theSun | TUESDAY OCTOBER 28 2008
speak up!
of all
the BN is still in power. Who knows with
all the struggle for power going on in
Umno and other parties, some dissatisfied
BN MPs – 30 plus – may decide to cross
the floor to the opposition coalition, the
Pakatan Rakyat. That will end the tradition
of Umno president being the prime
minister. Isn’t that right Cikgu?
Zain: Absolutely! Not forever I hope.
Sometimes I wonder whether Umno
politicians realise that their president
becomes prime minister through the tacit
consent of the other parties in the ruling
BN.
Chong: And so PKR leader Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim gets his wish to be prime
minister.
Zain: Simply because he is the
acknowledged leader of the Pakatan
Rakyat coalition. And that too because his
party has slightly more seats than DAP and
PAS. Should DAP and PAS gain more seats
than the PKR in the next general election,
somebody else may be PM.
Mohan: As usual, we have been
sidetracked. We were talking about
Abdullah’s need for time to complete his
reforms, chief of which is rooting out
corruption, and we have been talking
about the power transition plan and the
possibility of the BN government falling
instead.
Azman: I suppose it is easy to be
sidetracked to other subjects when
talking about corruption because it is not
something easy to root out. People have
been talking about this for decades. It is
still there. It is almost like everybody is
on the take. Many people cannot help
observing that the more Islam becomes
17
visible in public life, the more corruption
there is.
Chong: Very widespread in Umno,
according to party disciplinary board
chairman Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen. He
said it is worse than ever now and maybe
it has reached a stage where it has become
too difficult to eradicate.
Azman: And he also said he is
embarrassed to have to admit that less of
such problems in MCA and Gerakan. And
ministers are involved.
Mohan: So what you guys are saying
that it is not going to be easy for Abdullah
to fulfil the pledge he made about five
years ago. So maybe he, too, in the end will
have to admit to his unfinished perjuangan
(mission or struggle).
Chong: If you cannot root out
corruption in Umno – just Umno – how
can you root out corruption in the rest of
the country? They just emulate Umno, the
premier party.
Zain: Umno top leaders are reluctant
to act tough to end it. Short of wrenching
it out like you would a rotten tooth, no
amount of warning or advice is going to
work.
Azman: Maybe they don’t want it to
happen as they are all involved. The stakes
for them are just too high, unlike in
MCA and Gerakan. The winners get
to be prime minister and deputy prime
minister of the country. Others get to be
ministers.
Mohan: Others get contracts.
Zain: Yes. But it is enough just to be
delegates. Many will be rich by the time
the party election is over. More so this time
when the wooing period is three months
instead of the usual one month.
Chong: Why don’t you campaign to be
chosen a delegate, Cikgu? I am sure your
division will choose you, seeing that you
are one of the founder members of the
party.
Zain: Even for that I need money.