Niki Cheong

Pak Lah to quit in March (was Malaysiakini: Pak Lah to stay put)

Oct 8, 2008 News Breaks

Update (4.57pm)

Whoopsie. Apparently, Datuk Ruhanie Ahmad isn’t so in the know after all. Malaysiakini has reported that Pak Lah announced to the BN Supreme Council that he would not contest the UMNO elections in March. Game on! Now that he’s leaving, what will Pakatan Rakyat do, I wonder since they have been attacking the Prime Minister’s all this while.

It’s less than 2 hours to the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting where Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is due to inform BN component parties about his stand on seeking re-election in the UMNO elections in March.

But Malaysiakini has reported that Pak Lah will be staying put, contrary to public belief (and sentiment) that he will not (which would have led the way for a faster transition of power to DPM Najib Tun Razak).

The article cites Datuk Ruhanie Ahmad’s blog where the UMNO leader says that after a three hour meeting from 11pm last night to 2am this morning, Pak Lah has decided to defend his post as President of UMNO.

Pak Lah himself has not confirmed anything - but we can expect to get some news after the Supreme Council meeting.

The Star reported however that earlier this morning, some supporters of the Prime Minister gathered at his official residence to provide “moral support” for Pak Lah, and asking him not to feel pressured to step down.

If this is indeed true, then the next few weeks will be interesting politically, especially with the Dewan Rakyat reconvening next week and report that Pakatan Rakyat is discussing a possible tabling of a vote of no-confidence for PM.

Guess the political tsunami is going strong. Who is going to win? And when will they get this all over and done with and focus back on the, ahem, rakyat?

1.54pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Tags: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Barisan Nasional, Elections, Najib Tun Razak, Umno