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(The Malaysian Inisder) - One day soon, he may snap, lose his cool and meet the flow of biting comments on his leadership, his style, his family, his choice of advisers with a sharp retort.
Not for the moment, though. For now, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has to suck in all the bile of rank-and-file Umno members, and hope that his willingness to take the hits will cool down the anger level of party members upset at the loss of Perak, Selangor, Penang and Kedah to the Opposition in Election 2008. That was what happened at the Putra World Trade Centre on Saturday before representatives of Kedah Umno. In the hall were some of the more vocal members of the party. They were among the first to call for Abdullah’s resignation after the March 8 election and were most critical of his role in the Barisan Nasional’s poor performance when a team of senior officials headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak swung by to Sungai Petani for an election post-mortem. This time they were more charitable, offering their backing to Abdullah to continue as the party president and pledging support for his plan to hand over power to Najib. But not before they told him what they felt about his leadership style, calling him lembik (soft). Incidentally, this was the same word used by the Penang grassroots during their meeting with the PM last month. Where once his penchant for consensus building was hailed as the perfect antidote to the dictatorial style of his predecessor, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, today it is being assailed as a sign of indecisiveness. Party members argue that because he shuns confrontation, civil servants are not acting quickly on his decisions. Some of them are even ignoring instructions to give certain proposals by politicians due consideration. During Saturday’s meeting, Kedah Umno members also stated clearly that they wanted Abdullah to reach out to Dr Mahathir and end the public spat between the two. They noted that the former PM still commanded respect in the state and reckoned that his influence had helped Umno win several parliamentary seats in Election 2008, including Langkawi, Jerlun and Kubang Pasu. Responding, Abdullah said that he bore no ill-feelings towards his predecessor and always spoke to him whenever their paths crossed. Seated next to the PM was Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor and Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek. This was the second meeting arranged by the Umno headquarters between Abdullah and ordinary members of the party. Party officials believe that the PM has to meet the rank-and-file face to face and allow them to ventilate their anger against him and hear him respond to their criticisms. Only then will the level of poison in the system against him drop down. Not all party members walked away satisfied with his answers on Saturday. But they gave him an “A” for being willing to face up to tough questions. A Kedah state assemblyman, who requested anonymity because the meeting was closed door, said: “It was a good session. Generally Kedah supports him and wants him to continue. For us, Najib is the natural successor… Of course, others can offer to contest the party elections but we are happy with the leadership that we have.” Abdullah’s meeting with ordinary members is important as branch meetings and elections will be held in mid-July. If he is able to convince the majority of them that Umno remains strong and that he has a game plan to revive BN, it could translate into more resolutions calling for him to stay on as president. His critics also know that the mood of anger seems to be subsiding, replaced by the standard party sentiment of not upsetting the status quo. Dr Mahathir has alluded to this several times, saying that party members were in denial for believing that Umno and BN’s fortunes could be revived under Abdullah. Next week, he will travel to Kedah to fan the fire of resistance against Abdullah, as will Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Their task will be to jump-start the opposition against the PM amidst a growing inertia among party members for change. In the meantime, Abdullah will have to continue facing the rank-and-file with a bulls-eye on his back.
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