The best way to describe Mahathir wanting Najib Tun Razak to be the sixth prime minister would be simple: Terhutang Budi.
I suspect that during the Tun Razak minister ship, it was Mahathir only comeback opportunity. After losing in 1969 election and personally sending letters which demands Tunku Abdul Rahman resignation (which earned him the first ouster from UMNO), Mahathir landed between the cracks of the floor. Perhaps he may be at the crossroads and intend to pursue his carrer in medicine doctor at Klinik Maha of Alor Setar. Tun Razak at the time has realized that amidst the turmoil in UMNO which image tarnished pretty badly due to the 1969 incident, there is something else important to pursue: The gathering of Malay intelligentsia and future capable leaders. Names like Musa Hitam and Mahathir Mohammad was incarcerated into UMNO itself.
It was Tun Razak time when Tun Mahathir proceed from being a parliamentarian elected senator to a full fledge rakyat voted parliament member. Tun Razak may have set the path and foreseen the capability of Mahathir to lead the nation, in turn, leads Mahathir to hold high-profile cabinet positions such as Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education. Tun Razak surely has put Mahathir in a political highway which is fast and quick yet still vulnerable to political saboteurs. Tun Musa Hitam at the time was also a hopeful child of the UMNO party which was groomed well enough to possibly become the next prime minister. Like Captain Faiz to Sheikh Mudzaffar he is like a secondary astronaut back up crew which go thru the same thing as the prime candidate does. Tun Musa was under the senior political mentor of Tun Dr. Ismail ( Tun Razak deputy)
Perhaps, just a guess, Tun Razak may have left an unspoken or spoken vision of seeing Najib, his eldest son to carry on the legacy left by him. It may have made known by Tun himself. And as a return favor towards Tun Razak which has opened wide the political opportunity windows, Tun may have made a pledge/promise in which to see Najib become a prime minister before he dies.
Probably, this is why Tun Dr. Mahathir is in strong urgency to see Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister to resign .The position can be succeeded by Najib Tun Razak as he is currently the legal ‘prime-minister in waiting’. This can further be proven by Tun Mahathir repeatedly saying that he intends to make Najib his successor, but the factor of his early age has hindered it from happening at this moment. The alleged Tun Mahathir deal with Pak Lah seems to put the picture much clearer, as the latter was supposedly to step down after a single 5 year term. The alleged ‘deal’ was refuted by Pak Lah.
Of course, the above are some of the wild guesses as observed from the past UMNO political scene, but the truth is when Tun Dr. Mahathir denounced his membership, Najib Tun Razak was thousand kilometers away from Malaysia. He was attending a trade related convention in Sharm-al Sheik somewhere in Egypt. When the news came to him that the former 22-year UMNO leader has quit from the party, the media reporters and journalist rushed to see him. Response was pretty shocking: He was seen crying with eyes a bit watery and voice a bit wobbling.
He even reinstated that he would personally meet Tun Dr. Mahathir to talk on his quit from UMNO, perhaps, to pursue the former PM in reconsidering his decision on the grounds that “his guidance and advice is very much needed in hard times when the party is in bad shape and badly need to strengthen up after a political tsunami during the march election”
The reaction in Egypt was so much different in Malaysia where Pak Lah henchmen were lambasting Tun action. From Rafidah to Zaid Ibrahim. From Shahrir Samad to Muhammad Tyson. They said that the old men is blackmailing, short-sighted, had a personal agenda, disloyal, etc. etc. What else the smaller UMNO branches leader can do? They did what they usually do before, being like a lackey, they gathered and discussed over a teh suam and a bunch of bananas. Pledge their undivided and loyal support to Pak Lah. Yet, giving this PM another comfortable imagery of being the ‘untouchable’, a similar comfort which Pak Lah gets before the March election. The Wanita had become like a bitch who had found a richer and more influential men to sidestep her own husband, literally, by dismissing what Tun has been saying lately. The other Tun who once worked hand-in-hand with Mahathir had turned his favor in joining the ‘others’ in dissing Tun. Apparently, like a rule of thumb, it is easier to hate people that people commonly hates. Almost everybody in UMNO does the same thing as the Malay sayings ‘Lalang kena tiup angin’
It has brought to me a question which why these screaming ‘Hidup Pak Lah!’ chanters were really into him leading UMNO or just had to plain pretentious loyalist?
Along comes the UMNO old timer, Aziz Tapa with his suggestion to drag the Monarchy along to settle this in-house political dispute. As he described “Both is fire. Fire going heads on against fire isn’t going to settle a thing”
On the opposition sides, the odds are very cloudy and uncertain. ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ party may be plotting their own agenda/drama/counter-reaction if the royalties were to oppose their candidacy of prime minister after what had happened in Perak. This plot got to create a big bang as it marks the zenith of their success and epitome of their effort which may be brightly marked in the chapters of their establishment in ‘revolutionizing’ Malaysia and altering the social fabrics.
The royalty, indeed must be prepared to answer a few questions posed by the ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ which had spend millions of human thinking hours digging the constitution in to find a way in asserting their desires. They may start with trivial ‘trigger’ question such as: - Why have you shown sense of dislike/fear/disgust when our candidate is being proposed democratically as PM? They would ask what have you done back then till you feared our candidate as PM today? Are you implying that our party members are non legitimate citizen of Malaysia? As the constitution stated that being a Malaysia citizen is prerequisite to become a PM.
Instead, it can be a less prerogative affair. Do not forget, this "Malaysian Malaysia" party has Malay members too. Perhaps, they would have placed a Malay candidate and made him/her as a ‘vacuum’ prime minister. As for top-crop leaders, they turn themselves as masters of puppetry.
The PAS side may take a spiritual approach and their vision of Islamic Malaysia may catapult this wonderful nation into the pre-independent era where Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis were in non-aligned states while the rest took a liberal way, putting their own ‘prime minister of non-aligned Malay states’ perhaps their own shadow cabinet . Surely, this is what we predicted by marriage of convenience, a polarization not by race, instead by ideologies according to regions. Anwar, the un-surrendering hustler vying to be the first non-national front PM has got his hands shaking frantically to carve his name in Malaysia history textbooks ( by September 2008, he expected an early election, just in time I would be a legal voter. Yay!). His dreams: The first defect of UMNO which made it to become a PM, making UMNO looking like the worst decision of the century.
His road is never that easy. He may be strong willed and laid spectacular promises like reducing the price of fuel ‘exactly the day after he was sworn as PM’ (Harini saya jadi PM, esok turun harga minyak!) which makes the mat lumba+custom kereta roaring like lion king and queens. He should have not forget the terms of understanding between his party and the other two forged were rather towards toppling BN and stuffing leaders like Mahathir into jail, not any concrete terms/guides/understanding of ruling this nation in a harmonious way if God willing them to create a federal government. The other two parties too may be vying for the PM position and had long established in the arena of politics. Why should they bow to an amateur party?
Thank you for reading this second and final part of the Lackey series. You may leave your share of thoughts/feedback/response on the comments section!
1 comment:
pergi mampus dengan politik.
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