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
I am frankly quite tired of sodomy
Jun 29, 2008 Rantings
Well, well, it was only a matter of time, I suppose.
I was just thinking the other day, when SAPP Chief Yong Teck Lee announced that the party would push for a motion of no-confidence against the PM, whether it was the first sign of Anwar’s return to power. And if so, how would anyone *cough* BN *cough* stop him. “More sodomy charges,” I thought. “Maybe there’s another mattress somewhere.”
To be fair, Pak Lah made a statement this morning denying the BN Government’s role in this new allegations against Anwar.
I received a Star News Alert about it, but anyway, it is in this story posted on The Star Online.
For those of you who are not sure what I am talking about, I woke up this morning to a front page headline in The Star:
Shock! Anwar Ibrahim fighting off sodomy allegations again.
Yes, apparently, an aide (a volunteer at that) was sodomised last Thursday (and sometime before as well) by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He (Anwar, not the aide) called for a press conference at 1.20am this morning to deny the allegations.
The good news is thing is, international media have picked it up really quickly. The AP mentioned that the report is sparking speculation that Anwar will be sent back to prison, the BBC also ran a story headlined Malaysia’s Anwar faces sex claim. I also saw it on CNN while I was at the gym earlier. And the AP story made it to Yahoo! front page too.
(Oh, and I love how the all refer to him as just “Anwar”. Maybe he’s joined the one-name personality club like Britney, Beyonce and Kylie.)
It’s quite funny that these allegations would come back again - 10 years from when he was fired as DPM based on similar charges - and just a few days after 8,500 marriage certificates were issued to same-sex marriage in California, and on the same day CNN decided to post a video on the Mexico Gay Pride Parade on its main page. It is also about two weeks since Norway became the sixth country to legalise gay marriage and on the weekend India hold its largest ever display of gay pride to protest anti-gay laws.
Truth be told, I couldn’t care less if Anwar likes boys (or men, or both).
Despite what PM has said, it does reflect badly on him (and the country) that these allegations would spark at such times of politican uncertainty. Surely, the consequences of such allegations are severe - from national security to economy. (I don’t know if the BN was really involved in this, or if Anwar really did sodomise the guy either.)
And yes, while it is exciting that we may see the word “Penal” on our front pages in the media again, frankly, I’m tired of it. Who cares what he does in his bedroom, and which organ he prefers playing with.
It’s the 21st century. Surely we have more important things to worry about that who’s taking who’s thing up their arse?
(And I apologise to anyone who thinks that I should be focussing more on the political implications (or agenda) than the sexuality issue, but really, doesn’t everyone already have an opinion on that?)
5.32pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Anwar Ibrahim, Barisan Nasional, Malaysia, Pak Lah, Prime Minister, SAPP, Sodomy, Yong Teck Lee
