The deputy minister of International Trade and Industry puts to rest any confusion about the events leading to his call for Tun Abdullah Badawi’s resignation.
"It was the worst ever election result we ever had"
I contested as an MP representing the BN and won in Jerlun. I couldn't celebrate because we lost the state. This had never happened before. My state of Kedah fell to the opposition. Not only that, three other states fell also. And if you include Kelantan - which has (belonged) to the opposition for 19 years now - five out of 13 states fell to the opposition. It's the worst ever election result we've ever had. In Parliament we lost our two-thirds majority and that's never happened since 1969. To me, it all pointed to one cause.
I decided to call for a press conference in the State of Penang for some pretty obvious reasons. People got wind of my intentions and all sorts of pressure was put on me practically to block me from doing so. I realised that the situation could very easily get out of control.
At the venue where I was going to make a statement there were two opposing forces ready to get at each other. I didn't want to be the cause of any untoward incidents. Due to that I kind of watered down my statement and I said "The people have spoken in this General Election and the government should listen. I am sure the government will act accordingly and do something to rectify the matter."
"I came under undue pressure to leave my principles behind"
It turned out that the media, for whatever reason, kind of turned around the statement and said I supported the government; that I knew the government was going to do the right thing.
I was totally aghast! I didn't understand how they could make such a report. So, again, there was a lot of pressure. Some even said that, "Look, if you're thinking of saying anything else, please bear in mind that the Prime Minister is about to announce the new cabinet line-up. Surely you have ambitions to be on that list. Could you not postpone whatever intended statements you want to make and if and/or when you're already in the cabinet, then you may choose to affect change from within."
That was the, so called, 'party line'.
That got me even more fired up. (Laughs) What it meant was I was under undue pressure to basically leave my principles behind and go with the flow. First there (was) no guarantee I (was) going to be appointed (to) any position. Obviously I was not going to lobby for it.
Secondly, I don't understand this "change from within" concept. Once you've been appointed, how are you going to be critical of your own bosses, from inside? Whether you like it or not, you're going to end up being very obligated and you're going to have to tone down the language when it comes to things that you don't agree with.
"Singapore started it and it just blew up here"
I knew that the announcement (of the new cabinet line-up) was going to be made soon. I (wanted) to avoid any misconception that (because) the announcement was made and I was not on that list, I called for a resignation. It would sound as if I was a bad loser. So on the 12th of March I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, asking him to take responsibility for the dismal general election results and for him to hand over the reins of the government to his deputy.
It was a private letter. In good form, I cc-ed the Deputy Prime Minister, the two Vice Presidents in UMNO and the Secretary General. That was all I did. I didn't tell anyone about it. The Secretary General called me up that evening and asked me whether this was really my letter. I confirmed that (it was). He read it to me, I said, "Yeah, that's my letter." (Laughs) So, he said, "Okay." He didn't say anything more.
Next thing I knew, it was printed in (a) Singapore (newspaper). It came out online first. It was not a printing of the contents; it was a printing of the letter. For the life of me, I didn't understand how they got a copy of it. Singapore started it, and then it just blew up here.
In the aftermath...
The party line at that time was that we did not lose. The party line was, we still have the Parliament. To me it didn't matter, because from the best ever election results in 2004, within four years, it turned into the worst ever election results. What does that tell you?
(Since then) we have had a smooth transition of power to Datuk Seri Najib, which (was) a Godsend to me. That was what I called for and it happened. There was absolutely no way we could win the next general election if there was no change in the top leadership. And then you have a good Deputy Prime Minister...so the combination of the two is, to me, perfect. You have a party that's well on its way to mending fences and ridding itself of internal conflicts and troubles.
I'm talking about UMNO; BN (Barisan Nasional) is another matter.
I think the policies of the new government, led by the new PM, have been well received. Perhaps not in the beginning but now it's beginning to resonate with a lot of people. You don't want to have to go through an election with your number one being the core problem. There would be no end to the damage control and spinning just to turn the tide. It's a good start and I think we're well on our way to a full recovery. Confidence in the present government is improving. We're doing all right.
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