Pak Lah Lemah Punca Krisis

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — A stunning rebuff to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by politicians from Umno in his own home state of Penang has once again raised questions about the threat to his leadership.

As chief of Penang Umno, Abdullah had ordered division head Datuk Ahmad Ismail to apologise for sparking an outcry when he gave a speech during the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election.

Ahmad was accused of racist sentiments by Chinese politicians from the ruling Barisan Nasional for allegedly saying that the Chinese were simply “squatters” in Malaysia.

As the outcry mounted, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak sought to defuse the tension by apologising, on Umno's behalf, to the Chinese community.

Last week, Ahmad broke his silence. He said that he had been quoted out of context and refused to apologise. Much to the prime minister's chagrin, however, the rebellious Ahmad was backed by 13 of the 14 Umno division leaders in Penang. Subsequently, the prime minister backed off, saying that there was, indeed, no need for Ahmad to apologise, and urging all quarters to “cool it”.

The rebuke by Penang Umno warlords to Abdullah, who is also Umno president, has fuelled speculation that the premier may be facing mounting challenges to stay on until June 2010, after which he has promised to hand over power to Najib. But the premier's retreat is understandable: he faces party polls in December and a revolt by his home state will almost surely doom his presidential candidacy.

But the episode also reinforces the notion that Umno, and the BN component parties, continues to bicker over petty race issues instead of getting on with matters of governance.

Writing in his blog over the weekend, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad analysed it succinctly. Dr Mahathir debunked the popular notion that the March 8 general election indicated a shifting away from race-based politics.

Instead, it was the result of “disgust” by BN supporters for the leadership of Abdullah.

Dr Mahathir made it clear that he did not condone Ahmad's statement. “But I feel disgust at the inability of the present Malay leadership to manage racialism.

“It is degrading for the second highest government leader to be apologising for every instance of improper behaviour by Umno members. The person who should apologise should be the culprit himself.”