Don’t turn your voice into a whisper, Pak Lah’s supporters urge him
Those who want Abdullah to give his side of the story include Umno MPs, Barisan Nasional politicians and associates who are still unhappy and perplexed today that Abdullah chose the path of silence when Dr Mahathir began attacking him in 2006, accusing him of weak leadership and cronyism, among other things.
The Malaysian Insider
Now that Tun Abdullah Badawi has served his appetiser, his supporters in Umno would like him to continue dishing it out to nemesis Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as payback for seven years of half-truths, humiliation and pain.
In the past few days, many members of the Abdullah camp have been congratulating him on the groundbreaking interview he gave the co-editors of a book on his years in office.
In the book, Abdullah finally defended himself and his government against the broadsides from his predecessor-turned-nemesis, Dr Mahathir.
Some of Abdullah’s supporters who were sidelined in Umno and in the corporate world on account of being associated with him, now want to visit the former PM at his home near Carcosa Sri Negara and urge him to continue the fight.
One supporter, an Umno MP, told The Malaysian Insider, “Pak Lah will be doing Malaysia a favour if he tells Malaysians why he could not follow the path of Mahathir”.
“It is important for Pak Lah to explain why he did certain things. Not everything will be favourable to Pak Lah but this debate will make people re-examine Mahathir’s legacy.”
Supporters like him know that Abdullah has held back all these years for the sake of Umno unity and to avoid adding to the ruling party’s troubles in general election.
But there is no such concern now, they argue. The next general election is five years away so if there is any right time for Abdullah to tell Malaysians the hard truths about his five years as PM and his relationship with his predecessor, this is it.
Those who want Abdullah to give his side of the story include Umno MPs, Barisan Nasional politicians and associates who are still unhappy and perplexed today that Abdullah chose the path of silence when Dr Mahathir began attacking him in 2006, accusing him of weak leadership and cronyism, among other things.
They know there will be a comeback from Dr Mahathir on his successor’s hard-hitting comments in the book and this time, they want Abdullah to give as good as he gets. They want him to go beyond general statements and finally talk about the backstories of Dr Mahathir’s pet projects and his sons’ deep involvement in business.
They believe that Abdullah should have exposed the real Dr Mahathir, the leader who during his 22 years in office, presided over the hollowing out of key institutions such as the judiciary, promoted skewed privatisation projects, and did little to fight corruption and racial polarisation.
But back then, Abdullah the Prime Minister felt that if he laid bare Dr Mahathir’s skeletons, it would split Umno and ultimately hurt BN in GE12. Later, Abdullah the Former Prime Minister was also reluctant to open a war against Dr Mahathir in the run-up to GE13, once again concerned that a fresh round of verbal volleys between him and Dr Mahathir would hurt Umno.
So Umno and BN politicians aligned to Abdullah, or at least with empathy for him, were pleasantly surprised with the hard-hitting interview he gave the editors of the book titled “Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years In Malaysia”. The book is a collection of essays and a few interviews assessing Abdullah’s performance as Prime Minister between October 2003 and March 2009.
In it, Abdullah unloaded on Dr Mahathir, saying, among other things, that:
