Apr 10, 08 4:26pm
A Umno Youth division in Perak has openly backed Najib Abdul Razak to be the party’s No 1 and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son, Mukhriz, to lead the youth wing.
The Ipoh Barat division acting Youth chief Ahmad Faizal Azumu said in a one-page statement today that his stand was made on the “democratic spirit and love for the party”.
pak lah and najib graphic style“I would like to state my undivided support for Najib as the candidate for Umno president to replace Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. To further strengthen the party, I would also like to give my undivided support to Mukhriz as the Umno Youth chief,” said Ahmad Faizal.
“Their leadership, courage and wisdom are much respected by friends and foes. Their high moral character will be able to restore the people’s interest and support for Umno and Barisan Nasional,” he added.
The Umno Youth divisional leader emphasised (highlighting the sentence in capital letters) that he did not mean to be rude to the incumbent leaders but that he views are based on the feedback obtained from members and the public.
State: Khairy the most appropriate person
Ahmad Faizal’s call came in the wake of Perak Umno Youth’s open support for the wing’s deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin to replace Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein in the party poll in December, as reported in the media today.
The state Youth chief Zainol Fadzi Paharudin said Khairy is the most appropriate person to replace Hishammuddin as Khairy had proven to be a true leader during his tenure as the Youth’s No 2.
Only personal statement
Ahmad Faizal nevertheless disassociated himself from the statement.
“The statement cannot be seen as representing the majority’s wish of Umno Youth members. It is only a personal statement from a state-level leader,” he said, noting that it should be seen as a healthy development where leaders are pledging open support for their preferred candidate.
He added that the party delegates should feel free to choose the leader of their choice without facing any pressure.
hishamuddin hussein khir toyo mukhriz khairy jamaluddin umnoMukhriz and Umno supreme council member Dr Mohd Khir Toyo have openly announced their intention to contest for the Youth chief's post after Hishammuddin declared that he would not seek re-election. Khairy has yet to announce his plan.
For the Umno presidency, Abdullah has insisted he would stay on despite mounting pressures on him to step down following BN’s dismal performance in the last elections.
Former vice-president and Gua Musang division chief Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has stated his intention to challenge Abdullah should he get the required 58 nominations from party divisions for him to do so.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Abdul Hadi admitted to hospital
Apr 10, 08 12:56pm
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was admitted into the Kuala Terengganu General Hospital early this morning after experiencing what appears to have been a mild stroke.
pas 2007 muktamar 020607 hadi awangAbdul Hadi, 60, was brought to the hospital around 6:30 am by his son, Mohamad Khalil, shortly after complaining of “numbness”, said the PAS leader’s press secretary Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir.
“He is not in the intensive care unit, but he has been warded. Family members are happy that his condition is stable,” said Roslan when contacted.
Among the first officials to have paid Abdul Hadi a visit this morning was Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said, he added.
PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaffar, meanwhile, said medical specialists attending to Abdul Hadi have advised that he be given adequate rest.
“He himself has just called PAS headquarters and said his condition is not serious,” said Kamaruddin in a statement.
“We hope that all PAS members and supporters everywhere bear this with patience and pray Tuan Guru recovers soon,” he added.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was admitted into the Kuala Terengganu General Hospital early this morning after experiencing what appears to have been a mild stroke.
pas 2007 muktamar 020607 hadi awangAbdul Hadi, 60, was brought to the hospital around 6:30 am by his son, Mohamad Khalil, shortly after complaining of “numbness”, said the PAS leader’s press secretary Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir.
“He is not in the intensive care unit, but he has been warded. Family members are happy that his condition is stable,” said Roslan when contacted.
Among the first officials to have paid Abdul Hadi a visit this morning was Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said, he added.
PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaffar, meanwhile, said medical specialists attending to Abdul Hadi have advised that he be given adequate rest.
“He himself has just called PAS headquarters and said his condition is not serious,” said Kamaruddin in a statement.
“We hope that all PAS members and supporters everywhere bear this with patience and pray Tuan Guru recovers soon,” he added.
Donald Lim: MCA 'spies' targeted me
Apr 10, 08 11:51am
MCA vice-president Donald Lim Siang Chai said he was among those targeted by a clandestine group of ‘spies’ allegedly delegated to snoop on the political enemies of MCA president Ong Ka Ting.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, the former Petaling Jaya Selatan MP admitted he had received information to that effect, but said he was still in the midst of ascertaining the veracity - or otherwise - of the claims.
donald lim interview 100408“I was informed that there is (such) a group. It is something that has made me very concerned. Definitely, I will want to find out more. I am checking around to see whether this is true or not.
“If it is true, then those who are responsible will definitely be taken to task by MCA members because this is something that is bad, especially if you go looking into people’s private affairs,” he said at his former services centre in Petaling Jaya.
“I was informed not long ago that I am one of the targets of this spying group,” he added.
Lim’s statement came on the heels of claims by several figures within MCA reported earlier this week pertaining to the existence of this group. They said it was formed about three years ago to pry into the private lives of and dig up dirt on a senior official’s political rivals.
The most prominent casualty of their machinations, it was claimed, was former MCA vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek.
'On my own side'
Chua abruptly quit all his party posts - and as health minister - in January after a video tape was circulated of his sexual liaison with a ‘personal friend’. Chua has said he believed his political enemies were behind the tape controversy.
Lim, however, denied he was against any other ‘side’ when questioned about the matter. “I’m on my own side. I'm entitled to my own opinion,” he said.
Last May, Ka Ting had appointed Ch’ng Toh Eng to replace him as Selangor MCA chairperson - a position Ka Ting had held since September 2002.
The move had by-passed Lim, then the deputy Selangor chairperson, and was seen as an effort to place Ka Ting’s men at the helm of the party’s state committee.
mca agm 2005 results 200805 donald lim victoryDenying he had been “dropped”, Lim said he stepped down as deputy state chairperson in order to “make life easier” for Ch’ng and to save “the party’s face.”
“If I continued to be the deputy chairman of Selangor, it would have looked very bad on the party and on me. So I was saving the party’s face. I was not dropped,” he said.
Lim refused to directly comment on or assess the leadership of Ka Ting and his brother Ong Ka Chuan - who is MCA secretary-general and who replaced Ka Ting as housing and local government minister.
Lim did, however, call for leadership change to restore the people’s loss of confidence in the party.
This is all the more so in light of MCA’s dismal performance in the 12th General Election through which the people showed how they feel with regards to Barisan Nasional, in general, and MCA in particular, he said.
“They feel that they cannot trust the leadership. The only way to overcome all this is to change. We have to listen to what the people want,” he said.
Lim also said the party should not be a private company for anyone to treat as their own.
“When you do it, you can see the results,” he said.
A campaign was launched in Perak last Sunday calling for the end of the ‘Ong dynasty’ and the call by grassroots Selangor MCA leaders last month for Ka Ting’s resignation.
Right to express views
He also cited the resignation late last year of US banking giant Citigroup Inc’s chairman and chief executive officier Charles Prince after the company lost billions of dollars following bad investments.
“He (Prince) could not tell the shareholders, ‘Sorry, lah, during my studies in school and college, I never came across such thing as sub-prime mortgages. Can you give me one more chance? I'll make sure this time I'm more careful,” Lim said.
donald lim interview 100408He also did not say anything directly in support or against the ‘Save MCA’ campaign except to say that party members had the right to express their opinions. He asked that he be given until after the July division elections before stating his own plans for the future.
“I think at this juncture, because the party elections is another six months away, let me have a little bit of time to take a break and think of my next move. I'm taking a break next week. I will think about it,” he said.
When asked about the possibilities of contesting, Lim hinted that he was indeed considering a shot at either the party’s president or deputy-president post.
“I will not disappoint you all,” he said.
On matters outside the MCA, Lim said the March 8 polls’ results was a culmination of BN’s failure to develop a decision-making process that efficiently and effectively addressed the main issues and concerns that people are faced with.
In addition to inter-party rivalry such as between MCA and Gerakan as parties representing the Chinese community, BN was also proving to be unwieldy as a result of having too many parties as a whole, said Lim.
“I’m proposing that Gerakan and MCA merge,” said Lim.
“If that does not happen, BN should consider only MCA, because it makes life simpler for everyone,” he added.
MCA vice-president Donald Lim Siang Chai said he was among those targeted by a clandestine group of ‘spies’ allegedly delegated to snoop on the political enemies of MCA president Ong Ka Ting.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, the former Petaling Jaya Selatan MP admitted he had received information to that effect, but said he was still in the midst of ascertaining the veracity - or otherwise - of the claims.
donald lim interview 100408“I was informed that there is (such) a group. It is something that has made me very concerned. Definitely, I will want to find out more. I am checking around to see whether this is true or not.
“If it is true, then those who are responsible will definitely be taken to task by MCA members because this is something that is bad, especially if you go looking into people’s private affairs,” he said at his former services centre in Petaling Jaya.
“I was informed not long ago that I am one of the targets of this spying group,” he added.
Lim’s statement came on the heels of claims by several figures within MCA reported earlier this week pertaining to the existence of this group. They said it was formed about three years ago to pry into the private lives of and dig up dirt on a senior official’s political rivals.
The most prominent casualty of their machinations, it was claimed, was former MCA vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek.
'On my own side'
Chua abruptly quit all his party posts - and as health minister - in January after a video tape was circulated of his sexual liaison with a ‘personal friend’. Chua has said he believed his political enemies were behind the tape controversy.
Lim, however, denied he was against any other ‘side’ when questioned about the matter. “I’m on my own side. I'm entitled to my own opinion,” he said.
Last May, Ka Ting had appointed Ch’ng Toh Eng to replace him as Selangor MCA chairperson - a position Ka Ting had held since September 2002.
The move had by-passed Lim, then the deputy Selangor chairperson, and was seen as an effort to place Ka Ting’s men at the helm of the party’s state committee.
mca agm 2005 results 200805 donald lim victoryDenying he had been “dropped”, Lim said he stepped down as deputy state chairperson in order to “make life easier” for Ch’ng and to save “the party’s face.”
“If I continued to be the deputy chairman of Selangor, it would have looked very bad on the party and on me. So I was saving the party’s face. I was not dropped,” he said.
Lim refused to directly comment on or assess the leadership of Ka Ting and his brother Ong Ka Chuan - who is MCA secretary-general and who replaced Ka Ting as housing and local government minister.
Lim did, however, call for leadership change to restore the people’s loss of confidence in the party.
This is all the more so in light of MCA’s dismal performance in the 12th General Election through which the people showed how they feel with regards to Barisan Nasional, in general, and MCA in particular, he said.
“They feel that they cannot trust the leadership. The only way to overcome all this is to change. We have to listen to what the people want,” he said.
Lim also said the party should not be a private company for anyone to treat as their own.
“When you do it, you can see the results,” he said.
A campaign was launched in Perak last Sunday calling for the end of the ‘Ong dynasty’ and the call by grassroots Selangor MCA leaders last month for Ka Ting’s resignation.
Right to express views
He also cited the resignation late last year of US banking giant Citigroup Inc’s chairman and chief executive officier Charles Prince after the company lost billions of dollars following bad investments.
“He (Prince) could not tell the shareholders, ‘Sorry, lah, during my studies in school and college, I never came across such thing as sub-prime mortgages. Can you give me one more chance? I'll make sure this time I'm more careful,” Lim said.
donald lim interview 100408He also did not say anything directly in support or against the ‘Save MCA’ campaign except to say that party members had the right to express their opinions. He asked that he be given until after the July division elections before stating his own plans for the future.
“I think at this juncture, because the party elections is another six months away, let me have a little bit of time to take a break and think of my next move. I'm taking a break next week. I will think about it,” he said.
When asked about the possibilities of contesting, Lim hinted that he was indeed considering a shot at either the party’s president or deputy-president post.
“I will not disappoint you all,” he said.
On matters outside the MCA, Lim said the March 8 polls’ results was a culmination of BN’s failure to develop a decision-making process that efficiently and effectively addressed the main issues and concerns that people are faced with.
In addition to inter-party rivalry such as between MCA and Gerakan as parties representing the Chinese community, BN was also proving to be unwieldy as a result of having too many parties as a whole, said Lim.
“I’m proposing that Gerakan and MCA merge,” said Lim.
“If that does not happen, BN should consider only MCA, because it makes life simpler for everyone,” he added.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
