Pak Lah's Insider

Pak Lah's Insider

According to the Malaysian Insider:

It appears that the DPM has lost control of his own warlords on the ground. He admitted as much in talks with several supreme council members recently.

As such, he is unable or unwilling to risk the backlash from them if he continues to support the transition plan which will see Abdullah contesting the party elections in December and then handing over power to Najib in 2010.

Najib believes that if he supports the transition plan unconditionally, there is a possibility that he and Abdullah will have to face off with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and other critics of the PM.

He has told his supporters that he is confident that he and Abdullah will be able to emerge victorious but was worried that it will come at a high price.

On the flip side, if he distances himself from Abdullah's transition plan, this is bound to persuade the PM to wage an all out campaign to obtain at least 58 nominations from the divisions and defend his party president's position.

In this scenario, Najib may have to face off with Abdullah, a battle which could be expensive for a politician still recovering from a battering to his image by the Opposition.

So the safest option for Najib was to cobble together a plan which achieved the twin objectives of allowing Abdullah to remain in his position for a few more months without committing to the 2010 transition plan.

He believes that postponing the party elections will keep the peace in the party and allow all the stakeholders to walk away with something.

And yes, it will allow Najib to inherit an intact Umno.

Now, according to Najib's people, the postponement was not Najib's idea but Abdullah's. Najib, they said, is not agreeable to the postponement. Najib, they stressed, have always said it's up to the delegates to decide.

Ladies and Gentleman, it looks like the PM's propaganda machinery has arrived in blogosphere ...(Rocky's bru)