The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mr.Abdullah Badawi, had agreed that he had talks with the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (known as PAS in short) leaders after the March 8, 2008 elections. The ruling party National Front coalition. under the leadership of Mr.Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had a serious setback in March 8 elections. Though his party is still in power, it has lost its two-third majority in the parliament and lost five states to the opposition. And one of those states, Kelantan, is fully under the control of PAS with whom the present leadership of UMNO (the main component of the ruling party) has been holding talks with.
The talks were going on for the last few months, after the elections, between UMNO and PAS, by high–level leaders. But it came to light just recently after the Prime Minister, Mr.Abdullah Badawi, broke the silence and said he had talks with top-level PAS leaders nearly three times after the general election. Later, this has been confirmed by PAS's leaders too.
Initially, it was told that the talks were mainly on Malay unity and religious issues. Even after fifty years in power, with full control of the government, UMNO was not able to unite the Malays. It became worse when Tun Dr.Mahathir Muhammad took over the helm of the country and stay put for twenty two years. Political power struggle, cronyism, corruption, judicial scandals were rampant during his tenure of office. He did more damages than good for the country. Under the guise of development he brought in workers from Indonesia, Bangaldesh, Pakistan and Phillipines who later became permanent residents of this country. That was a burden to the local people. Jobs denied for the locals and thus their livelihood at stake. Billions of ringgit were spent on mega projects which are not beneficial to the people.
All these were reflected on March 8, 2008 general elections.
One of the richest states in Malaysia, Selangor, lost to the opposition on march 8 elections.The main component party in Barisan National and also the ruling party UMNO, was the greatest loser. Nevertheless, the state’s UMNO leaders tried to retain power by calling in their archrival, the opposition’s Islamist party PAS to collaborate with them to form a new state government. In desperation, UMNO even agreed to have a Chief Minister from PAS to lead the state government but PAS refused to their generosity! The chief negotiator was non other than the former Chief Minister of Selangor, Mr.Khir Toyo, from UMNO!
Now there are lot of avenues opened to PAS, the Islamist party. UMNO wants to cooperate with PAS. They have their own hidden agenda. But it is under the pretext of Malay unity and Islam UMNO has extend its hands to PAS.
When UMNO agreed for a PAS’s Chief Minister in Selangor, is that impossible for a PAS’s leader to become a Prime Minister of Malaysia? In politics anything is possible. After the general election the Barisan Nasional government is not stable enough. The component parties are not as they used to be because of UMNO’s flirting with PAS.
On the other hand, PAS is not coming bare-handedly. It is the main opposition party in the parliament with 22 parliament seats. If both parties collaborate for the sake of Malay unity and Islam (an easy way to convince the Malay masses!) anything is possible in Malaysian politics.
But a million dollar question is: Who will be the Prime Minister of Malaysia? UMNO is becoming irrevelant in Malaysian politics because of its power struggle within, corrupted leaders, without a credible leadership, money politics, religious extremism, political scandals, abuse of power and so on. Even the Prime Minister, Mr.Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister, Mr.Najib Abdul Razak were reported to Anti-Corruption Agency by one of the UMNO members, Mr.Mazlan Harun, for abuse of power.
When it comes to PAS their hands are clean. Under their ruling in Kelantan non-muslims in the state have nothing to complain about. No temple demolishing, no body snatching incidences i.e. a born Hindu buried as a Muslim, which is very common under UMNO government. The non-muslim majority will definitely prefer a PAS Prime Minister to an UMNO Prime Minister. Well, Mr.Abdul Hadi Awang will be the best choice to be the next Prime Minister.
The talks were going on for the last few months, after the elections, between UMNO and PAS, by high–level leaders. But it came to light just recently after the Prime Minister, Mr.Abdullah Badawi, broke the silence and said he had talks with top-level PAS leaders nearly three times after the general election. Later, this has been confirmed by PAS's leaders too.
Initially, it was told that the talks were mainly on Malay unity and religious issues. Even after fifty years in power, with full control of the government, UMNO was not able to unite the Malays. It became worse when Tun Dr.Mahathir Muhammad took over the helm of the country and stay put for twenty two years. Political power struggle, cronyism, corruption, judicial scandals were rampant during his tenure of office. He did more damages than good for the country. Under the guise of development he brought in workers from Indonesia, Bangaldesh, Pakistan and Phillipines who later became permanent residents of this country. That was a burden to the local people. Jobs denied for the locals and thus their livelihood at stake. Billions of ringgit were spent on mega projects which are not beneficial to the people.
All these were reflected on March 8, 2008 general elections.
One of the richest states in Malaysia, Selangor, lost to the opposition on march 8 elections.The main component party in Barisan National and also the ruling party UMNO, was the greatest loser. Nevertheless, the state’s UMNO leaders tried to retain power by calling in their archrival, the opposition’s Islamist party PAS to collaborate with them to form a new state government. In desperation, UMNO even agreed to have a Chief Minister from PAS to lead the state government but PAS refused to their generosity! The chief negotiator was non other than the former Chief Minister of Selangor, Mr.Khir Toyo, from UMNO!
Now there are lot of avenues opened to PAS, the Islamist party. UMNO wants to cooperate with PAS. They have their own hidden agenda. But it is under the pretext of Malay unity and Islam UMNO has extend its hands to PAS.
When UMNO agreed for a PAS’s Chief Minister in Selangor, is that impossible for a PAS’s leader to become a Prime Minister of Malaysia? In politics anything is possible. After the general election the Barisan Nasional government is not stable enough. The component parties are not as they used to be because of UMNO’s flirting with PAS.
On the other hand, PAS is not coming bare-handedly. It is the main opposition party in the parliament with 22 parliament seats. If both parties collaborate for the sake of Malay unity and Islam (an easy way to convince the Malay masses!) anything is possible in Malaysian politics.
But a million dollar question is: Who will be the Prime Minister of Malaysia? UMNO is becoming irrevelant in Malaysian politics because of its power struggle within, corrupted leaders, without a credible leadership, money politics, religious extremism, political scandals, abuse of power and so on. Even the Prime Minister, Mr.Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister, Mr.Najib Abdul Razak were reported to Anti-Corruption Agency by one of the UMNO members, Mr.Mazlan Harun, for abuse of power.
When it comes to PAS their hands are clean. Under their ruling in Kelantan non-muslims in the state have nothing to complain about. No temple demolishing, no body snatching incidences i.e. a born Hindu buried as a Muslim, which is very common under UMNO government. The non-muslim majority will definitely prefer a PAS Prime Minister to an UMNO Prime Minister. Well, Mr.Abdul Hadi Awang will be the best choice to be the next Prime Minister.
