By Syed Akbar Ali
Today March 12, 2009 I was among 60 people invited to attend a brainstorming and think tank session organized by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana in Putrajaya and in association with Kumpulan Melayu Serdang (an outfit connected to academics at the Universiti Putra Malaysia).
The one day session was called a ‘Bengkel Resolusi Melayu & Gejala Rasuah’. Basically we spoke about issues relating to capacity building, nation building and the weaknesses in the country now. Throughout the day, the discussions were underlined by the problem of corruption in the country.
We broke up into rotating workshops and were able to have a good round of venting views and ideas. Some of the discussions became heated. Our deliberations were later presented to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed in the afternoon, followed by another round of vigorous question and answer.
I was invited to a similar brainstorming and think tank session over a month ago chaired by Dato Mustapha Mohamed, the Minister of Agriculture and my former boss at the NEAC in 2000. But true to his form, Dato Mustapha asked us not to write about that session, so we did not. At Dato Mustapha’s session there was a good representation of Malaysians too with folks like Citizen Nades of The Sun and Bishop Pakiam among the 160 people in attendance.
I can say quite safely that in both sessions so far, people just ripped into the state of things in the country and tore into the Government as being irresponsible and having lost touch with reality.
From these two rounds I can vouch with some certainty that the popularity of the Government is somewhere between bathroom fungus and something lower than that. There is little love for the Barisan Nasional either.
I will not bore you with the deliberations. Read my Blog, read any Blog, talk to anyone at any coffee shop about what is happening in the country and you will get a good idea about what was discussed. And there were plenty of good ideas generated about what needs to be done to do good for the country and ALL our people.
What interested me most was the question and answer session with Dr Mahathir. Answering a question (from me) Dr Mahathir reiterated his fear which he has repeated many times in his Blog that Abdullah Badawi may not step down as Prime Minister at the end of this month (18 days away).
Dr Mahathir said Badawi may remain as Prime Minister despite Najib Tun Razak becoming the president of UMNO. Then Dr Mahathir said that if this happens UMNO will be split in two with one camp supporting Najib and those who are beholden to Badawi moving to the other side.
Dr Mahathir said that in such event, there may be a Motion of No Confidence (against Badawi) moved in the Parliament which Badawi will win through the support of Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Members of Parliament (Karpal, Haji Hadi, Lim Kit Siang etc).
In such event I think the ‘political analyst’ portion of my brain will spin like a top because where then would Najib and his supporters sit in Parliament? And with whom? Does the Cabinet still remain intact? Or will half the Cabinet be asked to resign (or resign of its own accord)?
By coincidence or no, just the day before yesterday Abdullah Badawi and Anwar Ibrahim met for about an hour at the home of some religious guru in Hulu Langat.
At this point I urge the reader to see Dato Abdul Kadir Jasin’s take on these speculations. Here is an excerpt from Dato Kadir Jasin:
"The two leaders talked about the need to salvage the country and agreed to keep communication lines open between them," the Malaysiakini source said.
Political writer and blogger Mohd Sayuti Omar, who was at the function, said he was informed by the organiser that the duo had talks regarding the possibility of Abdullah remaining in power."
Interestingly Dr Mahathir also said that he had confidence in Dato Dr Rais Yatim and Dato Shafie Apdal (from Sabah) as capable or potential leaders for this country.
Here are some pictures from today’s think tank session:
Today March 12, 2009 I was among 60 people invited to attend a brainstorming and think tank session organized by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana in Putrajaya and in association with Kumpulan Melayu Serdang (an outfit connected to academics at the Universiti Putra Malaysia).
The one day session was called a ‘Bengkel Resolusi Melayu & Gejala Rasuah’. Basically we spoke about issues relating to capacity building, nation building and the weaknesses in the country now. Throughout the day, the discussions were underlined by the problem of corruption in the country.
We broke up into rotating workshops and were able to have a good round of venting views and ideas. Some of the discussions became heated. Our deliberations were later presented to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed in the afternoon, followed by another round of vigorous question and answer.
I was invited to a similar brainstorming and think tank session over a month ago chaired by Dato Mustapha Mohamed, the Minister of Agriculture and my former boss at the NEAC in 2000. But true to his form, Dato Mustapha asked us not to write about that session, so we did not. At Dato Mustapha’s session there was a good representation of Malaysians too with folks like Citizen Nades of The Sun and Bishop Pakiam among the 160 people in attendance.
I can say quite safely that in both sessions so far, people just ripped into the state of things in the country and tore into the Government as being irresponsible and having lost touch with reality.
From these two rounds I can vouch with some certainty that the popularity of the Government is somewhere between bathroom fungus and something lower than that. There is little love for the Barisan Nasional either.
I will not bore you with the deliberations. Read my Blog, read any Blog, talk to anyone at any coffee shop about what is happening in the country and you will get a good idea about what was discussed. And there were plenty of good ideas generated about what needs to be done to do good for the country and ALL our people.
What interested me most was the question and answer session with Dr Mahathir. Answering a question (from me) Dr Mahathir reiterated his fear which he has repeated many times in his Blog that Abdullah Badawi may not step down as Prime Minister at the end of this month (18 days away).
Dr Mahathir said Badawi may remain as Prime Minister despite Najib Tun Razak becoming the president of UMNO. Then Dr Mahathir said that if this happens UMNO will be split in two with one camp supporting Najib and those who are beholden to Badawi moving to the other side.
Dr Mahathir said that in such event, there may be a Motion of No Confidence (against Badawi) moved in the Parliament which Badawi will win through the support of Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Members of Parliament (Karpal, Haji Hadi, Lim Kit Siang etc).
In such event I think the ‘political analyst’ portion of my brain will spin like a top because where then would Najib and his supporters sit in Parliament? And with whom? Does the Cabinet still remain intact? Or will half the Cabinet be asked to resign (or resign of its own accord)?
By coincidence or no, just the day before yesterday Abdullah Badawi and Anwar Ibrahim met for about an hour at the home of some religious guru in Hulu Langat.
At this point I urge the reader to see Dato Abdul Kadir Jasin’s take on these speculations. Here is an excerpt from Dato Kadir Jasin:
"The two leaders talked about the need to salvage the country and agreed to keep communication lines open between them," the Malaysiakini source said.
Political writer and blogger Mohd Sayuti Omar, who was at the function, said he was informed by the organiser that the duo had talks regarding the possibility of Abdullah remaining in power."
Interestingly Dr Mahathir also said that he had confidence in Dato Dr Rais Yatim and Dato Shafie Apdal (from Sabah) as capable or potential leaders for this country.
Here are some pictures from today’s think tank session:
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