Sunday, July 13, 2008

Abdullah's Art Of War

Hantu Laut

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has done it.He has delivered his master stroke.

The handing over to Najib delayed to June 2010 would give him enough time to consolidate his position, rebuild confidence and keep away would be contenders from the fray.Sun Szu would be proud of his military like strategy.

Two of Sun Szu's stratagem in the planning of war based on James Clavell's simple interpretation are shown below:

18.All warfare is based on deception.

22.If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.Pretend to be weak,that he may grow arrogant.

With Najib nicely locked in as his chosen successor he has eliminated the one man who is likely to challenge him for the presidency of the party.

It is unlikely for Najib to change his mind and challenge Abdullah as he had given Muhyiddin the cold shoulder. Muhyiddin has sought alliance with him to work as a team to challenge Abdullah.With poor public perception of his image Najib wouldn't want to upset the applecart.

The people's court of opinion had not been fair to him, they didn't give him the same benefits of the doubts that they have given Anwar.Dirty campaigning by Anwar had also added fuel to an already burning fire.

As well as being intellectually smart, Anwar is also a cunning creature, he took his case of sodomy to the Sharia Court, where the accuser would be required to produce 4 adult witnesses.Your guess as good as mine where this Islamic judicial edict stands in today's society as far as practicality is concerned.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir may have to bite his sharp tongue and resign to the fact that he will not be getting what he wanted, the good riddance of Abdullah.It may also be good for the country if Mahathir makes an exit from the political scene.His over-indulgence has done more harm than good to UMNO and the nation.

The motion of vote of no confidence by the oppositions in Parliament is not likely to succeed and will have no dire consequence on Abdullah's position as prime minister.It would merely be an academic exercise to fulfill Anwar's lust for power.

Malaysia a seemingly modern country has little to offer in term of political maturity. The stagnation in political adolescence make most of us look like blithering idiots.The recently concluded General Elections was a glaring example of political immaturity.

In more matured society and fully grown political system, opposition parties and society at large would have accepted the results of the elections and get back to work and the masses back to their ordinary lives.

In Malaysia, in spite of the fact that the ruling coalition had more than comfortable majority and the leaders duly elected, there were more political turmoil after the elections than before.The oppositions who claimed to champion democracy didn't behave as such.

Instead of giving democracy it due process and wait until the next elections to try taking over the government, the oppositions led by Anwar went on a wildcat campaign to spread hatred against the government.Abdullah's politicial liberalism has fueled Anwar intense and relentless political campaigning although elections have passed.

The political turmoil was not started by the DAP or PAS,the two main opposition parties, but by two men, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad and his arch rival and former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, both men have almost common mission, Mahathir to topple Abdullah as prime minister and Anwar to topple Abdullah's government.

Both men employ different political philosophy, Mahathir using the racial card lamenting on the erosion of Malay rights under Abdullah's regime and Anwar titillating equality for all races in the country, a farcical promise according to a Chinese friend.When he comes to power it will be ketuanan Melayu all over again he added.

How far that is true we would only know if Anwar becomes prime minister.

Malaysians will be in for more surprises from weak Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Weak according to whom wanted him out.

12 comments:

Pok Kam said...

Dear HL,

Welcome back. Nice article from the HL I'm more familiar with.

The PM may have utilized well known and proven strategies but he had intelligently modified them to suit his needs and current situation. Had to give him kudos for that.

I have commented an article in MT before about how generally Malaysians still have a long way to go in terms of political maturity and got good bashing from other commentators.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

Anonymous said...

Sun Tzu is confusing..

SUN TZU, DON'T CONFUSED ME!

Anonymous said...

(error on earlier post)
Sun Tzu is confusing

SUN TZU , DON'T CONFUSE ME!

Letting the time pass me by said...

Well, Pak Lah deserved my respects for being the Prime Minister of Malaysia... 3 other candidates failed in their bid, but Pak Lah manage to convince TDM to hand over the power...

But while I admire his skills in his quest to becoming the PM, apart from his political skills, there are too much questions on his other administrative ability. I also are very confused in the state of Malaysian economy. PM says the economic is good and stable, but the man on the streets are telling a different story.

The price of goods have increase drastically and we are losing value for our money at a much faster rate then before....

Well... the next 6 months may give us the right answers on the real economic situations...

ColorsMalaysian said...

He pretended to be stupid but actually very cunning,yet brainless inside.

He has forgotten he was born in this IT era.

"Abdullah's Failure of war" instead of "Art of war"

His old tactic can't be use anymore.

As old saying said : Clever a lifetime but careless in the end.

Monsterball said...

In more matured society and fully grown political system, the central government would not have reacted to the loss of State governments by its party , by cutting off funding for Federal projects , and setting up a "parallel government" to channel Federal funds, read Slush Funds.

Barisan Nasional must learn to respect and deal with PR state governments as legitimate governments with a right to manage Federal funds channeled back to taxpayers in the states.

Take a look at Australia. At one time or another, almost every state in Australia has been in control of a party different from the Federal government. There are predictable arguments about Federal funding for projects (all too human) but there is no such thing as a "parallel government".

gram.kong said...

pok kam,

Well, you should know who are the commentators who bashed you, for sure Anwar's diehard supporters.

These are people who talked about democracy and clean government when they can't even talk in clean language and equate democracy with demonstration.

gram.kong said...

Hi, Bennyloh,

Like your cartoon.Maybe you can allow me to use some of it on my blog from time to time.

Anyway,Sun Szu's art of war is to confuse.His whole idea is to confuse the enemy and win a war.

gram.kong said...

letting the time pass me by,

Your name is a mouthful,mate, sounds a bit like procrastination.

Well, I would have to agree with you on the state of our economy, it could get worse before it gets better,if it doesn't than we all be in for a hard time.

I think Abdullah needs new economic advisers and a cabinet reshuffle.The present bunch are not doing a good job.

gram.kong said...

coloursmalaysian,

I think he is doing pretty well in term of strategy but not in administering the nation.

gram.kong said...

kittykat46,

This is not Australia, mate, it's Malaysia,we do things the Malaysian ways.You give money to your enemy,they become stronger and they will take over from you.

Malaysia boleh,sometimes,tak boleh.

Monsterball said...

Hantu Laut,
That's precisely my point.
In a real sense, Barisan Nasional also has not accepted the results of the 12th General Elections. It is actively working to undermine the state governments of the states which went to PR.

There's only one logical outcome for this kind of environment - which is politics 7x52. (7 days a week x 52 weeks a year).

That's the type of game which Anwar Ibrahim thrives in. There's no point condemning Anwar - its UMNO and BN which is providing him the ammunition.