Quit now before it's too late

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has advised his hand picked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down now before Umno loses support further or worse - face a no-confidence vote in Parliament.
While stressing that he was not suggesting Barisan Nasional MPs to go for a vote of no-confidence against Abdullah, Mahathir said that such a prospect is possible.
“If he doesn’t want to step down as he was asked to, then maybe there would be a vote of non-confidence. If this happens, it will be very bad for him as he is rejected by his party.
“But it can be done although I don’t think Barisan MPs would do it. If the opposition does it, they have 82. If they can get 35 or 36 more from Barisan, Pak Lah has to vacate his post,” said Mahathir.
He was speaking to reporters after his keynote speech at a general election ‘post-mortem’ organised by Umno Hulu Selangor division in Kajang today which was attended by some 600 people.
Mahathir said Abdullah cannot wait until the Umno elections in December to step down as the rebuilding of the party and plans to recapture five Pakatan Rakyat-held states need to start immediately.
“If there is no succession now, we might not have enough time to draw voters back to our fold, especially if the (Pakatan Rakyat) governments perform well, it would be very difficult,” he said.
“Should Abdullah step down, there is a better possibility of Umno healing itself,” he added.
‘For his own good’
To a question, Mahathir said that should Abdullah step down, the party would have to follow tradition and allow the deputy to take over.
“If that doesn’t happen, the constitution has to be changed or there has to be a re-election. This depends on the party members,” he said.
The former premier also said that stepping down now would be for Abdullah’s “own good” as it would avoid him being attacked during the Umno general assembly which would also coincide with party polls.
On Abdullah’s admission that he was “partly responsible” for Barisan’s diastrous outing in the polls, Mahathir stressed that his predecessor should not blame others.
“He admitted that he is partly responsible. But he blamed me, Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah) and internal sabotage as well. The question is why there was sabotage.
“The last four prime ministers were never sabotaged by Umno, nor MCA, MIC or Gerakan. Why did they sabotage? Because they disagreed with (Abdullah’s) leadership. This he has to accept,” he pointed out.
To a question, Mahathir said the general election results do not reflect PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s popularity. On the contrary, he said Anwar was not at all popular.
“He didn’t get this huge majority that you mentioned. People didn’t like him. It's because people were unhappy with Barisan and Umno. (The polls) were not a test of the opposition. It's not because (Anwar) is popular.
“In 1999, (even) with the black eye and all, he only won five seats. He had to suffer a black eye for five seats. In 2004, he had only one. He is not popular,” he insisted.
Anwar Ibrahim’s political ban expires on April 15. There has been strong rumours that he would make a bid for Parliament soon and encourage defections from Barisan MPs to form the next federal government.


Dr M wants Abdullah to step down NOW
KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 ─ Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down as party president now.
He said that by clinging on to power Abdullah would only throw Umno into a further state of chaos, following the election on March 8.
His comments, made at a post-election session in Kajang, come a day after Johor Umno decided that it would continue to support Abdullah as the party president and PM.
The division leaders in the Umno stronghold also decided that Abdullah should set a timetable for political succession with Datuk Seri Najib Razak after the party polls in December.
This move by Johor did not go down well with Dr Mahathir, who has been pressing Abdullah to take responsibility for the poor performance of Barisan Nasional candidates in Election 2008.
"The transition must happen now. This is to avoid a split in the party," he said at a press conference after delivering an address on the leadership crisis post-March 8.
He blamed the mainstream media for misreporting the Johor Umno meeting with Abdullah yesterday, claiming that although the state leaders supported their party president, they also wanted the transition to happen now.
The Insider learnt that last week when Johor Umno met, the sentiment was that Abdullah should be given the message that he should hand over power to Najib before the December polls.
But that position changed and during Friday's meeting, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Ghani Othman said that the state Umno wanted a smooth transition of power and hoped that a detailed plan could be worked out between Abdullah and Najib after the December polls.
Dr Mahathir is likely to continue punching holes in Johor Umno's stand and push for other states to force Abdullah's hand before the party polls in December.
He and other critics of Abdullah cannot afford the Abdullah-Najib tag team to go into the polls without constitutional amendments being made to the quota requirement. Under the party constitution, only those who obtain 30 per cent of support from the divisions can contest for the party president's position.
If there is traction for the Johor Umno stand, then it will be difficult for any of Dr Mahathir's nominees or Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to get the 58 nominations.
In his speech, Dr Mahathir said that it was the PM's leadership which led to the ruin of Barisan Nasional component parties such as the MCA, MIC, Gerakan and PPP.
He ticked off those who wanted to take action against Umno members who had voted for the Opposition or who had sabotaged their own candidates.

Leadership Transition In Umno Must Take Place Now, Says Dr M

KAJANG, April 12 (Bernama) -- Leadership transition in Umno must be done now to ensure the party was on a solid footing to lead the Barisan Nasional (BN) in recapturing states lost to the opposition in the next general election, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said this was because reviving the party would take time and general elections must be held no longer than five years.
"Five years is not a long time, If we don't do it (leadership transition) now, it might be too late, more so if the opposition are able to govern the states (Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor) well," he told reporters after giving a speech at a Malay leadership forum here today.
He was commenting on remarks by Umno vice president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would be holding discussions with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak about the latter taking over the mantle of leadership.
Dr Mahathir said if it was true the handover would take place, it was something good as leadership transitions should be done smoothly.
"Most of Umno members want this, he (Abdullah) must respond and do it in a good way. If not, there will be calls extraordinary general meetings to have amendments made to the party constitution, followed by a motion of no confidence... all this will be bad for the image of Umno," said Dr Mahathir.
He also said that he had nothing to do with it (power transition).
"Nothing to do with me, I am not involved in this. He has to do the needful for the party. It is obvious that instead of blaming me or blaming everybody else, he must accept responsibility because it happened during his tenure of office," he said.
Asked who would be the right choice to replace Abdullah, Dr Mahathir said:" If he steps down we will have to follow the party tradition, which is the deputy takes over."
To a question whether he supported Najib to take over, he said:" It is not a matter of my supporting Najib or not, it is a matter of tradition."
Dr Mahathir also said that it was better for Abdullah to step down now.
"For his own good, he should step down now, because then it'll be very smooth. But if he waits until the assembly (Umno general assembly in December), then you don't know what those people are going to say," he said.
He said that his criticisms (of the Umno leadership) was not motivated by self-interest and that he took it as is duty to ensure its leaders "not only did things right, but also did the right things".
He would continue with the same if whoever took over (the leadership) "strayed", he added.