COMMENT Break with the tainted Mahathirian past and form your own team, a prominent Umno blogger has urged prime minister Najib Tun Razak. Bring in Khairy Jamaluddin to the Cabinet, together with other second-generation leaders, he said in a set of controversial recommendations made on his blog.
Putting the case for Khairy, blogger
Sakmongkol AK47 pointed to Khairy's intellect and charismatic leadership qualities in galvanising the young, and said an appointment to the Cabinet would end the anomaly of KJ (as he is known) being the only Umno Youth leader not to hold government office.
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I think there is a place for both Mukhriz and KJ in PM Najib's team. KJ can collect water, Mukhriz can go find firewood. You need all kinds.
Anyway, Umno people salivate at the idea that after this, another son of a former PM takes over and after that, another takes over. That's Umno for you.
Sakmongkol AK47
in a later posting
Sakmongkol tartly described Mukhriz Mahathir, son of the former prime minister and KJ's deputy in Umno Youth, as having the personality of a wooden lamp post, and said Mukhriz and four others should be dropped.
These four, Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Anifah Aman, Ahmad Maslan and Puad Zakarshi, were ineffective, he said. A new set of second-generation leaders should be brought in, able to provide new thinking to lead Malaysia in tackling entrenched problems.
In another recommendation bound to raise hackles, he also said Najib should offer only one deputy ministership for the MIC, pointing to the fact that the opposition party PKR had more Indians as MPs than all the other component Barisan Nasional parties.
Sakmongkol is the pen-name of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, a former state assemblyman of Pahang.
He wrote that Najib had proven he could be his own man, and urged him to cut the links to the past represented by Mahathir.
Mahathir has had a resurgence of political activity recently, prominently aligning himself with Malay rights activists in the Perkasa movement, in contrast and apparent opposition to Najib's inclusive political philosophy under the slogan of 1Malaysia.
Sakmongkol also advised the prime minister to keep his distance from former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor, who was made a senator last week, and raised questions about the quality of Ezam's character in defecting to Umno after years of being a staunch loyalist of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Here are edited extracts from Sakmongkol's recent postings:
Najib should break with Mahathir
What did the [BN by-election] victory in Hulu Selangor [last month] show? It showed that the
coup de grace for that victory was the personal appearance of the PM. It shows that the PM is sufficiently strong to be unassailable. He is no Pak Lah. He can stand on his own and by extension can make independent decisions. It's time for this PM to sever the umbilical cord to Dr Mahathir. PM Najib has no reason to be all things to all people.
PM Najib needs a new team. He is now the undisputed number one. It is not about kicking out or bringing in new faces. It's also about placing the right people at the right places. Loyalty shouldn't be the topmost criteria. What is needed is leadership capabilities, skills dedication and smarts to do a job. More importantly, people who can operate on their own with the shared vision and ideals of the PM. Not necessarily always agreeable but loyal to a cause.
Deadwood ministers and deputy ministers must be encouraged to go. Ask them to join Perkas.
Second-generation leadership
What are we? We are second generation voters and leaders. The issues confronting us are different: poverty, urban now more pronounced; corruption, a scourge; inefficient and ineffective government and administration, aggravates the cost of running the country; ignorance and intolerance, ineptitude — these are the second generation issues.
How do you tackle them? By placing second generation thinking leaders in responsible positions. Hence the future of this country depends on the quality of people Najib selects to be on his team.
He needs to create an environment and a system in which succeeding generations can build and improve upon what we already have. Install a strong leadership, with a shared vision, drive and commitment.
Each generation gets rid of the past and together with that past, people who ruled and ordered our society.
The character of leaders
Two things make up leadership: mental capabilities and this thing called character.
Recently the PM appointed some new senators. One of them used to be a very intimate aide to Anwar Ibrahim. That would make anyone think that he knows many secrets about Anwar, just as Anwar does about him too. You can't claim that only you know the other's secrets — the other guy also knows you inside out. In the end, you end up throwing your dirty laundry in the streets. I think Umno should cease to be a political Alam Flora.
After going through some difficult times defending Anwar and standing by that leader, he finally quit the party and abandoned the struggles of the political party or movements whose ideals he once swore upon. What kind of character does he have? To me he has a fluid and ephemeral character, taken as a whole, which should be a cause of concern for the prime minister.
If he can do that to a longtime comrade, what's stopping him from doing the same next time around? A compromisable character is a political liability.
(
Ezam Mohd Nor former head of PKR Youth, is a senator and founding chairman of Gerak, or Gerakan Rakyat Anti Korupsi Msia.)
Khairy Jamaluddin for Cabinet
KJ won his post as Ketua Pemuda (Umno Youth leader) one year ago. He won it fair and square. Fair and square in Umno terms that is. Since then we have had 10 by-elections. At every one of these the Ketua Pemuda has played a very prominent role galvanising the votes of the younger generation.
In all the recent by-elections, Pemuda Umno has been in the forefront. Its Pentas Pemuda has become a permanent feature and a decisive opinion shaper too. Its members work the ground, house to house, making strenuous efforts to win voters. The person responsible for energising the Pemuda election machinery and eliciting renewed acceptance of Pemuda Umno is [the] Ketua Pemuda, Khairy Jamaluddin.
He has the smarts and personality to draw the younger generation. The Umno president must be mindful of the fact that the deciding elements in future elections are the younger voters. He might as well leverage on an asset that can galvanise and win them over.He has two choices: to elevate and honour the position of Ketua Pemuda or place other bland characters as the voice of the young.
No one wants to listen to
Ahmad Maslan, for example, who likes to regale audience about the circumstances in which the PM identified him and developed him into what he is today. (Ahmad Maslan is MP for Pontian and a deputy minister in the PM's Department.)
Let's face it, KJ has a charismatic personality, articulate and is very smart vs the other fellow — yes the fellow who lost but was made a deputy minister [and] who has a personality matching that of a wooden lamp-post.
It's a great anomaly to see the Ketua Pemuda of Umno outside the cabinet or without any government appointment. The head of Puteri Umno has a post, the ketua wanita MCA, the ketua pemuda MCA have positions. All previous KP of Umno were given positions.
Like Dato Zahid Hamidi, I urged the PM to induct the Umno ketua Pemuda into his cabinet. Think of the future.
(
Khairy Jamaluddin, leader of Umno Youth, is MP for
Rembau.)
Who Najib should drop
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Hishammuddin Hussein, his cousin, has not performed well [as] home minister. He appears to be impotent and couldn't rein in the IGP. In any other country, no chief constable of the country has assumed an overt political stance, always the province of the minister in charge.
Hishammuddin hasn't been up to the mark. He is no King Ghaz (the late Ghazali Shafie) when the latter was Home Minister to Tun Razak. He should be reassigned to another post. One that doesn't require the projection of a toughie.
(Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, son of a former prime minister, is MP for
Sembrong and minister of home affairs.)
•
Our invisible foreign minister. For the first time in history, Malaysia has an exceedingly shy foreign minister. Hobnobbing and rubbing shoulders with other foreign ministers and diplomats at cocktail parties should have been a cinch for a person like
Anifah Aman, no stranger to handling himself at glorified watering holes.
Since becoming the Foreign Minister, we hardly hear of him. Perhaps he is not up to the job. I hear that one of the reasons he doesn't want to be Foreign Minister is his extreme frustration in being asked questions regarding the Altantuya [Shaariibuu] murder each and every time he meets the foreign press. He can't handle the pressure.
So it's time for PM Najib to let him go. Put someone else with the silver tongue and hide thick enough. Rais Yatim will be a good candidate, provided he is in the right mode, always.
•
Puad Zarkashi, who seems to share a close affinity with the ideals of Perkasa, should be let off. Maybe he can be Umno's fifth columnist inside Perkasa. (Puad Zarkashi is MP for Batu Pahat. He is a deputy minister of education.)
•
Mukhriz Mahathir who seems not to serve any useful purpose other than as a shield against the tirades of the old man, should also be put to pasture. (Mukhriz Mahathir, deputy leader of Umno Youth, is MP for Jerlun and deputy minister of international trade and industry.)
•
The MIC with only three members of Parliament should be adequately represented by just one member in the Cabinet — and that, too, at deputy level.
•
The PPP which offers nothing to BN, shouldn't be tolerated in any way at all.
Heck, PKR has more Indian MPs than PPP and MIC put together.
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