Zaid Gone, Muhyiddin Stays On And Anwar Still Waiting

A Kadir Jasin

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[UPDATE]

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced he would be handing over the Finance Ministry portfolio to his deputy.

The Prime Minister announced this at a press conference Wednesday.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would take over as Finance Minister effective immediately.

The move is part of the agreed transition plan which both Abdullah and Najib reaffirmed on Wednesday.

In July, Abdullah and Najib agreed to the transition plan for the Prime Minister to hand over power to him in 2010. The plan was endorsed by the party supreme council later -- The Star Online.

My two-sen worth of thought -- Mohd Najib is a better Finance Minister material. But the challenges ahead of him are monumental. The world economy and financial markets are in turmoil. Fortunately, America is bailing out its finacially strapped mega companies.

I had made my thought on the matter known only months aftar Abdullah became the PM. I wrote in my Other Thots column that he should not hold on to the finance post for too long. His lack of economic and financial experience was a source of concern.

I will not say anything about him taking over the defence post.

[Original Posting]

JUST in case you’ve just woke up from a long slumber or just returned from the moon, let me be the first to tell you that Sept. 16 had come and gone. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is still the Prime Minster. Anwar Ibrahim is still threatening to take over.

So while we wait for Anwar to deliver the names of the Barisan Nasional turncoats to the Abdullah and convince him that he should step down, let’s talk a bit about Zaid Ibrahim’s resignation and Muhyiddin Yassin’s decision to say put.

De facto Law Minister Zaid said his decision to resign from the cabinet was final despite Abdullah’s advice for him to sleep it off. The Prime Minister refused to accept his resignation and told him to take a leave.

Typical of Abdullah, the solutions to problems are to sleep them off. But Zaid is far too alert to just doze off. For Zaid, the ISA arrests provided him with a way out.

He knew that his position the Umno-controlled cabinet had been untenable from the beginning and his championing of the Bar Council cause only made it worse.

Using the ISA arrests as an excuse, Zaid had found an honorable way out. I respect his decision. At least he walked the talk.

As for Muhyiddin, whom Zaid said should resign because he disagreed with Abdullah, he had said he would not resign and left his fate to the Prime Minister.

I don’t think Abdullah would take any action against Muhyiddin beyond saying he was shocked by the latter’s criticism. Abdullah cannot risk further opposition to his sagging rule by sacking a senior (and elected) vice president like Muhyiddin.

Yet I am convinced that Muhyiddin will remain strong, if not becoming stronger, by resigning his cabinet post and concentrate on rebuilding the party and canvassing for support in his upcoming bid for the party’s number two post now held by Mohd Najib Abdul Razak.

Back to Anwar’s threat to topple the Abdullah government, a note of caution has to be injected. The process of taking over is not as easy made out to be. Consider the following:

1. Anwar has to have more than 30 BN MPs jumping ship. Their crossover to Pakatan Rakyat must be properly signed and sealed otherwise some may swim back to the BN on promises of money and posts or due to threats;

2. If he succeeds, he’ll be leading a minority government – one that is weaker than the BN government currently is. Will it survive and will it be effective?;

3. The consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has to be sought;

4. The Parliament has to be reconvened;

5. Are the People’s Alliance component parties – the PKR, the DAP and Pas – in full agreement that Anwar will be the Prime Minister?;

6. Anwar has to enter into many alliances and making many promises to get the BN MPS to crossover. Will his minority government not become too big, too cumbersome and too bureaucratic?

7. To legitimize his claim to power Anwar has to call for an early general election so that he can have a government of his own instead of relying on BN turncoats;

8. What guarantee does Anwar have that the BN, in particular Umno, will not resort legal and "other means" to block his backdoor takeover?; and

9. If so many BN MPs are joining Pakatan Rakyat, is it not possible that some BN state assemblymen and women may also be doing the same?

These questions beg answers.

Whatever the case may be, a resolution to the current uncertainty must be found, and quickly.

The country and the people are facing threats of global socio-economic upheaval. The US subprime crisis is kicking up havoc around the world.

The Abdullah government has so far failed to give a clear signal as to which direction the country is going. The global economic turmoil is impacting us on an hourly basis – falling stock prices and exchanges rates, uncertain commodity prices and rising inflation.

Even the best economists and the most astute businessmen are unsure which way our economy is going.