Resign gracefully, Abdullah Badawi

This was inspired by an article in Malaysiakini: Abdullah under seige to quit

By: vchi

Imagine you are the Malaysian PM Abdullah Badawi. Under siege from left right top bottom and center, from within UMNO, within your coalition, the opposition, NGOs and the public itself. Not a pretty sight huh?

From within UMNO, you are under attack from your ex mentor Mahathir. You are being challenged by grassroots leader and ex finance minister Tengku Razaleigh for the post of party president. Even your own right cabinet minister Muhyiddin has called for you to step down. And yesterday, one of your cabinet ministers resigned in protest. When you created your cabinet, many criticised and rejected posts in it. You are not popular.

From within your Barisan National coaliation, you are being challenged by virtually every party in the coalition. MCA and Gerakan have had grass root rumblings and have rumoured to be thinking of leaving the coalition. A report just came in that 80% of Gerakan members want the party to leave the coalition. Almost similar figures are evident in MCA. Your ex loyal allies, like Toh Kin Woon, Tan Yee Kew and Fauzi Abdul Rahman are quitting your party in droves and joining the opposition parties. The Sabah and Sarawak component parties are increasingly restless, demanding more and more from you.

And with the recent racially charged remark by one of your members of UMNO that refused to apologise, the coalition partners are increasingly seeing you as a racist. They think you will not stand up for minority rights, and condone those racist views. The fact that that member was only suspended for 3 years, a relatively light punishment, further convinces them.

And that only includes your 'allies'.

In the opposition bench, you have the strongest ever opposition in parliament, with 5 states under opposition control, the biggest number ever. Your home state is under opposition control. Your UMNO and BN party positions are at their weakest position ever in history in both the Senate and the Parliament, and Anwar is challenging, with much conviction and support, your position. Threats of crossovers are increasing by the hour. It seems that your grip on the PM-ship is loosening with every passing day. Your reforms and policies are being viewed as inefficient and ineffective.

Just a few weeks ago your main opponent Anwar was reelected to parliament with an increased majority, winning by more than double the amount of votes your candidate had. This, in the Malay heartland, where your support usually lies.

Outside, NGOs like Aliran and Mansuhkan ISA are increasingly being hostile to your administration. The Bar Council has demanded that you repeal the ISA act, and more and more rallies are being held with increasing support, more and more candlelight vigils are being held, defying you.


Public sentiment is strongly against you, with the increasing oil prices and the super inflation angering the nation. Your opponent Anwar on the other hand, just revealed an opposition budget that highly appealed to the masses.

Your nation is not doing well either, with the ringgit showing signs of weakening and the KL composite index losing almost 30% of its value compared to the beginning of the year. The economy is bad, the people are suffering, and they are angry at you.

Every action you do is wrong. You can do nothing correct, while your opponents can do nothing wrong. The ISA detentions a few days ago effectively turned the rest of the public against you. The sodomy allegations and charges against your main opponent Anwar, whether true or not, are being viewed as a cheap propaganda ploy by the public. Imam after imam and Ustaz after ustaz have come forward and said that Anwar is doing the right thing, while you are not. Just recently, a poem was written by the head mufti of Perlis asking you to resign. Membership of your party is dropping, while the opposition parties are gathering more and more members by the second.

Up do left right and center. You have been cornered. You have no where to run

What are you to do?

If you are Abdullah Badawi, what should you do?

My advise to you is to resign gracefully, and not get kicked out or booted out. Your position as PM of Malaysia cannot be maintained for any longer, and for the sake of your legacy (or lack thereof), you should resign.

At least people would view you as a PM that did little, rather than a PM that destroyed the nation.

Resign, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Resign gracefully.