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Ahmad Ismail revolt – when will Abdullah stop his flip-flops and demonstrate that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suffered two mortal political blows within a short period of six months – the first “political tsunami” of March 8 general election which smashed UMNO’s political hegemony, ended Barisan Nasional (BN)’s unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority and drove BN into the Opposition in five states now run by Pakatan Rakyat governments and the second “political tsunami” in the August 26 Permatang Pauh by-election, where Anwar Ibrahim stormed back to Parliament with a thumping majority of 15,524 votes after an enforced absence for a decade. Who would have thought that Abdullah’s third mortal political blow could have struck so fast and so devastatingly as to plunge his image, credibility, authority and legitimacy as Prime Minister to their lowest point since he took over from Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the fifth Prime Minister less than five years ago? And this third mortal political blow to Abdullah was primarily self-inflicted, the direct result of his flip-flops over Bukit Bendera Umno division chief, Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s racist reference to Malaysian Chinese as “penumpang” in the country. In this instance, Abdfullah out-flip-flopped himself as he took at least five different positions in the past two weeks, viz:
In his second press conference yesterday which was suggested by the Prime Minister, Ahmad, backed by 13 Penang Umno division leaders, warned the Chinese in Malaysia not to mimic American Jews in seeking to control the country’s economy but also its political power; told Gerakan to leave the Barisan Nasional; demanded that Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon should be stripped of his post as the state Barisan chairman and the post be given to the MCA and reiterated that he would not apologise for his “penumpang” remark made at a Permatang Pauh by-election ceramah on Aug 23. At the end of the press conference, a picture of Tsu Koon, which was hanging on a wall, was publicly brought down and torn to pieces. The whole country and even the world is watching as to whether Abdullah would allow himself to be held to ransom by an Umno division leader with the threat of leading an open revolt in Umno not only in Penang but also in the country. The Ahmad revolt is the direct result of Abdullah’s weak and indecisive leadership, out-flip-flopping himself and transforming what should be a very small issue which could be resolved with a directive to Ahmad to apologise and set a good example as a model Malaysian into a major political and nation-building crisis. Ahmad’s antics and histrionics are irrelevant and he should be ignored altogether. The sole issue is whether Abdullah will stop his flip-flops and assert his authority and leadership to demonstrate that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or political beliefs and remain true to his pledges and commitmernts to uphold the 1957 Merdeka social contract, 1963 Malaysia Agreement, 1970 Rukunegara and Vision 2020 objective of a Bangsa Malaysia. There are extremist and irresponsible politicians who are trying to fan racial flames to incite communal tensions and foment unrest as the passport to regain political mastery in the country. As the Prime Minister for all Malaysians, Abdullah must slap down these extremist and irresponsible politicians and not allow them to rear their ugly heads to hold the future of the people and nation to ransom for their petty and despicable ambitions. *
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