Ku Li slams PM for ’stunning ineptness’
Veteran Umno politican Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah today fired his latest salvo against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for his “stunning ineptness” in the appointment of the Terengganu mentri besar.
“Abdullah’s statement yesterday that ‘the appointment of anyone but Idris Jusoh as Terengganu menteri besar is unconstitutional’ is wrong,” said Razaleigh in a hard-hitting press release late this afternoon.
“As in the recent crisis in Perlis, the prime minister’s actions suggest stunning ineptness in managing fundamental relationships and straightforward functions of government.”
According to Razaleigh, the situation in Terengganu is a “crisis of government, not of the constitution”.
“The sultan acted within his powers in appointing the person who, in his judgment, is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the State Assembly.
“Ahmad Said’s appointment is effective and he is now mentri besar of Terengganu. It is up to the properly convened State Assembly to test him with a vote of confidence in due course,” said Razaleigh, referring to Terengganu sultan’s choice.
He said that “petitions, threats, coercion and declarations of support” for the prime minister and his candidate, Idris - who was mentri besar in the previous state government - had no bearing on the legality of the sultan’s appointment.
“Perhaps we have forgotten what it is like to conduct ourselves with good manners and due respect for the constitution and the sovereignty of the ruler,” lamented Razaleigh, who himself is a Kelantan prince.
Last week, Razaleigh, who was former party vice-president, had offered himself as a candidate to challenge Abdullah in the upcoming Umno polls, due to be held in August.
He has also called for the entire ruling Barisan Nasional to step down to take responsibility for its worst electoral setback in history.
Umno’s leadership in jeopardy
Razaleigh also expressed concerned that the crisis in Terengganu would affect Umno’s control of the oil-rich state.
“This storm in Terengganu is just the latest in a series of crises brought on by an apparent failure to understand how state powers work relative to federal ones.
“This is alarming because the Barisan government now has five opposition-controlled states to contend with out of the nine in Peninsular Malaysia. The mishandling of chief ministerial appointments in Perlis, and now in Terengganu, mean that our leadership in two other states is now in jeopardy.”
In the wake of March 8 general elections, Razaleigh - who is Kelantan’s Gua Musang Umno division chief - has sent a letter to all party leaders urging them to convene an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the electoral debacle.
However, he has received lukewarm support for the idea.
In a latest development, MB-designate Ahmad said that he had full backing from the sultan and will start work tomorrow.
