Mahathir Mohamad will open the inaugural assembly of controversial Malay nationalist group Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa Malaysia (PERKASA) at the end of March!
To read the story click HERE
and at PERKASA website HERE
Non sibi, sed patriae
Not for you, but for the fatherland
The panel also concluded that the removal of Salleh and Supreme Court judges Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and George Seah subsequently was “non est”, that is, they should not have been sacked.
The panel comprised of:
Former Chief Justice of India JS Verma, who chaired the panel;
Former
Advocate of the
Senior Malaysian lawyer Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman;
Senior Australian lawyer and former Lawasia president Dr Gordon Hughes; and
Senior Malaysian lawyer Bill Davidson.
Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan, launching the Report of the Panel of Eminent Persons to Review the 1988 Judicial Crisis in Malaysia, said: “It may have taken 20 years, but it is never too late for right to be done and for the truth to be told.”
In the 81-page report (which is available online at malaysianbar.org.my), the panel said that having examined the proceedings of the first Tribunal, which found Salleh guilty of misbehaviour, it was of the view that “not only was Tun Salleh totally innocent and none of the charges had any merit but, in fact, the Lord President was performing his constitutional duty to uphold and protect the doctrine of separation of powers and the rule of law.”
Causarum justia et misericordia
- For the causes of justice and mercy
Former Malaysian autocratic long time (22 years in power) Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad (Dr. M) has on Monday 19 May 2007, resigned from the ruling Malaysian political party UMNO Baru in an apparent protest over the inept leadership of his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The rats are deserting the sinking UMNO Baru ship, but is there much more to this than meets to eye?
I think that there is!
Sanusi Junid
The old man has jumped overboard, followed by another old timer, Sanusi Junid, more and more are sure to bail out before the major landslide will begins.
The jostling for position will be generating tensions in the back rooms, and the plotting, scheming and counter scheming will be trying to cover every possible political permutation.
When announcing his decision to quit, Mahathir said: "I will only come back to the party when there is a change in leadership."
He also urged other senior politicians to follow him, which will only add to the already tenuous uncertainty about how long PM Abdullah can stay in power.What will PM Abdullah and DPM Najib do now?
Let’s wait and see, however this could well be a blind lead, or diversionary tactic by Dr. M to move the focus from the incriminating V K Lingam Video and the Royal Commission’s report publication [and public availability of this report], and the potential prosecutions arising from it. Dr. M is a key figure in the judicial scandal highlighted by the V K Lingam videos.
Extract below:-
Mahathir is one of those implicated, and the wily old fox may have set all this up to try to save his own skin?
Mahathir, who is 82 years old, joined UMNO when it was formed in 1946 and he has weathered a number of storms including his expulsion from UMNO in 1969 and a 1988 crisis when UMNO was declared illegal and when UMNO Baru [New UMNO] was formed.
Wait and observe!
"There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse."
"There is nothing that politicians like better than handing out benefits to be paid for by someone else."
"In politics, the truth is strictly optional and that also seems to be true in parts of the media."
"You have to have a sense of humor if you follow politics. Otherwise, the sheer fraudulence of it all will get you down."
"What is history but the story of how politicians have squandered the blood and treasure of the human race?"
Thomas Sowell
In a speech at Imperial College in London, organised by The Ramadhan Foundation, (which is a leading British Muslim youth organisation working for peaceful coexistence and dialogue between communities) on Friday 25th April 2008, Mahathir Mohamad, who was Malaysian PM from 1981 until 2003, called for an international tribunal to try Western leaders regarding alleged war crimes arising from the war in Iraq.
The speech was reported to have been attended by some 450 people and about 200 more were turned away.
Mahathir had reportedly visited
Meanwhile he has been out of the news in Malaysia
See the full news report about this in the Straits Times of Singapore HERE
Quid novi ex Malaysia
However, the former premier said he hoped that those who sit on the board of inquiry would be neutral, impartial and probably foreigners.
See Mahathir’s performance in the 23 minute interview on the BBC World News HARDtalk programme with Stephen Sackur.
See below:
Click here to watch the interview
"Mahathir Mohamad was
Is it the beginning of the end for the National Front?
When he was Prime Minister his critics labelled him a racist and a dictator.
Have his controversial views mellowed in retirement? Mahathir Mohamad talks to Stephen Sackur.
This edition of HARDtalk was on BBC World at 15:30 GMT Friday 18th April, 03:30 GMT and 22:30 GMT on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th April.
Hardtalk can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 04:30 & 23:30."
Panem et circenses
This is reported in Malaysiakini on Apr 4, 08 11:09am
“Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said
Now Dr. M apparently has confirmed it.
Rumores volant. / Rumor volat
- Rumours fly. / Rumour flies
News reports say that Mahathir Mohamad (seen with nose in the air at right) has withdrawn his support for Najib Abdul Razak to be Prime Minister.
Previously the former P M, had always openly said, he wanted Najib to take over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister.
“I feel we should not pick who the replacement should be. We should give the opportunity to a number of people so that we can evaluate them whether it is Pak Lah, Najib or Muhyiddin).”
Apparently UMNO is as shaky as stilt walkers on a water-bed!
Spemque metumque inter dubiis
Kuala Lumpur 1st April 2008. Sources AP & REUTERS
Approximately 2,000 United Malays National Organization (UMNO) members attended to hear Dr Mahathir and his son Mukhriz speak at a local hotel conference centre, in what was the biggest display of defiance to date against the UMNO President , and present PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The meeting was called to analyse the historic massive losses suffered by Abdullah's Barisan Nasional (BN), which is the UMNO controlled National Front coalition, in the general elections, which were held on 8th March 2008..
Today's meeting turned into an open session which bitterly criticized Abdullah, who is seeing his tentative hold on power progressively weaken more and more, he however still insists he has the full support of UMNO and the other BN member political parties.
"I call on him to resign. Anyone else would have done so already, but he is shameless," Mahathir said. "If he waits until the party is totally destroyed, it would be useless."
Mahathir accused Abdullah (left) of failing to curb unbridled corruption, nepotism and cronyism.
He also referred repeatedly to Abdullah's son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, better known as KJ, who is believed to wield huge influence on the PM, and some UMNO / BN members.
Mahathir is now an ordinary party member, but he still has considerable influence, and his criticism will likely be relished the party's grass-roots workers.
"We have reached a crossroads. There is something very wrong with our leadership, which is Abdullah Ahmad Badawi," Matahir's son Mukhriz (left) said to a huge round of applause.
The open show of defiance, criticism and outright anger is a clearly a sign of the deep crisis in UMNO and BN coalition which are reeling from their worst electoral result ever.
The BN coalition lost five of Malaysia's 13 states and its cherished two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time since 1969, even then they only lost it briefly before introducing a state of emergency; UMNO / BN had changed the Malaysia Constitution and Laws willy nilly as and when they deem fit, this happened regularly in the past 50 years since independence from the British.
See what was reported in the Straits Times of Singapore HERE
A bove majori discit arare minor
- The young ox learns to plough from the older
OИMU
A Shaken UMNO Youth lets Muhkriz off the hook for asking PM to resign
The weakened ruling party of Malaysia UMNO’s youth wing said on Tuesday, 18th March 2008 it would not punish the son of former premier Mahathir Mohammad for writing a letter, which was leaked to the media, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
A defiant Mukhriz Mahathir stood by his call for Abdullah to go after the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) deliberated over whether to take action against him.
Mukhriz said “I have made my stand clearly before this and I have not changed my mind”
Abdullah has been under pressure to quit since his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition took a heavy beating in the 8th March polls, conceding four states and over one third of parliamentary seats in unprecedented losses.
Mukhriz wrote to Abdullah recently calling on him to stand down; this was the first open sign of revolt within UMNO.
“We have decided not to take action against him,” said Hishamuddin Hussein, the kris waving hot head chief of the party's youth wing, of which Mukhriz is an executive council member.
“We need our party to be strong,” Hishamuddin said at the end of a meeting regarding Mukhriz's letter to the PM.
Mukhriz had told the closed-door meeting that his views were those of the public and Hishamuddin said “He felt there was nothing wrong with Mukhriz expressing his views”.
“If we don't change and we still remain in a denial mode there is a possibility that we will become irrelevant,” Hishamuddin said, referring to calls within the party for real reform after the election debacle.
I thought that UMNO is already irrelevant!
Mahathir Mohamad, has also pushed for Abdullah to step down, accusing him of 'destroying' the ruling coalition and UMNO, and saying he regretted selecting him for the top job when he (Mahathir) stood down in 2003.
Abdullah, has repeatedly refused to stand down.
I have received this synopsis of a book about Daim Zainuddin, the old axiom
"There is nothing stranger than the truth"
comes to mind"!
The source of this information is unknown, and the impending publication of the said book is not able to be verified.
Nevertheless, this synopsis makes very interesting reading, and seems to ring true, however the accuracy of the information contained therein cannot be vouched for, readers should read it with an open mind and form their own conclusions.
DAIM ZAINUDDIN (synopsis of a forthcoming book)
”Several books have been written about Tun Daim Zainuddin, but not many people know who the real Daim is.
He is famous for being taciturn. Everyone knows that Daim is the silent type; so silent, in fact, that the victims of his scheming and conniving have fallen like ten pins without ever knowing what hit them.
He has, on the quiet, made a career of shooting poison darts, laying booby traps and knifing friend or foe in the back. His hand is never seen, but his mark is everywhere.
Truth to tell, he has been at the root of many national crises, but his name has never been smudged, thanks to the wealth he wields and his bond of friendship with Dr. Mahathir.
Most members of UMNO's new generation are aware that Daim is an acquisitive millionaire and a macho man with a taste of young women, but they concede him these weaknesses because they see in him a clean and competent Economic Adviser to the Government.
But the generation of Harun Idris, Musa Hitam and Manan Othman to name just a few of the old hands - they are the ones to ask in order to discover who the real Daim is.
It was Datuk Harun who plucked Daim up from the depths of failure in the salt business.
Daim's wife, Mahani and Harun's wife, Salmah were good friends and an influential pair in the early 1970s.
It was wife power that moved Harun to give Daim 160 acres of prime Kampung Pandan land. And thus Syarikat Maluri was born.
There is no use speculating over how much Daim paid Harun. After all, the two were fast friends.
For the gory details, just ask Low Kiok Bow or Thamby Chik. They can relate how Daim cheated a land broker and greased Selangor state executive councillor and Mahathir's brother-in-law, Ahmad Razali for that piece of land.
Of course, Daim still had to pay for the land. In those days, it was not easy to borrow from a bank.
Hence, he was forced to corrupt Bank Bumiputra. Lorraine Osman and Rais Saniman know how much he spent.
Manan Othman can no doubt confirm the figure, he was so close to Daim that they tried to share a girl friend, with Manan often borrowing the bedroom at Daim's office in Taman Maluri.
Daim's elevation as Senator and, subsequently, Minister of Finance, was part of Mahathir's strategic plan.
Mahathir's choice should surprise no one, after all the two were intimate friends from the same kampung in Seberang Perak, Alor Setar. Upon becoming Prime Minister on 16 July, 1981, the first thing on Mahathir's mind was how to sideline his arch enemy, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
Daim told everyone he had no interest in politics, but all the while he was confident of getting the Finance Minister's job after a stint with the Senate.
A few months after joining the Senate, Daim became Chairman of Fleet, which owned the New Straits Times. In 1984, he finally got his dream job and became the third most important man in the Federal Cabinet, after the Prime Minister and his deputy.
Musa Hitam, the Deputy Prime Minister, was at first oblivious of the closet ties between Mahathir and Daim.
Innocently, he expressed to Mahathir his disquiet over Daim's wheeling and dealing, particularly his award of projects and contracts to his own associates and cronies.
It must have baffled him when his complaints fell on deaf ears although he was Deputy Prime Minister, he has no say when it came to economic matters, particularly privatisation and the assignment (to supporters) of economic projects.
How disappointed Musa must have been to find that Daim could not care less about his effort to help his supporters secure some projects or contracts.
Daim succeeded in making millionaires of such cronies of Wan Azmi, Halim Saad, Tajuddin Ramli, Samsuddin Hassan, Razali Rahman and Tan Sri Basir, but Musa in the end was cast off as a poor ex-DPM.
Musa once complained to Mahathir that Daim had stolen a number of supporters' project proposals, but again Mahathir ignored him.
These were the first acts in the eventual breakup of the Mahathir-Musa partnership.
As the interests of Mahathir and Razaleigh bloated, Musa got squeezed out.
Many UMNO members assume that Razaleigh is Musa's number one enemy. In fact, the reason for the 1986 split in Umno must fall on Daim. It was he who drove Musa to the edge until he had no choice but to resign. Again, Daim's man of few words demeanour to his advantage. Few knew of his behind-the-scenes role in that Umno rupture not many more know it today.
One really should not wonder why Musa called a truce Razaleigh and the two decided to collaborate in the 1987 fight, the one that eventually caused Umno to be outlawed. At that time, Daim was almost invincible, what support coming from such strongmen as Sanusi Junid and Anwar Ibrahim.
The comradeship of the three was rock solid, and the Musa-Razaleigh camp could do nothing except to make a joke of it by giving them the nicknames AIDS.
The formation of the new UMNO, Daim and Mahathir had first to get rid of the Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas. Again, Daim was the chief plotter in the sacking of the pious and respected Tun Salleh, and his replacement with Tun Hamid Omar, a playboy and chronic gambler, but Mahathir's and Daim's schoolmate.
The appointment of Tun Hamid Omar triggered the collapse of the integrity and the independence of the judiciary.
Finance Minister, Daim persuaded Mahathir to give the Economic Planning Unit and Treasury full power in implementing the privatisation policy. Hence, it was no longer necessary to call for tenders for government projects.
Instead, the projects were awarded directly to favoured companies. And so began the era of wealth accumulation by and his cohorts. The United Engineering Company, bought for RM2, changed into a multi-million- ringgit corporation.
As Finance Minister, Daim practically ordered banks to lend to companies that he himself owned.
And no Daim crony every complained of difficulty in securing bank credit.
Indeed, bankers lived in fear of Daim.
Having appointed Wan Azmi and Basir to head Malayan Banking and Bank Bumiputra, he would give any project to any of his cronies because funding was not an issue.
If those physical projects were not enough, Daim also took every opportunity to take wealth from the share market as well.
Every time the Treasury approved a company for listing on the stock exchange, Daim cronies received their lion's shares.
That was how in Southern Bank, Resort World, Sports Toto, Berjaya, Tanjong and scores of other blue chip firms landed with Daim and Company.
Once, when share values were high, Daim boasted among friends that his visible wealth alone totalled RM65 billion.
To shut the mouth of Barisan Nasional leaders, Daim gave lucrative projects to Samy Vellu and Ling Liong Sik so that their children could be big-shots in batches.
Daim managed to fool UMNO members into believing that Mahathir would not let him go although he had asked to be relieved of his Cabinet post on a number of occasions.
With Musa and Razaleigh out of the picture, Daim could grab as much wealth as he wanted without even Mahathir stopping him.
Besides, he was UMNO's treasurer and he could make it look as if the companies he controlled were those in which the party had a stake.
Daim's avarice damaged not only his own image as finance minister, but also Mahathir's and
It is said that he used to demand exorbitant fees for himself in negotiating contracts involving foreign suppliers.
The chairmen of
He had - or still has - accounts in
With his immense wealth and far-reaching influence, Daim eventually became a burden that Mahathir could no longer bear.
In every deal he made, there was something in it for himself. It was not beneath him even to conspire with Lee Kuan Yew to snatch KTM land in
The Malaysian Cabinet had no knowledge of this. But this issue of
Mahathir eventually realised that he had to end Daim's lordship over the Finance Ministry. And so he told him to quit.
Mahathir worried that if Daim continued as Finance Minister, complaints would come not only from Vincent Tan, Ananda Krishnan, Arumugam and other members of the Malaysian business elite, but also from foreign leaders.
Signs of a Daim-related scandal were ominous and it could break anytime in
Daim's resignation was planned such that it would not appear as if he had been sacked.
Indeed, it does not make sense why a powerful Finance Minister, rich and in control of so many public companies, would suddenly quit simply because he had lost interest in the job.
The truth is that he was ordered to resign. Observers will recall that Mahathir's first comment on the so-called reaction was, "He has asked several times for permission to resign, and I have finally allowed it. I hope Daim would not leave the country after resigning".
That statement was pregnant with meaning.
Mahathir knew Daim was sulking. So did Anwar and Sanusi. Mahathir retained Daim as UMNO Treasurer for a good reason, he wanted to ensure the safety of UMNO money, a lot of which was under Daim's control.
But Daim who holds so many of Mahathir's secrets, is only a sly one. After resigning, he ran off to live in his
He told the Malaysian public he wanted to study at Harvard, but in fact he wanted to leave
Daim returned and announced that Mahathir had named him Economic Adviser to the Government.
Rafidah asked Mahathir to confirm this, but all she got was silence. Daim was never formally appointed as Economic Adviser, a post which Tun Raja Mohar once held.
The appointment is the prerogative of the Public Services Department. Daim gave himself the job.
To keep Daim happy, Mahathir allowed him to open an office at the Economic Planning Unit, and this strengthened the public perception that he was still in control as far as economic affairs were concerned.
When he was to told to resign as Finance Minister, Daim asked Mahathir to appoint Anwar Ibrahim to the job.
Obviously, he thought this would help to ensure that his skeletons would remain closeted.
He warned Mahathir of the peril that Rafidah would be to both of them: the secrets they shared would be uncovered.
Daim also persuaded Mahathir to appoint Mustapha Mohammad as Anwar's deputy because these two could be depended on to fill up the holes he had left gaping.
Anwar is nobody's fool, but he sacrificed his idealism to protect his towkay.
As far as we know, no Finance Minster in this world has retired a billionaire, except Daim.
In the book Daim yang Diam: Sebuah Biographi (Daim the Silent: A Biography), Daim explains his retirement: "I am happy in retirement. It was too heavy a responsibility.
Friend of Soros
According to an internal bank analysis, collaborated by the corporate community, and from Daim crony Amin Shah, Daim's wealth, in ringgit and foreign currencies kept overseas currently amounts to RM20 billion. With so much money at his disposal, Daim can manipulate the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
He showed his hand in 1991, just to prove how much influence he wielded. After selling off his stocks, he made a statement to the effect that the market would crash.
And crash it did. As we can all recall, even Mahathir could not help but make a wry remark when Daim boasted that he invested in KLSE only for pocket money.
But to his good friend, Daim said he could turn in profit on RM90 million a day when the market was up.
When the market plummeted in October 1991 Daim bought back his shares on the cheap. When the market turned bullish again 1995 and 1996, Daim made billions of ringgit.
This, then, is what the work of an economic adviser amounts to.
So it turns out that Soros is not the only big time market manipulator and currency dealer. Daim met Soros twice in
Anyway, when the ringgit fell below RM4 to the US dollar, Mahathir asked Daim for help and, according to a source in Singapore, he lost RM1 billion trying to prop up the Malaysian currency.
To lose that much in currency trading, imagine how much money he had at his disposal.
The falls in currency and share values put Mahathir in a feverish panic. He knew his policies and his own belligerent attitude were partly to blame.
Seeing Mahathir in such a frenzied state, Daim recommended that he declare a state of emergency to enable him to restore the economy and at the same time, bury the corpses that were beginning to stink.
We hail the Chief Secretary to the Government and the Solicitor-General for opposing the move.
If Daim's plan had been followed, Mahathir would turn dictator and the Malaysian economy would be utterly ruined. Having failed to declare an emergency, Mahathir set up the National Economic Action Council, headed by Daim, with the Economic Planning Unit as its Secretariat. The original plan was to give the NEAC complete autonomy, but the Cabinet ministers opposed this for fear that they would lose any vestige of power they had left.
Eventually, the council became merely an advisory body, with the Cabinet having final say on its recommendations.
The establishment of the council was a wedge between Anwar and Daim.
Thus, two old friends who had together stood behind Mahathir against Musa were now turned against each other.
All of the council's recommendations were rejected by the Cabinet and Bank Negara. Daim openly assailed Bank Negara for dismissing his proposals, such as those relating to interest rates and credit control.
We salute the Bank Negara Governor for maintaining a prudent monetary policy in the face of Daim's bullying and insults.
Unlike Daim and his cohorts, Bank Negara's officials are not self-serving.
Daim's appointment to the NEAC was a major national mistake.
Going by press reports of its deliberations so far, the NEAC's sole preoccupation is with saving mega corporations from bankruptcy.
No doubt, these are Daim-related companies.
Daim has yet to show any concern over the rise in the price of chillies, or the leaps in fish prices or how the price of rice has boiled over. Neither has he talked about small businesses in their depth throes. Class F contractors going bankrupt or kampung road projects being abandoned. In his dictionary, there are no entries for the small man's worries, nothing about low-cost houses, water cuts or study funds for the children of poor Malays.
In fact, it contains only billion size figures.
While the Malaysian economy is close to ruin, Daim remains a billionaire, living a life of glamour, jet setting with his new wife Naimah and the attractive Josephine, an Indian lass who helps him run one of his firms, the International Malaysian Bank.
We have merely given a sketch of who the real Daim is.
A thorough account will soon be available in book form. We recommend the book to UMNO members, especially those with big ambitions, because they will learn much from its fantastic but true tales of economic and political intrigues.
We denounce the likes of Vincent Tan and Tan Phek Khiing for land-grabbing, but perhaps we should ask the Menteri Besar of Johor and the Menteri Besar of Kedah how much land Daim has taken.
Ask Sanusi how much Daim paid to the Kedah government for 12,000 acres in Sungai Petani and how much profit he made from them.
For 12,000 acres, Osman Arof had to be sacrificed.
The true story of the Daim-Sanusi conspiracy in Kedah will be exposed in the book.
UMNO is at a crossroads and has to decide wisely where it is going. One road heads to glory, where stability and democratic practice will abide. The other leads to division, autocracy and ultimately, utter destruction. The call for reform, which used to be made only in whispers at small, secretive gatherings, is becoming louder.
UMNO members, showing that they can no longer contain their restiveness and frustration, have begun to openly debate the need for change, even at party conventions.
Can there be a clearer indication that they have reached their tether's end, that they can no longer stomach the leadership's undemocratic attitude and the prevalence - whether in the party or the government - of favouritism, cronyism, nepotism, graft and other misdeeds?
Malay nationalism is dead and materialism and egoism are running amok.
We cannot depend on the UMNO Supreme Council to initiate reform because few of the members have the guts to speak up. In fact, the council has lately been transformed into a monologue theatre.
But of course even a monologue can flop without good supporting players - fools, clowns, jesters, attendants and the oh-so- important flatterers.
As far as these bit players are concerned, UMNO's ideals and principles are not as important as their jobs.
This keep-your-mouth- shut syndrome serves only to embolden the party leadership in its conceit, arrogance and haughtiness. A president has become a dictator.
Woe are the Malays and UMNO.
What is to become of them?
That is a question only UMNO members can answer.”
Not sure where this originated from ............perhaps from
”Lest We Forget.............Who Dr M was
Since the Lallang Operation in 1987, both the media and the courts were turned into stooges for the use of the corrupt BN government.
This has resulted in the BN getting bolder and bolder with BN putras – the children, family and friends - robbing the rakyat in broad daylight since there was no media or courts to check them.
The Lingam tapes, Perwaja Steel, Bank Bumiputra, UMW-Proton deal, the redrawing of the parliamentary delineations, Liong Sik's financial scandals, Samy's tolls, etc - all these happened during M's time.
Guan Eng has been in and out of jail for at least 3 times , Wee Choo Keong was put in jail and robbed of his seat for exposing the MBF boss( Dr M's crony) in 95 - we lose track and count of the countless other NGO leaders, Christian brethren and decent Malaysians incarcerated under the ISA in Kamunting under Dr M.
As the climate of fear prevailed through the casual use of ISA and racial touting, the cancer just grew and grew. Those who dared to speak up stopped speaking and moved away - economic critic Dr KS Jomo, for example.
Those who were able and better qualified emigrated for good - out of disillusionment or for the sakes of their children.
Who is Badawi? He is the present PM appointed by Dr M who inherited not just the policies and sickness of the Mahathir era, but the baggage (people) as well.
For all the criticisms levelled against him, he did not put the blogging community in jail using the ISA like what Mahathir did during 'Ops Lallang' 20 years ago.
The bloggers had to deal with a civil suit via NST and Kali through the courts and coffee time with the police, that's all.
Surprising, really, to all the media watchers who were on tenterhooks for bloggers like Raja Petra, Jeff Ooi and Rocky.
We should thank Badawi for allowing a free intercourse of information and ideas via cyberspace, resulting in many scandals being exposed, including those of his SIL.
The cyber storm resulted in a sea change through the ballot boxes. It is now up to UMNO to decide who they want for their leader, not that dictator Dr M or his son.
Whether UMNO will cure itself of its deep sickness and return to the ideals of its founders - Tunku, Razak and Hussein Onn - remains to be seen. (The Tunku relinquished his membership in 1988 before he died in protest against Dr M's policies. I remember his quote immediately after Operation Lallang -
"We are on the road to dictatorship" this was never published in the Star as it was already shut by Dr M, but the newswires carried it).
As for the SIL, he is the bogeyman for Mahathir, Mukhriz, Najib and his keris weilding fascist cousin Hishamuddin.
Of course the SIL is no saint, but still brighter and no worse than Mukhriz and his siblings.
Badawi might be intellectually challenged and a real sleepy head, but he is a more decent man.
The record shows that he has never bandied the racial card nor intimidated other races verbally unlike the kris wielding cousins (Najib in 1987 and Hishamuddin last year.); bullied the Chinese schools (Anwar as Education Minister threatened to shut them down in the late Eighties) nor use the ISA against his perceived enemies (Dr M).
The Anwar card is more troubling. He worked hand in hand with Mahathir in all the policies, played the race card and reaped the spoils( remember Phileo Allied Bank, Tong Kui Ong and the Edge, amongst others) of M's regime until they fell out. Anwar is a chameleon, thus far more dangerous than the likes of Mahathir. It is widely speculated that when he gets elected in a by election later this year, he might make a deal with Badawi and return to Umno to take up the Deputy PM's post. If so, this will be a blow for the current hopes and rejoicing.
Anwar's next move will decide just how the political landscape will evolve because if Anwar has truly repented, the Opposition stands a real chance of commencing an operation to take out that cancerous tumour plaguing Malaysia called the BN.
God Bless our dear
Historia est vitae magistra - The history is the tutor of life
