Pak Lah gets Oct 9 deadline to quit

Friday, September 19, 2008
Pak Lah gets Oct 9 deadline to quit



At yesterday's Umno Supreme Council meeting, Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah was asked by several members to quit before Oct 9 and hand-over the Prime Ministership to his Deputy Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak.

They argued that Pak Lah should quit by Oct 9, when the Umno divisional meetings begin, to spare him the embarassment of not getting enough nominations to defend his Presidency.

Calls for Pak Lah to resign seem to be increasing by the day. On Tuesday, MUBARAK (the Association of former MPs) urged Pak Lah to bring forward the planned 2010 transition of power and hand over the Prime Ministership to Najib soon.

Pak Lah's stewardship of the Government is said to be non-progressive and lacks direction. In fact, over the last five years of his premiership, Malaysia has taken several step backwards. The ringgit continues to depreciate, while the country's borrowings have been increasing.

The burden has been passed on to the people. The rising inflation is a great concern. Several fuel hikes in the past two years, also affected the people's confidence in the Government. Promises of better public transporation system remain promises.

As a result, Barisan Nasional was severely punished in the March 8 general election. BN managed only a simple majority. It lost five states, well effectively six, if you take Federal Territory into consideration.

It now seems that Umno divisional leaders have begun distancing themselves from Pak Lah. At a breaking of fast hosted by Pak Lah for divisional leaders at the PWTC yesterday, only a few tables were occupied. Many more were empty.

Sinister remarks followed the swapping of Ministries between Pak Lah and Najib as announced on Wednesday. Some say, Pak Lah handed over the Finance Minister's post to Najib as a "sweetener" so that the latter will feel indebted and refrain from running for party presidency.

Others say that Pak Lah is handing over the tough job to Najib in the wake of a global financial crisis. Too hot for Pak Lah to handle. Pak Lah needs someone to blame when the going gets tough, so to speak.

We will wait and see...












Friday, September 19, 2008
Najib cancels trip to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia

It's official!

Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak has cancelled his trip to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia following calls from Umno Supreme Council members yesterday that he should not be out of the country for a long period.

Najib who was scheduled to leave today, cancelled his trip. This follows the Supreme Council meeting yesterday where members told Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign as party president and hand over the premiership to Najib by Oct 9, when the Umno divisional meetings begin.

The Supreme Council felt that Pak Lah should save himself the humiliation of not getting enough nominations to defend his Presidency.

The Deputy Prime Minister will however leave for New York on Oct 24 to address the all-important United Nations General Assembly.

His advanced security team and members of the Press are already in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Najib is scheduled to return to Malaysia by Oct 3.