Monday, November 28, 2011

LEARNING FROM THE MILITARY

Some UMNO leaders have referred Women Minister Shahrizat Jalil a liability to the party and called for her resignation. This call is in obvious reference to the RM250 million National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) public uproar caused by Shahrizat’s husband Dr. Ismail Salleh, who in turn had justified that the NFC is managing well and “is on track to produce 60,000 head of cattle by 2015”. Dr. Ismail Salleh even declared that the purchase of the two exclusive condos at RM6.9 million each from NFC’s fund as valid investment generating a monthly income of RM70,000 per unit of condo to the company; ignoring the moral justification in spending something that is unrelated to the NFC project. If Dr. Ismail Salleh believes that public criticism against him relating to the alleged mismanagement of the NFC is done in bad taste and deemed malicious, then I think the Auditor General ought to be blame for having reported that the NFC was in a ‘mess’, and not the opposition or members of the public. The primary reason for the public uproar is because the public is concern as it is their money that is at stake; not that of any individual or party.

I believe the upcoming UMNO General Assembly would be tough for Shahrizat being the party’s Wanita Chief to defend the criticism labeled at her and the action of her husband by some party members over the NFC affairs. How will she disentangle herself from the NFC fiasco and to defend the call for her resignation from party members, will be her fiercest challenge ever as a minister and the Wanita Chief. I believe too that the NFC issue is now a bane to the party’s leadership in the upcoming UMNO General Assembly, and if this issue is allowed to be debated, it could well be the downfall of Shahrizat. But if the party refrains from debating the issue, it will be fodder for the opposition to claim that UMNO is a party that condones abuses and the mismanagement of public fund, allows preferential treatment to cronies and protects acts of corrupt practices by those closely associated with the top party leadership. Indeed, UMNO is in dilemma caused by the family members of Shahrizat, and the party has to resolve this before the general elections.

The recent statement by UMNO Deputy President Muhyiddin Yasin that the upcoming general election will be the ‘mother of all elections’, I believe is in reference to the many unsettled issues plaguing the party, and the NFC fiasco could well be one of the issues. It also signals that all is not too well within the party caused primarily by the doings of the party members themselves. I also believe that Muhyiddin now recognizes that the opposition is no longer to be taken for granted; rather the opposition is a party that has gained strength since the 2008 general elections. This warning however does not go down well with some party leaders who remain complacent in the belief that all is in the party’s favour. If the warnings of the likes of Tun Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and the ‘old guards’ of UMNO that the party is slipping into oblivion and is beyond redemption is ignored, then I can confidently say that UMNO’s death is inevitable and Putrajaya will be lost forever. What will happen to the UMNO/BN leaders then following their eviction from power is anyone’s guess.


Now, PKR’s daring expose to stage its national congress at the very heart of UMNO’s bastion i.e. Johor recently is not to be taken lightly. Rather, it should serve as a barometer of support that Johoreans too are ready to shift their allegiance in PKR’s favour, given the party’s successes in governing the states controlled by the opposition. Here again, it is the Auditor General’s report that had claimed the successes of the opposition held states, notably Selangor and Penang that were ravaged by poor governance, mismanagement and incompetency by the leaders of the previously held government. People are now beginning to question where and what has the previous government done wrong and what has the present state government done to deserve a good billing by the Auditor General. UMNO/BN has to accept their past failures and no amount of denying, justification and accusation could redeem themselves of their wrongdoings.

And taking the lessons that I have been taught in the military, acknowledging defeat and failure today is the precursor to success in the future. And to withdraw is not an acknowledgement of defeat, but it is survive and to consolidate to fight another battle. Certainly, UMNO/BN can learn a lot from the military to win their political battle.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

11 comments:

bruno said...

Dato,the NFC fiasco has surely hurt Shahrizat badly.Whether she is involved in the family's business is not the question.If she wasn't the women minister,her family wouldn't have gotten the NFC project in the first place.

Her colleques in Umno are calling for her resignation because they know that she is a liability and damaged goods.Whether NFC can produced 6,000 or 60,000 cows is not the question now.It is whether CBT was comitted.It is very obvious now that money meant for cows was used for buying condos and opening of upscale restaurants in Singapore and KL.

bruno said...

Dato,the Wanita wing has come out to declare its support for Sharizat.Although some Umno divisional leaders have come out to publicly critizised her,they have said that they will not bring it up at the Umno general assembly.Maybe they have been ordered to tone down by the leadership to allowed her a gracious exit.

With a tainted reputation and not a winnable candidate,she will not be fielded as a candidate in the coming GE.And she cannot be appointed a backdoor minister again.So she will have to go either way.So Umno leaders would see her go earlier rather then later.So her exit will be after the Umno general assembly or latest end of year.

Most probably Sharizat will resign as the wanita chief too.As a lame duck,one will wonder how she will be able to lead the wanitas into battle.Besides the NFC fiasco will be a distraction for Umno and they will have to waste a lot of ammunition to defend this scandal.

DPM Muhyiddin is worried as there is ground to be worried,as after this GE most probably Umnoputras will be sitting on the opposition bench.Some who did not take the midnight flight to Zimbabwe will be taking up PR in Kamunting.For the first time in its history Umno will take it on the chin in Johore.They will not lose the state but will definitely take a beating.

Mej. A R Ramachandran (Retired) said...

To win the political battle, Jibby must:
1) Drop the losers in his cabinet. A whole lot of them, I say.
2) Put a leash on RM (not the currency)
3) Drop his 1Malaysia charade and come out clean as a leader for all in every sense, not rhetorically right, but practically unsound.
Good battle preparation is mandatory to mission success.

joe choy said...

Dato,
Let's face it whether we like it or
not our money has been misused and misappropriated by Sharizat n family members.As they all knows that it's wrong in such business transactions yet they never hesitate to go ahead with such venture. From what little I know on law,there is the 'intention' to CBT/Cheat and thus guilty beyond any reasonable doubts. They must owned up and try not to defend the indefensible fiasco. Got the audacity to misuse our money to even go for the Haj with all and sundry. Don't they all have conscience as human-beings knowing what is right and wrong. Only robots are programmed to act as such.

mike joey said...

As far as I am concern, Sharizat is a great liability to UMNO/BN in the coming GE13. Good fodder for the opposition to press home their point
on widespread corruption within the UMNO cronies. Such NFC issue is easy for the rural folks to understand how
their money being squandered under the guise of rearing cows but ended up buying luxury condos and opening-up restaurants for personal gain. Really crooked politicians we have in UMNO and PM & DPM trying very hard to defend her integrity to no avail.The Government's integrity has gone further down the drain. Wishing you bye-bye UMNO/BN!!

Frankie said...

Dato',

I believe the NFC scandal will not be debated in the UMNO general assembly simply because UMNO wants to demonstrate a "united" front of supporting its own members, something which UMNO is very good at. Otherwise how is possible that there are so many disgraced people in UMNO who are still riding high in the party's hierachy. The likes of Najib, Muhyiddin and even Badawi have staunchly defended Sharizat and her family's management of NFC further proves that the NFC scandal is a small matter and can be easily swept under the UMNO persian carpets.

However we, the Malaysian public have already drawn our conclusion and reached our verdict on the NFC fiasco so it makes no difference what Najib or the UMNO general assembly's takeaway on the NFC. Najib has once again proven to be incapable devoid of any leadership capabilities. His defence of Sharizat paints the picture of a PM who is afraid to act against his own people and one who practices cronyism to the highest degree (note: only Mahathir is better than Najib in this aspect). He has learned nothing from his pilgrimage to the holy land. So sad and shameful.

cskok8 said...

I think he has to first drop himself. He has very, very, very, very, very serious allegations hanging over his head. Much, much, much.much more serious than a few cows or condos.

Malaysian said...

Dato

Why should we demonize Shahrizat only? What about others with PKFZ or Sungai Besi military base? I don't know if there is anymore principled politician in UMNO. I remembered the only principled politician is Shahrir Abdul Samad.

Lastly, I hope PKR can select principled politician and not the reject from BN. Also, I hope Abdul Khalid Ibrahim will continue to be Selangor MB after next election.

Salam

tahaneverest02 said...

OMG...Can you imagine Sharizat saying that the NFC 'has nothing got to do with her'. What shit is she talking about?? Don't everybody knows that the loan of RM250 million was given to her family for the 'cow project' just because she is a Cabinet Minister?? If say, she is just an ordinary Wanita UMNO member would she be given that project? Please..la Sharizat, don't take the rakyat for fools and idiots even if you are one. How can you utter rubbish saying that it has got nothing to do with you. You are really insulting our intelligence. You can go and tell that to your UMNO Assembly and I am not surprise they will believe you. Why?? Birds of same feather flocks together. Heard of that??

nxforget said...

Dato, If I may add that the civil are being short change by this NFC fiasco. Civil service had to pay 4% interest to own a decent shelter while these people got to own 2 high end properties at 2.5% interest. The sad part is the system allow such thing impunity

exrmafazhar said...

Yes..withdraw and fight another day. So we the rakyat would like to urge UMNO/BN to just let go the helm of the country to Pakatan Rakyat and after 5 years we will then decide if PR will stay or not. For that time being, you(UMNO) will have all the time to consolidate and fight for power again....Dont you think it is such a good idea? Yes? No? emmmmm