KUALA LUMPUR: The stage is set for a battle of wills in Umno after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared his support yesterday for Perkasa as a crutch for what he said was a weak Umno.
His remarks to the New Straits Times published today come even as Umno began this week to distance itself from the Malay rights group.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has asked senior party leaders disassociate from the controversial Malay group.
Earlier this week, Umno secretary-geneeral Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor declared the party would not back Datuk Ibrahim Ali in the next general election as the Perkasa chief was eroding Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support among the non-Malays.
He also dismissed allegations that Umno had strong ties with the Malay rights group.
Ibrahim, who was sacked from Umno in 2004, won the Pasir Mas seat in Election 2008 under a PAS ticket.
In 2005, he contested as an independent in the Pengkalan Pasir by-election but obtained only 415 votes and lost his deposit. Pengkalan Pasir is a state constituency situated in the Pasir Mas town centre.
Ibrahim abandoned his partnership with PAS soon after Election 2008 and founded Perkasa to defend what he called the constitutional position of the Malays.
The group which has successfully attracted more than 50,000 members nationwide has been pressuring the Najib administration to state its support for a pro-Bumiputera economic policy, despite the government’s attempt to liberalise the country’s economy.
Dr Mahathir is Perkasa’s patron, which is seen as representing the views of Umno’s conservative faction who are against Najib’s proposed economic reforms which they claim will erode Malay control of the economy.
“Perkasa members are Umno supporters. It would not help Umno’s cause to turn them away,” Dr Mahathir told the New Straits Times yesterday.
He told the Umno-controlled newspaper that the party could not afford to alienate itself from Malay groups such as Perkasa, which were formed because they believed Umno was not doing enough to protect Malay interests.
While Najib is aware of the risks, an early election remains an option as his administration faces up to an uncertain economic climate.
His push to distance Umno from Perkasa is the clearest sign yet that snap polls could happen soon.
He is understood to be weighing the option of calling polls in the next six months.
But Dr Mahathir and Perkasa are now complicating his strategy.
Najib will be aware of his predecessor Tun Abdullah Badawi’s fate after Dr Mahathir openly opposed him and sparked a revolt which partly led to BN’s poor performance in Election 2008.
After losing five states and its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament, Abdullah was ousted as PM.
Malaysian Insider
10/09/10
comments
He has nothing too lose except to sow the seeds of hatred!!!!!! Reply
What about you - Mr 1Malaysia President of UMNO ?
We eagerly awaits yours.
this is getting really interesting... if i recall it correctly, i thought TDM always has the idea for all Malays to be united under UMNO. Since now he is openly backing Perkasa as a crutch for weak UMNO, so i guess he is suggesting that all malays should be united under UMNO-Perkasa while UMNO is trying to reject Perkasa. So... as an UMNO member, who do you think you want to listen to? Ex-PM or PM or IA ??
TDM had more than a hand in the establishment of Perkasa -the NGO counter part of UMNO. Unfortunateky Perkasa failed to get the ground swell support that was envisaged. UMNO now feels it is the time to abandon the teenager who is causing more damage than help. Meanwhile Ibrahim Ali who was voted on PAS ticket should resign and go back to the voters for a fresh mandate. Anything less is cowardly and deem to be arrogance by the Rakyat. Reply +25 Vote up Vote down pengsanlo · 3 hours ago
Najib should stay firm. DrM has not the power he had. It has been 6+ years since he stepped down and power will slowly but surely creep away. Also age is getting in the way now. At what 84, who will bet with this old horse? UMNo is the official party in MSia. Perkasa is only ngo.
The final test for Najib as PM and UMNO President has arrived with the declaration that Dr.M is supporting Perkasa. His leadership qualities will be seen in how he manages this right-wing front that he distances himself from. He must remember that the former PM AB was ousted by the man who made him PM. The battle cries in UMNO are getting louder and he must tread carefully and wisely lest he ends up like AB. Or perhaps all this is just a smoke screen to blind others of the actual strategy with the impending snap election?
Members of perkasa are made up of fools and idiots!!!! Sack Mahatail from UMNO for always going against the leadership of UMNO, thinking that he is the only leader in UMNO acceptable to himself. Arrogant and hypocrite.
Well, at last the oldman spoke, it's interesting to see how far will his support of Perkosa goes bearing in mind that his son is part of najib's cabinet. Will he bid his time and wait for Najib to fumble on his economic policies or negotiate further via his strength in Perkosa to squeeze what even crony policies into NEM? Of course Najib will have to kow tow to the grand oldman.
Logical deduction. TDM supports Perkasa, so Mukriz support Perkasa. TDM by his support of Perkasa is going against UMNO and should be sacked. Mukriz should also be sacked.
Dr M is so uncomfortable without power after being the prima uno for more than 20 years but how can he be so silly to side with an UMNO & PAS outcast??!!!
Just because Najib did not make him the Mentor Minister like LKY in Singapore?
Well he thinks he still wields much power that he thought he brought down Pak Lah & his cabinet single-handedly. Now he thinks he can use the outcast to achieve what he wants for he thinks UMNO desperately needs the votes of Perkasa's meagre 50,000 members!!!
The racist has confirmed his position by lining himself with the racist party.
The rakyat has no respect for frog jumpers! Won on a PAS ticket and now independent, yet did not choose to seek by election? Ibraham Ali is a man without principle. His words has no value until he is willing to step down and seek a by election. He is a coward for not doing that. A coward as Perkasa's leader. Perkasa's leader is a coward. Dr. M is supporting a coward.
Mahathir's support for Perkasa only means that an irrelevant group is being supported by an irrelevant old man. What's the big issue here? Mahathir thinks he is King of all he sees in Malaysia! Now he has his new group of brutish dogs, he is going to crash over everything in order to get back his powers of life and death over Malaysians. Perhaps, the Mahathir Dynasty? He has bent the Constitution to his whims, He has emasculated the Royalties, the Police, the Armed Forces, the Judiciary and the Civil Service.
His greatest achievement is the emasculation of the Malays to the point where the Malays cannot even respond to corrupt and dishonest practices Mahathir has institutionalized. The damage Mahathir has wrought on the Malay psyche is so deep. By his insistence that the Malays are inferior to others, he has the Malays actually believing they are inferior.
One need not complete primary six to understand the power struggles in UMNO and what is Dr M's agenda for his son, Mukhriz. Dr M needs Perkasa to topple Najib as well as Khairy and lay the roadmap for Mukhriz to be the future Prime Minister and uses UMNO once again to effectively manipulate Bumiputra shares allocations for his family benefit. If one can read between the lines, Dr M is the hand behind Perkasa. Without Dr M's fervent and staunch support, who is Ib Ali to freely shout his lungs out? On his own, he does not have the credibility nor the influence to have garnered the support from UMNO members.
Dr M's long link to UMNO still enables him some vestigial support from his die hard "fans" who are out to fight for opportunities which the NEP crutch affords them. These "fans" are now neither here nor there as far as getting a hand on government projects and contracts are concerned. Hence they are throwing their support behind Dr M inspired Perkasa, run by his proxy Ib Ali, to "force" Najib's administration to a compromise by using the Malay and religious tickets and agendas. Dr M knows very well that is game plan would be effective in getting support from his target audience, namely UMNO members and unsuspecting Malay-centric individuals and NGOs.
Surely Najib could be feeling the heat and is caught in a dilemma of no small measure. He certainly does not want to be seen as stepping on Dr M's toes, which explains his silence on Perkasa. His attendance in Perkasa organised Malay Economic Summit, during which he was "forced" to discard his own prepared speech for an impromptu one, and pandering to the demands of Perkasa, speaks volume of Dr M's perceived pressure on Najib.
It seems Najib is caught in a Catch-22 situation, where on one hand he is eager to push through his NEM policies, while on the other he is seen as being beholden to unseen hands and obliged to look after their interests.
Perkasa is a direct antithesis of Najib's 1Malaysia.
Doom if he pushes through his reform policies, and doom if he doesn't!
Where does that leave us Malaysians who are caught in the Dr M-Perkasa-BN/UMNO crossfires and political grandstanding, even though Perkasa is supposed to be just an NGO?
Malaysians must not allow such a silly game to sidestep their aspirations. Either Najib step up his acts to disown any link to Perkasa ( read Dr M ) and push through his policies to bring about the necessary changes to the economic and social agendas and hence save the whole nation, or he could just succumb to Perkasa's twisted demands and ill-intentions and face the ire of all right thinking Malaysians.
And Najib has to act fast as time and patience are running out.
His remarks to the New Straits Times published today come even as Umno began this week to distance itself from the Malay rights group.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has asked senior party leaders disassociate from the controversial Malay group.
Earlier this week, Umno secretary-geneeral Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor declared the party would not back Datuk Ibrahim Ali in the next general election as the Perkasa chief was eroding Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support among the non-Malays.
He also dismissed allegations that Umno had strong ties with the Malay rights group.
Ibrahim, who was sacked from Umno in 2004, won the Pasir Mas seat in Election 2008 under a PAS ticket.
In 2005, he contested as an independent in the Pengkalan Pasir by-election but obtained only 415 votes and lost his deposit. Pengkalan Pasir is a state constituency situated in the Pasir Mas town centre.
Ibrahim abandoned his partnership with PAS soon after Election 2008 and founded Perkasa to defend what he called the constitutional position of the Malays.
The group which has successfully attracted more than 50,000 members nationwide has been pressuring the Najib administration to state its support for a pro-Bumiputera economic policy, despite the government’s attempt to liberalise the country’s economy.
Dr Mahathir is Perkasa’s patron, which is seen as representing the views of Umno’s conservative faction who are against Najib’s proposed economic reforms which they claim will erode Malay control of the economy.
“Perkasa members are Umno supporters. It would not help Umno’s cause to turn them away,” Dr Mahathir told the New Straits Times yesterday.
He told the Umno-controlled newspaper that the party could not afford to alienate itself from Malay groups such as Perkasa, which were formed because they believed Umno was not doing enough to protect Malay interests.
While Najib is aware of the risks, an early election remains an option as his administration faces up to an uncertain economic climate.
His push to distance Umno from Perkasa is the clearest sign yet that snap polls could happen soon.
He is understood to be weighing the option of calling polls in the next six months.
But Dr Mahathir and Perkasa are now complicating his strategy.
Najib will be aware of his predecessor Tun Abdullah Badawi’s fate after Dr Mahathir openly opposed him and sparked a revolt which partly led to BN’s poor performance in Election 2008.
After losing five states and its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament, Abdullah was ousted as PM.
Malaysian Insider
10/09/10
comments
He has nothing too lose except to sow the seeds of hatred!!!!!! Reply
What about you - Mr 1Malaysia President of UMNO ?
We eagerly awaits yours.
this is getting really interesting... if i recall it correctly, i thought TDM always has the idea for all Malays to be united under UMNO. Since now he is openly backing Perkasa as a crutch for weak UMNO, so i guess he is suggesting that all malays should be united under UMNO-Perkasa while UMNO is trying to reject Perkasa. So... as an UMNO member, who do you think you want to listen to? Ex-PM or PM or IA ??
TDM had more than a hand in the establishment of Perkasa -the NGO counter part of UMNO. Unfortunateky Perkasa failed to get the ground swell support that was envisaged. UMNO now feels it is the time to abandon the teenager who is causing more damage than help. Meanwhile Ibrahim Ali who was voted on PAS ticket should resign and go back to the voters for a fresh mandate. Anything less is cowardly and deem to be arrogance by the Rakyat. Reply +25 Vote up Vote down pengsanlo · 3 hours ago
Najib should stay firm. DrM has not the power he had. It has been 6+ years since he stepped down and power will slowly but surely creep away. Also age is getting in the way now. At what 84, who will bet with this old horse? UMNo is the official party in MSia. Perkasa is only ngo.
The final test for Najib as PM and UMNO President has arrived with the declaration that Dr.M is supporting Perkasa. His leadership qualities will be seen in how he manages this right-wing front that he distances himself from. He must remember that the former PM AB was ousted by the man who made him PM. The battle cries in UMNO are getting louder and he must tread carefully and wisely lest he ends up like AB. Or perhaps all this is just a smoke screen to blind others of the actual strategy with the impending snap election?
Members of perkasa are made up of fools and idiots!!!! Sack Mahatail from UMNO for always going against the leadership of UMNO, thinking that he is the only leader in UMNO acceptable to himself. Arrogant and hypocrite.
Well, at last the oldman spoke, it's interesting to see how far will his support of Perkosa goes bearing in mind that his son is part of najib's cabinet. Will he bid his time and wait for Najib to fumble on his economic policies or negotiate further via his strength in Perkosa to squeeze what even crony policies into NEM? Of course Najib will have to kow tow to the grand oldman.
Logical deduction. TDM supports Perkasa, so Mukriz support Perkasa. TDM by his support of Perkasa is going against UMNO and should be sacked. Mukriz should also be sacked.
Dr M is so uncomfortable without power after being the prima uno for more than 20 years but how can he be so silly to side with an UMNO & PAS outcast??!!!
Just because Najib did not make him the Mentor Minister like LKY in Singapore?
Well he thinks he still wields much power that he thought he brought down Pak Lah & his cabinet single-handedly. Now he thinks he can use the outcast to achieve what he wants for he thinks UMNO desperately needs the votes of Perkasa's meagre 50,000 members!!!
The racist has confirmed his position by lining himself with the racist party.
The rakyat has no respect for frog jumpers! Won on a PAS ticket and now independent, yet did not choose to seek by election? Ibraham Ali is a man without principle. His words has no value until he is willing to step down and seek a by election. He is a coward for not doing that. A coward as Perkasa's leader. Perkasa's leader is a coward. Dr. M is supporting a coward.
Mahathir's support for Perkasa only means that an irrelevant group is being supported by an irrelevant old man. What's the big issue here? Mahathir thinks he is King of all he sees in Malaysia! Now he has his new group of brutish dogs, he is going to crash over everything in order to get back his powers of life and death over Malaysians. Perhaps, the Mahathir Dynasty? He has bent the Constitution to his whims, He has emasculated the Royalties, the Police, the Armed Forces, the Judiciary and the Civil Service.
His greatest achievement is the emasculation of the Malays to the point where the Malays cannot even respond to corrupt and dishonest practices Mahathir has institutionalized. The damage Mahathir has wrought on the Malay psyche is so deep. By his insistence that the Malays are inferior to others, he has the Malays actually believing they are inferior.
One need not complete primary six to understand the power struggles in UMNO and what is Dr M's agenda for his son, Mukhriz. Dr M needs Perkasa to topple Najib as well as Khairy and lay the roadmap for Mukhriz to be the future Prime Minister and uses UMNO once again to effectively manipulate Bumiputra shares allocations for his family benefit. If one can read between the lines, Dr M is the hand behind Perkasa. Without Dr M's fervent and staunch support, who is Ib Ali to freely shout his lungs out? On his own, he does not have the credibility nor the influence to have garnered the support from UMNO members.
Dr M's long link to UMNO still enables him some vestigial support from his die hard "fans" who are out to fight for opportunities which the NEP crutch affords them. These "fans" are now neither here nor there as far as getting a hand on government projects and contracts are concerned. Hence they are throwing their support behind Dr M inspired Perkasa, run by his proxy Ib Ali, to "force" Najib's administration to a compromise by using the Malay and religious tickets and agendas. Dr M knows very well that is game plan would be effective in getting support from his target audience, namely UMNO members and unsuspecting Malay-centric individuals and NGOs.
Surely Najib could be feeling the heat and is caught in a dilemma of no small measure. He certainly does not want to be seen as stepping on Dr M's toes, which explains his silence on Perkasa. His attendance in Perkasa organised Malay Economic Summit, during which he was "forced" to discard his own prepared speech for an impromptu one, and pandering to the demands of Perkasa, speaks volume of Dr M's perceived pressure on Najib.
It seems Najib is caught in a Catch-22 situation, where on one hand he is eager to push through his NEM policies, while on the other he is seen as being beholden to unseen hands and obliged to look after their interests.
Perkasa is a direct antithesis of Najib's 1Malaysia.
Doom if he pushes through his reform policies, and doom if he doesn't!
Where does that leave us Malaysians who are caught in the Dr M-Perkasa-BN/UMNO crossfires and political grandstanding, even though Perkasa is supposed to be just an NGO?
Malaysians must not allow such a silly game to sidestep their aspirations. Either Najib step up his acts to disown any link to Perkasa ( read Dr M ) and push through his policies to bring about the necessary changes to the economic and social agendas and hence save the whole nation, or he could just succumb to Perkasa's twisted demands and ill-intentions and face the ire of all right thinking Malaysians.
And Najib has to act fast as time and patience are running out.
1 comment:
By distancing against Perkasa... it's BN components that gain, it's neutral effect to UMNO
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