AGM postponed, Pak Lah mum on plans

The Umno supreme council dealt a blow to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by putting off party polls and its annual general meeting to March next year, in the bid to force the party leader to hand over power to his deputy.
The Umno annual general meeting, along with party elections, was originally scheduled to be held in December.
However divisional elections will proceed as scheduled from Oct 9 to Nov 9.
The decisions were made at an hour-long emergency supreme council meeting held this morning at Umno headquarters.
Abdullah had earlier said he would hand over power to his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak, in two years' time.
Speaking to reporters later, Abdullah refused to comment if he would defend his president's post at the party polls, saying that he would decide before the division-level meetings on Oct 9 - giving him a window of two weeks to .
"I have not made any decision as far as this particular point is concerned, I intend to do it before the division meetings begin," he said.
"The decision is mine, you can go on guessing. As far as I'm concerned, I love the party."
"The postponement of the AGM is to facilitate the transition plan," he added.
Asked by reporters if he would be going on leave soon, Abdullah said: "I'm not going on leave?... I have lots of work to do."
Private meeting
Najib was also present at the press conference but did not make any comments throughout 9-minute session.
Before the start of the supreme council meeting this morning, Abdullah and Najib had a private 30-minute meeting.
The original deal was for the power transition to happen in June 2010.
However, Abdullah has come under tremendous pressure in recent weeks to bring forward this date, preferably to the middle of next year.
This was the second time this month that the highest decision making body of the party had met. It held its monthly meeting last Thursday.
Meanwhile, party information chief Muhd Muhd Taib told reporters that the decision to postpone the party polls was good for all, "for the president and the party".
He said that all supreme council members welcomed the decision as it helped ease the tension surrounding the party's transition plan.

Abdullah to decide by Oct 9 on Umno presidency

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will make a decision on whether he will defend the Umno presidency before the party's divisional level elections begin on Oct 9.
The Umno president and Prime Minister said this after charing a special party supreme council meeting at PWTC here Friday morning.
Abdullah also announced that the party's general assembly has been postponed to March next year.
However, he said that the Umno divisional elections would go on as scheduled from Oct 9 to Nov 9.
The Umno general assembly was earlier slated for Dec 16 to 20.
He said the postponement was to facilitate an "early power transition" from him to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The original transition plan, which was announced in July, would have seen Najib take over from Abdullah by June 2010.
To a question on whether this meant that he would not be seeking re-election to the Umno presidency, Abdullah said: "I have not decided yet. I will make a decision before the (Umno) divisional elections (from Oct 9 to Nov 9)."
Abdullah also said the special meeting went on well and he was not pressured by any of the supreme council members to quit.
Friday’s meeting by the 25-member Umno supreme council was the latest in a fast-moving chain of events in Umno politics since the fasting month began.
After last week’s supreme council meeting, several state Umno chiefs were said to have convened at Abdullah’s official residence for a meeting during which they urged Abdullah to get a firmer commitment from Najib regarding the coming party elections.
Some of them were concerned that Najib had, on the one hand, expressed support for the transition plan but on the other, had said he would leave the final decision to delegates attending the Umno division meetings next month.
The meeting took place between 1am and 3am on Tuesday. That same evening, Abdullah and Najib had a four-eyed meeting.
On Wednesday afternoon, Najib chaired a hastily convened Umno management committee meeting, presumably to brief them and get a consensus on what had transpired between him and the Prime Minister.
The management committee, chaired by Najib, comprises key Umno leaders including vice-presidents, secretary-general, treasurer, information chief and leaders of the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings.
Members of the committee have been extremely tight-lipped about the meeting following Najib’s stern warning on confidentiality.
On Thursday morning, another four-eyed meeting took place between Abdullah and Najib. It is understood that the meeting was to convey what transpired among the management committee members.
It was Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who lit the spark when he urged Abdullah to consider an earlier exit plan. That spark became a flame when Najib announced he would let the division meetings decide on the transition of power.
His statement was widely read as an indication that he would be open to being nominated for the top party post.
However, he has also repeatedly stressed that he is opposed to a “takeover of power” and was looking instead at a “handover of power”.

Reactions from Muhyiddin, Rafidah, Najib

Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, one of those pushing for a revamped leadership, indicated that the 2010 handover plan was now abandoned.
"As far as I'm concerned it's a new deadline that has been set. I sense he is showing some magnanimity," he told reporters.
Muhyiddin backed the decision to fix a new date for the Umno polls, a move seen by observers as a face-saving way for Abdullah to avoid an embarrassing leadership challenge.
"In a way it is to bring forward the deadline," he said, calling for an end to the rift in the ruling party over the timetable for Abdullah's departure.
"It is time for us to close ranks," he said.
Rafidah Aziz, the party Wanita chief, also suggested the premier would step down earlier than planned.
"We agreed with what was said, it was a comprehensive decision. It is to facilitate an earlier transition, so take it as that," she said.
Although Najib is clearly Abdullah's heir apparent, the revised plan allows the new leadership to be formally elected by the party next March. The 2010 handover deal had been criticised as undemocratic by some Umno leaders.
"This is good for the party," Najib said.
"This follows Umno's tradition and at the same time we have taken into account the views of party members, so I think there is a lot of wisdom in today's decision."


tunku : pak lah is just trying to buy time. he should know the reason why the party AGM is postponed and should tell everyone what his intention is, that if he REALLY loves the party.let us see what more he has to sell by 9th october.they are making umno like their own property, they just postpone the AGM to suits them.it is already postponed to december and now again to march next year.again it is only decided by them.