Razaleigh Should Go For President Not Prime Minister

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'Salvage value', in accounting term is the estimated value that an asset will realise upon its sale at the end of its useful life.

At age 78 can Razaleigh performs as adequately and as furious as a younger man? What salvage value has Razaleigh?

Like machines and other movable assets that depreciated in value every year as they get older, humans are the same, our mental and physical value diminished as we grow older. Of course, we do get the "oddballs" who would not cease to amaze you with their mental and physical dexterity. Think of Lee Kuan Yew and Mahatir Mohammad and you have the amazing prodigies of endless energy. These larger than life figures have dominated politics and societies for decades and have yet to whittle away their influence.

Are Malaysians ready for another blue blood to lead this country after a long hiatus from the first prime minister who came from a noble house, a libertarian with a laissez-faire policy that eventually led to the worst racial riot this country had ever seen. 

Would one born with a silver spoon in the mouth have touch with the ground and empathetic to the common people's aspirasions .

Good old Razaleigh has become a mirage of some sort for people in despondency. Everytime, there's leadership crisis his name is hawked around as 'fill in the gap' candidate for prime minister. He had not come any nearer the goal post. His last attempt at the UMNO leadership of its presidency was during Pak Lah's time and was a complete disaster. He had only one nomination from his own constituency, not enough for him to mount a challenge.

A man of refreshing candour and good stead, he should not believe and savour false hope given him by the few disgruntled UMNO/BN parliamentarians. They are 'dogs in the manger', selfish, self-centered and won't have enough string to pull off a coup. 

Will Razaleigh gives Najib a run for his money?

He may get some supports from MPs in PAS and DAP, but the spanners in the work will be Anwar's PKR and UMNO. If Razaleigh become PM the whole political equation will change, which may not be in Anwar's favour and not of his liking.

I believe sensibility will prevail. Razaleigh will not mount a challenge against Najib in a vote of no-confidence in parliament. He may not want to be prime minister using the back door and owe the opposition a favour. He would be in office at the mercy of the opposition if he accepts their olive branch.

However, he may do a Julia Gillard on Najib, mounting a challenge for president of the party, hence, the premiership. This is the more honourable way for him to claim the premiership.

Mahathir is still trying to call the shots, calling for no contest for the two top posts. He may have a valid reason, but will they listen to him?

Razaleigh still have enough time to campaign for supports and this time he will get more support from more divisions, but the journey may still be uncertain, a chance worth exploring in this uncertain time.

Note:UMNO has changed its voting method to what they claimed to be direct voting by 145,000 members from all divisions to stop money politics.The party claimed to have 3.5 million members. It is  still not representative of members choice.

Galas:A Long Shot For UMNO,Passing The Buck To Ku Li

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There is much talk about Ku Li as candidate for Galas.

Tungku Razaleigh shouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.He should not be inticed by the overture from the DPM whom I dread to think of as our next PM. It wouldn't be a feather in his cap for UMNO's new breed.He will be disappointed and hurt after the show ended.

Najib had acted as a true deputy when he was deputy to Pak Lah even under pressure from Mahathir to push Pak Lah out he has behaved nobly which I can't visualise the same with our current DPM.Political doublespeak and body language can tell a lot about a person.Muhyiddin's mixed signal does not bode well with Najib's 1 Malaysia.

Tengku should be beyond this meagre offering.The choice, off course, is his but I believe he wouldn't fall for it.

It is a thankless job. If UMNO loses he gets the blame and a bad name and if they win someone else gets the credit.

Galas, will be a testing ground whether UMNO has regained the Malay supports.It could be a long shot for the party.

If they have high regard for the Tungku than they should give him a high ministerial post as a show of appreciation and source of wisdom, not ask him, mind you he is not young anymore, to be the workhorse in an election.

Other than Najib, most of UMNO leaders are not the thinking lot, they only show their cleverness by being combative.

Ku Li: It's Only A Tremor Not Yet An Eartquake

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It was just a tremor when Ku Li throws the gauntlet that he would challenge Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the UMNO Presidency. There were disquiet among Abdullah's aides and his faithfuls in UMNO of this open challenge to his leadership. The earthquake will come later.

Tengku Razaleigh or popularly know as Ku Li said the results of the just concluded elections are the worst ever for UMNO.The party is on the brink of losing its undivided and unequivocal supports of the Malays that it has enjoyed for half a century. A sizable portion of the Malay community have thrown their supports behind PAS and PKR. In the urban belt the Malay bourgeois have voted DAP where PKR and PAS didn't contest due to the pact they have.

The politically incarcerated Ku Li has also questioned the hijacking of the NEP by elitist groups in UMNO. The monopolistic control of the gravy train has resulted in inequitable distributions of the nation's wealth.Not only are there poor Indians in the country, there are probably more poor Malays as they formed the majority of the races in the country. The gravy train not only rewards the macais and those in power but has also astonishingly produced some extremely successful children of almost all the prime ministers with big businesses under their control. A Malay friend once lamented " Do you honestly think every prime minister of this country has a son who has great business acumen and a hotshot entrepreneur".

Embattled Prime Minister Abdullah besets with endless problems has denied that he has lost support of the people, instead said he has the support of the majority and that he is still in charge, trying to dispel rumours that his Oxford trained son-in-law has undue influence over many of his decisions. Many Malaysians have the impression that Abdullah has another cabinet, a kitchen cabinet at home where major political decisions are made. It could well be perceptions only but it has done a lot of damage to his credibility.

Razaleigh who challenged Mahathir for the UMNO presidency in 1987 but lost by the skin of his teeth attributed it to Najib's division last minute shift to Mahathir's camp. He left UMNO and started a breakaway party called Semangat 46 which didn't do well.He rejoined UMNO and was in the doldrums for yonks until Abdullah's stumbles at the recent elections.He ran the gauntlet on Abdullah and roared in disgust from his lair at Gua Musang.

Ku Li had made two attempts at the presidency but failed.First, against Mahathir in 1987 which almost got him the coveted title and the second in 2004 against Abdullah but failed to get sufficient nominations to stand as candidate.

The substantial rejections at the polls will need delicate and pragmatic approaches in order to pacify angry voters and rekindle their interests to return to the fold. The present leadership don't have the credibility to convince the people that they will change for the better.Ku Li is probably the only suitable candidate at the moment to heal the wounded pride and to try recover lost ground.

With the sword of Damocles hanging over Abdullah's head, it wouldn't be long before an earthquake will occur that will snap the string that hold the sword. Razaleigh call for an EGM will not succeed.His only chance to challenge Abdullah is at the forthcoming assembly.

It will be another five months before the UMNO Assembly, will Razaleigh find enough nominations to get him to challenge Abdullah ? He will and have the best fighting chance to win if Najib don't upset the applecart. Najib should stay as deputy and let Razaleigh lead the party for at least one term to regain the lost confidence and reassemble its lost supports.

There is little altruism in UMNO nowadays, that's why it suffered a massive dose of rejections. The Malay voters have found alternatives in the form of PKR and PAS.The rule of the games has changed and Malays are now more politically matured and gone are the days when ketuananMelayu was the rallying call to the Malays to close ranks and make sure UMNO stays in power.

Read 'T'ganu Umno rejects Ku Li's offer'