for AAB would have utilized the ISA to the utmost. This however alienated him from his party because BN began to lose ground. Everybody blamed AAB for the back slide. His intentions to introduce reforms, late in his career, were blocked. It must be made known that some of his appointments were a step in the right direction but it became a futile act of compromise, too ineffective to be significant and just too late to be effective. Mukhriz’s lone voice calling him to step down rapidly became a cascading deluge of verbal discontentment from the party ranks. Some even began to stop this regression by ordering a crackdown on alleged dissidents without AAB knowledge, let alone approval.
On the 10th of July 2008, AAB announced that he would step down as UMNO President and Prime Minister in June 2010. Since the knives were already out and the hands bloodied, this concession was deemed unacceptable and unbearable for certain powerful warlords due to the fact that it would represent yet another two more long years of uncertainty. The heat was now turned on full blast and on the 17th of September 2008 AAB indicated that he might hand over his power before the 2010 dateline. With no indication of just when this day will ever be, this compromise was rejected out of hand. UMNO ranks wanted an immediate change and were rallying around the anointed successor, screaming for blood. Even AAB’s handing over the powerful Finance Portfolio to Najib Razak was insufficient to quell this overwhelming discontentment. Three weeks later, on the 8th October 2008 AAB finally acceded and announced that he will step down as UMNO president in March 2009. This seemed acceptable and soon the noise level calling for him to resign dropped perceptibly.
Where did AAB go wrong? Undeniably so, it can be said that AAB’s political career had peaked when he was appointed the Foreign Minister under the Mahathir administration and except for DSAI’s falling out with Mahathir, AAB would have been just another quiet and loyal Minister to Mahathir. It can also be said that the knives were already being sharpened when he assumed the Deputy PM (defacto PM-in-waiting) post as others were vying for the PM post themselves. His lack of grassroots backing seems to indicate one of the reasons for him being unable to initiate the reforms that he wanted and the Political Tsunami merely quickened his downfall. Additionally his lack of ruthlessness allowed his colleagues to undermine him and his allowance for his son-in-law’s unduly influence in party politics, in such a short period of time, alienated those old party hands. His term as PM soon became irrevocably untenable.
For AAB, it is the end of a dream. For all Malaysians, it is the start of a nightmare.
– Hakim Joe
