Sindri Mau Hengat..!

Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has declined to clarify the meaning behind his controversial poem 'Cari Ganti (Looking for Successor)', a political satire on the state of the country's leadership that has sparked a nationwide guessing game.

"If I wrote who I had in mind for the poem, the poem would be much shorter," Mohd Asri said. "If people were to reveal the names of the subjects of their poems, there would be less room for literary interpretation."

The religious leader's four-stanza Malay poem was uploaded onto his blog just two days after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim scored a landslide win against his Barisan Nasional rival Arif Shah Omar Shah in the Aug 26 Permatang Pauh by-election.

Mohd Asri chose the image of the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office in Putrajaya as the webpage background for the poem, fuelling speculation that he was joining the increasing number of calls for Abdullah to step down.

Let not a robber replaces at thief

The first stanza of Mohd Asri's poem spoke of "the people's wealth being turned into stakes" between players of a game. And when the resulting hatred turned into flames, ‘all that is seditious will be swallowed (as the truth)', the poem went on to say.

In the third stanza, which created the most buzz, the mufti wrote: "When the country has come into disarray, it is better, Sir, for you to step down".

The religious scholar ended his poem with enigmatic words of advice that many believe were meant to focus on who the people should pick as a successor to Abdullah.

"Seek a successor who is of high character. Let not a robber replaces a thief," Mohd Asri wrote.