It is less than an hour before PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail announces who from Umno will be joining the party.
But all eyes are already on former deputy higher education minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who lost to a PAS candidate in Temerloh in the last general election.
Although Saifuddin himself has not personally responded to any WhatsApp enquiries, there are already reports confirming that he will be the one making a debut in Pakatan Harapan politics.
What are the implications, if Saifuddin is the one who decides to hop?
May signal an even bigger migration
Surely, Saifuddin’s former colleagues in Barisan Nasional (BN) would say there is no big deal with him moving on to Pakatan Harapan.
However, looking at the bigger picture, Saifuddin’s departure may signal an even bigger migration of his fellow Umno members to Pakatan Harapan, after members nationwide become disillusioned with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Saifuddin is known to be one of the better Umno leaders compared to others in the like of Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Salleh Said Keruak and Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
However, his push for moderation and being vocal has not earned him very much respect from Najib himself. Saifuddin is definitely not a ‘Mr Yes’ man which Najib would prefer to have in his cabinet.
He was one of the few leaders who spoke up for the university students who had battled against the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971.
Saifuddin, who was also well-liked by the operators of private tertiary education institutions when he was deputy minister, will do better when he takes the Pakatan Harapan platform.
Saifuddin’s debut in Pakatan Harapan may also pave the way for others who are finding themselves unable to introduce reforms within their own parties.
Leaders such as former MCA president Ong Tee Keat is also a likely candidate who will move to Pakatan Harapan to boost the existing quality of leaders. Others such as former Umno minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir may also join Pakatan Harapan. Both have been vocal recently.
Umno less attractive
With the latest development, it could only mean one thing - Umno will not have the pool of quality leaders that can be picked to lead the country.
In the words of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the present cabinet ministers are ‘half-past-six’. Instead of showing their leadership in their respective portfolios, they have become preoccupied with the politics of the day.
What is worse is when you have ministers like Ismail Sabri making allegedly racist statements without being punished for it. And a minister who talks about Malaysians preferring to have slower speed Internet connections!
What more a home minister who writes to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to support someone who is known to be an alleged online gambling kingpin. Instead of being reprimanded, he becomes the country’s No 2 man!
What hope do Malaysians still have in Umno to lead the nation?
Saifuddin joined PKR today, saying he was fed-up with how the government had handled the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion scandals. - mk
Saifuddin,Kamaruddin dan Muhd.Mohd Taib...
Parti Keadilan (PKR) menarima seorang lagi tokoh hari ini apabila bekas ahli Majlis Tertinggi Umno, Saifuddin Abdullah telah diistyharkan menyertai parti tersebut. Presiden Keadilan, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail dalam satu sidang media khas diperjabat parti itu di Damansara tengah hari ini mengumumkan kemasukan Saifuddin ke dalam PKR.
Dua minggu lalu PKR menerima penghijrahan dua tokoh politik veteran dan juga pimpinan Pas, Kamaruddin Jaafar dan Muhammad Mohd Taib. Kamaruddin merupakan bekas ahli jawatankuasa kerja Pas manakala Muhammad yang juga bekas MB Selangor adalah bekas naib ketua penerangan Pas Pusat.
Kedua-dua tokoh Pas itu diberi tempat dan jawatan dalam PKR sesuai dengan pengalaman luas mereka dalam politik.
Begitu juga Saifuddin katanya akan dilantik menjadi Setiausaha Eksekutif Pakatan Harapan yang akan mengandungi tiga parti PKR, DAP dan Amanah. Penyertaan ketiga-tiga mereka itu sudah tentu memberi suntikan semangat dan kekuatan kepada kepimpinan PKR.
Kehadiran Saifuddin yang dikenali sebagai tokoh belia dan membawa pemikiran politik baru akan meransang anak-anak muda untuk menyertai PKR.
Dalam pada itu sudah pasti dengan pengumuman rasmi bekas MP Temerloh itu beliau akan memulakan era baru dalam politik dengan menjadi ahli politik pembangkang. Kerenah dan cabaran termasuk hemburan personal akan banyak diterimanya selepas ini.
Terlalu awal apakah beliau akan dicalon oleh Pakatan Harapan pada pilihan raya akan didatang di kerusi parlimen Temerloh ataupun akan berpindah ke kawasan lain? Tetapi yang pasti Saifuddin akan menjadi calon istimewa dalam pilihan raya akan datang mewakili PKR. Kehadirannya di Temerloh menyebabkan ahli Parlimen itu sekarang ini tidak cukup "siku dan lutut" untuk menyelamatkan diri. Haha. - mso
Obama Picks Najib As Friend Because The President Is Mentally Unwell...
Coincidently, both Mahathir and his self-picked successor Najib were sworn in as the most powerful man in the country at the age of 56 (*spooky*). When Mahathir resigned in 2003, he was already 78-years-old, having ruled for a good 22-year. He, however, chose to retire because his popularity dropped like a rock. Still, UMNO controlled two-thirds majority.
Najib, on the other hand, performed worse than his predecessor – Abdullah Badawi – when he lost the popular vote to merely 47%, the first in the history of Barisan Nasional that he leads, on top of a failure to recapture two-thirds majority that Badawi had lost earlier on. He’s now into his sixth year of premiership; another 16-year to go before he can match Mahathir’s record.
But even with roughly one-third of his journey before breaching Mahathir’s 22-year-rule, Najib has already broken every Mahathir’s record imaginable. He has accumulated more than RM600 billion (new definition in debt is close to RM800 billion) in external debt within 6-year of premiership, in comparison to Mahathir’s RM200 billion by 2003 when he retired.
Judging by his habit of spending taxpayers’ money and borrowing as if there’s no tomorrow, he could easily create another record of breaching RM1 trillion in external debts before 90-year-old Mahathir could kick the bucket. Najib regime also has proudly purchased more private jet for his official (and private) use than any other prime ministers.
It’s perplexing to imagine why Najib and his wife need 6 private jets, with the latest ACJ319 (registered under 9H-AWK) purchased last December. Nevertheless, he is the only prime minister who had convinced some wealthy Arabs for donations to the tune of RM2.6 billion, without any strings attached, something which charismatic Mahathir couldn’t achieve.
Bad luck or otherwise, it was also under PM Najib Razak that Malaysia saw the losing of two commercial planes in 1-year – the missing of MH370 and the crashing (shot-down) of MH17 – killing more than 500 innocent lives in both incidents. Despite not experiencing global financial crisis such as the 1997-98, the ringgit plunges to as low as RM4.48 to US$1 dollar under his administration.
For the first time, a Chinese ambassador had taken the trouble to visit Petaling Street (Chinatown) while warning Beijing would do everything under its arsenal to protect its investments, after Red Shirts gangsters endorsed by Najib regime threatened to terrorise the area which could possibly start a racial riot.
If the above are not enough to make you give Najib Razak’s Facebook a “Like”, here’s another one. In a very rare event, nine Malay Sultans issued a decree urging the PM to complete the investigation into the infamous 1MDB scandal as soon as possible and to take appropriate action against those implicated; something that never happened during Mahathir’s iron-fist-and-evil administration. Continue reading...
EC’s ‘dirty tactic,’ bulldozing redelineation proposal before court decides...
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