Latest update: Umno holds emergency council meetingUmno has called an emergency meeting of the party’s supreme council at 9pm, two days after former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave up his life membership.
Mahathir’s sudden decision to quit has triggered a number of emergency meetings, including one yesterday when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi met with Umno parliamentarians to head off possible similar resignations.
The former premier, who had led Umno for 22 years, quit the party on Monday and said he would not rejoin until Abdullah stepped down, causing a panic in the ranks who feared a mass exodus of party members.
So far there has been little indication of a big number of members following Mahathir’s example.
The only notable resignations were Mahathir’s son Mokhzani and former minister and Kedah mentri besar Sanusi Junid, known to be a loyalist to the former party strongman.
Mass resignations in Umno branches Joining Mokhzani today is former Kota Setar parliamentarian Dr Abdul Hadi Derani.
According to Star Online, 300 members from an Umno branch from Mokhzani's division in Merbok had resigned en masse.
This was followed by a few hundred members from another branch in Pokok Sena, also in Kedah, and a branch in Petaling Jaya Selatan in Selangor.
In the next few days, it is expected that a few more Umno branches will see mass resignations of members.
However, Mahathir's other son, Mukhriz did not follow suit, arguing that he would remain in the party to fight for reforms.
Nevertheless, Abdullah will need to ensure that the resignations today will not pick up momentum in the coming days and weeks.
Mukhriz attacks gov't in Parliament(Malaysiakini) The morality of the government was put to the test in the Dewan Rakyat today when a controversial BN backbencher stood up to ask why the allegedly biggest corporate supporter to the US military campaign in Iraq has been allowed to invest in Malaysia.
Mukhriz Mahathir (Umno-Jerlun) demanded why Halliburton, a top American oil and gas services company and defence contractor, has been allowed to open a factory in Johor when the government had in the past professed to be against the war in Iraq.
“This corporation is involved in the murder of more than one million innocent Iraqi civilians and I want to know why our government has allowed it to open a factory in Johor,” he asked.
The youngest son of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who like his father, has been an ardent critic of the Iraq war and US president George W Bush.
In response, International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Jacob Dungau Sagan said that Halliburton - which has a US$7 billion no-bid oil and infrastructure contract in Iraq - was allowed to set up a factory only after the corporation no longer associates itself with supplying arms.
The BolehJokes humors and thoughts:
Derrick: Dont pick your father's saliva lah, botak.
Remi: Like father like son? Like clown, like retard more suitable.
Hop out of BN, Mahathir tells MPs(Malaysiakini) Two days after quitting Umno, ex-president and premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested another way to force his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down.
Barisan Nasional MPs should hop out of the coalition, he wrote in a concise 10-point post on his blog, Chedet.com
“We have heard a lot about the possibility of BN members hopping into opposition parties. If 35 members join the opposition, BN will fall. The opposition will win and form the next government,” he wrote.
He reasoned that BN representatives should not hop into any opposition party in Pakatan Rakyat.
“What will happen to all the BN party hoppers? They won’t become PM because surely the Pakatan leader will become PM. Other Pakatan members will also become ministers and deputy ministers,” he explained.
“How many of these posts remain available for BN hoppers? Surely not all of them will get a post. They will continue to be Pakatan followers just like how they followed Abdullah before they hopped (to the opposition).”
Mahathir said these former BN representatives would be free to state their stand on both government and opposition policies (if they become Independents).
The Abdullah administration would fall if a sufficient number of MPs leave the BN, thereby depriving the ruling coalition of even its simple majority in Parliament.
“A new government can only be formed if this is agreed to by those who (have) left BN because they carry enough votes to decide whether BN or Pakatan will acquire the majority in Parliament,” he wrote.
“If BN replaces Abdullah with somebody who is brave, those who left the coalition can give their support back to BN so it can become the government again.
“This is one way to force Abdullah to resign. After this, all who hopped (out of BN) can return to their respective parties. Believe me, those from the BN component parties who supported the opposition during the 12th general election will (give back) their support to BN after Abdullah is no longer PM.”
Mokhzani also quitsThus far, Mahathir has found few members to emulate his departure from Umno. Parliamentarians from the party backed Abdullah at a meeting yesterday.
Mahathir’s son Mukhriz, who is Jerlun MP and who is vying to be Umno Youth chief, did not attend the meeting. He called a press conference to say he would not leave the party, but he too urged Abdullah to step down.
Another son - businessman and former Youth wing treasurer Mokhzani - announced his exit today.
“I made the decision to leave Umno because I agree with my father that Umno is no longer the real Umno like before,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
The BolehJokes humors and thoughts:
Gepur Sali: You mean under your so called independent will be any better? If so, why have Sabah been not developed for so many years? Eat shit lah, sucker.
Cecile: Truly laughable press statement. He only think of party and positions instead of the country. How stupid.
The Cheapskate Joker: Another day, another rubbish
What a pile of rubbish!
1:02 PM
The Cheapskate Joker
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