Malaysia’s former premier Mahathir Mohamad said Saturday he will rejoin the ruling party UMNO which he quit last year after falling out with his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Mahathir, who spent more than two decades in power, hand-picked Abdullah to replace him 2003 but was enraged by the new leader’s decision to dismantle several of his pet projects.

Mahathir publicly campaigned for his ouster after disastrous elections a year ago. Abdullah eventually agreed to stand down and is expected to hand power to his deputy Najib Razak in the next few days.

“I will rejoin UMNO. When — I will tell you later,” Mahathir told reporters during a surprise visit to the closing session of the party’s five-day annual congress.
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Popularity: 4% [?]

Technorati Tags: mahathir, najib tun razak, rejoin, umno

The expected backlash from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has arrived.

And the venom was aimed directly at Khairy Jamaluddin, the politician who defeated Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir on the way to becoming the Umno Youth chief.

Some of the vitriol was also sprayed on the youth wing and Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, both whom he accused of turning a blind eye to corruption in Umno.

Dr Mahathir’s tirade is likely to widen the rift in Umno Youth following Khairy’s victory on Wednesday and appeared designed to put pressure on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to exclude Abdullah’s son-in-law from the Cabinet.

If allowed to fester, this bad blood could have an impact on the three by-elections as well as force a confrontation between some Umno leaders and Dr Mahathir.

In a post on his blog, he said that he did not attend the opening of the Umno general assembly yesterday because Umno Youth openly sanctioned money politics by electing Khairy.
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Popularity: 16% [?]

Technorati Tags: corrupt, khairy, mukhriz, umno, youth

The list of winners and losers of the Umno General Assembly compiled by The Malaysian Insider based on feedback and interviews.

Winners:

• Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (first day) - He maybe limping out of office but candidates aligned to him did well. Son-in-law and original member of the fourth floor, Khairy Jamaluddin, won the top position in Umno Youth while deputy chief of staff Datuk Ahmad Zaki Zahid won a place on Umno Youth executive council and Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil — the person he appointed to the Cabinet even after she lost her seat in Lembah Pantai — is the new Wanita Umno chief.
  The only blot was the defeat of Datuk Reezal Marican, Abdullah’s political secretary. He lost the number two position in Umno Youth to Datuk Razali Ibrahim.
• Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – Today’s victory complete the astounding turnaround for the Perak politician. He was detained under the Internal Security Act, ostracised by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for being a follower of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, forced out of Umno Youth and into political wilderness and then brought back into the party by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
  Now he is one of the most powerful figures in Umno and certain bet for a senior Cabinet position.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Technorati Tags: election, general assembly, losers, umno, winners

Malaysia’s incoming prime minister signaled radical reforms in the ruling party, warning Tuesday that failure to end deep-rooted corruption and politics of patronage would sound its death knell.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who will take over the country’s leadership next week, said the United Malays National Organization party should learn from its humbling losses in last year’s general elections.

“What is at stake is nothing less than the very fate of” the party, Najib said in a hard-hitting and candid speech to open the party’s annual congress, which over the next five days will conduct the biggest revamp of leadership in decades.

The party “must learn from the message” given by voters last year, Najib, 55, said. “If we do not heed this message, their seething anger will become hatred and in the end this may cause them to abandon us altogether.”
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Popularity: 4% [?]

Technorati Tags: annual congress, assembly, najib tun razak, speech, umno

If the Barisan Nasional and the Perak royal household had any lingering doubts about negative public sentiment towards the change of the state government, here is a message: doubt no more.

A survey of registered voters in Perak on Feb 8 showed that:

• 76 per cent of respondents felt that “the people through elections” should decide who forms the government in Perak. The breakdown by race was 60 per cent Malays, 88 per cent Chinese and 98 per cent Indians.
• 74 per cent of the respondents feel that the state assembly should have been dissolved after the defection of the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers. The breakdown by race was 59 per cent Malays, 85 per cent Chinese and 88 per cent Indians.
• 68 per cent of respondents said that the preferred option of settling the political crisis is either to hold three by-elections or statewide polls. The breakdown by race was 46 per cent Malays, 88 per cent Chinese and 80 per cent Indians.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Technorati Tags: dissolve, merdeka centre, pakatan rakyat, perak, poll, state assembly, sultan, umno

Malaysian police fired tear gas Friday at supporters of an opposition leader who was forcibly removed from his office when he refused to cede his post as chief minister in a political tussle over which party controls the state’s legislature.

The ruling National Front coalition says it wrested control of the Perak state legislature after three opposition lawmakers switched loyalties and became “friendly independents.”

Perak was one of five states in the hands of Anwar Ibrahim’s three-party opposition alliance. But National Front lawmaker Zambry Abdul Kadir was sworn in as the new chief minister Friday.

Thousands of opposition activists (photos) breached a police barricade earlier in the day in a bid to march to the Perak royal palace to block Zambry’s swearing.
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Popularity: 7% [?]

Technorati Tags: keadilan, menteri besar, nizar, pkr, protest, umno, zambry

A Barisan Nasional (BN) government in Perak is looking all but certain after a PKR state assemblyman defected back to Umno while three independents pledged their support for the coalition.

Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin also failed to secure consent from Sultan Azlan Shah to dissolve the state assembly in his last ditch attempt to have fresh polls and head off BN’s attempt to seize power.

“The decision is now with the Sultan,” Nizar told reporters after an audience with Sultan Azlan Shah.

At a press conference in Putrajaya earlier, Deputy Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced to reporters that Jamaludin Mohd Radzi, Osman Jailu and Hee Yit Foong would back a BN government while Datuk Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6% [?]

Technorati Tags: bn, defect, government, perak, pkr, state, sultan, umno

There were no surprises today in the naming of Senator Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh as Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate for the crucial Kuala Terengganu by-election, but the controversies surrounding him and his close links with the prime minister will be campaign fodder for Pakatan Rakyat.

For Wan Farid, who is also Kuala Terengganu Umno division chief and the deputy home minister, his political career is riding on the election as he has been told that he will not be reappointed senator again if he loses the vote.

The Terengganu state assembly nominated the deputy home minister as senator recently as his first term ends in January.

The selection of Wan Ahmad Farid was announced by Deputy Prime Mnister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who said the decision had the consent of Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
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Popularity: 9% [?]

Technorati Tags: barisan nasional, candidate, election, kuala terengganu, umno

The lifelong dream of Malaysia’s 9th Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Hj Abd Razak, is a united, peaceful and prosperous Malaysia, with abundant opportunities for all citizens.

As the son of Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abd Razak, Najib was born into Malaysian politics. Najib grew up watching his father and knew the demands of mainstream politics, and he always knew that at some point in his life he wanted to serve his community and country. But the untimely passing of his father on January 14th, 1976, at the age of 54, suddenly thrust Najib into the spotlight. Five weeks after his father’s passing, Najib, at the age of 22, was elected to fill the Pekan vacancy, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament in Malaysia’s history. In 2004 he ascended to the second-highest office in the nation, Deputy Prime Minister, 47 years after his father’s
appointment to the same post.
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Popularity: 12% [?]

Technorati Tags: biography, deputy prime minister, mohd najib, najib, najib tun razak, umno