BATTLE.....'Elegant
silence' no more. 'Mr Nice' is set to do battle with his predecessor over
spiteful remarks.
By : MOHSIN ABDULLAH
PETALING JAYA : Former Prime
Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is finally countering allegations hurled at
him by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a 'tell-all' book to be published after the
coming Chinese New Year, say sources. The book is edited by well-known
academics and political analysts Bridget Welsh and James Chin.
If this is indeed true, then
it will be the first time Abdullah is addressing attacks from his predecessor,
which began soon after he took office in 2003.
The attacks arose from what
was seen as Abdullah "pushing aside" development projects started by
Mahathir (including cancelling the "crooked bridge" link to
Singapore) and unwillingness to continue certain policies.
The barrage of attacks escalated
following Barisan Nasional's poor showing in the 2008 general election, which
Mahathir blamed on Abdullah, accusing him among other things, of being "a
weak leader leading a half-past-six government". And that was one of
Mahathir's "softer" tirades.
Mahathir also openly called
for Abdullah's resignation and famously quit Umno in May 2008, citing a lack of
confidence in the party leadership. (Abdullah eventually stepped down in April
2009, to make way for current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak).
Abdullah's response to
Mahathir's attacks was, well, a non-response – prompting former deputy prime
minister Tun Musa Hitam, who agreed with the former's stance, to coin the now
famous term "elegant silence".
And Abdullah or Pak Lah as
he is fondly known, has stuck to his code of "elegant silence"
religiously, at least in public. Until now. With the publication of the book
the "elegant silence" will finally, it seems, be broken.
"Well, it is done in
Pak Lah's style which is different from Dr Mahathir's," said another
source, who is privy to the publication of the book. This means whether it
would "satisfy" those who expect a hard-hitting response from the
veteran politician remains to be seen.
Still, the timing for the
release of the book (assuming it will be released after the lunar new year )
couldn't have come at a worse time for Mahathir, who himself is "under
fire" for the shocking revelations made at the ongoing Royal Commission of
Inquiry on the Sabah illegal immigrants over what is known as "Project
IC".
The book has been in the
works since early last year.
"It is not a biography
of Pak Lah," said the source. Instead it is a sort of 'KPI'. Personalities
were invited to write their views and perspectives on the Abdullah
administration, his leadership style, policies, etc. But the source declined to
name the "personality writers".
"There will be analysis
by Welsh and Chin based on their studies and based on interviews they had with
Pak Lah last year," added the source.
Obviously, it was during the
interviews that the allegations made by Mahathir were answered.
(NOTE: It has been brought
to our attention by James Chin and Bridget Welsh that the book titled Transformations: The Abdullah Badawi Years is
an academic publication of more than 40 essays and interviews reflecting and
analysing the five years of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration. The
collection provides a range of views analysing Malaysia from 2003 to 2008. It
is not a "tell-all" or an attack on Tun Mahathir, say the authors in
an email to fz.com. "The core of book is about the Pak Lah administration,
not Tun Mahathir. The claim that Abdullah’s interview is an attack on Mahathir,
as implied by the fz.com reporter, is not true.")
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