Thursday, May 14, 2009

HISHAMMUDIN HUSSEIN - THE ARBITRATOR

While the nation is kept engross over the political impasse between BN and PR in the Perak, little attention is given to the impasse between Trengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said and former Trengganu Menteri Besar Idris Jusoh. The two apparently were at odds following the March 8, 2008 General Elections, which saw Ahmad Said being more acceptable to the Trengganu palace; hence his appointment as the Menteri Besar, while Idris Jusoh, despite being the party’s nominee was rejected by the palace.

Numerous speculations were abound as to why Idris Jusoh was rejected by the Trengganu palace. But one thing is for certain, that there has to be something serious enough that had caused the palace not to favour Idris Jusoh.

The subsequent protest aimed at the palace by supporters of Idris Jusoh, which is a rare occurrence in this strictly conservative state, further aggravated the situation. Even the former PM Tun Abdullah’s intervention to have Idris Jusoh back as Menteri Besar failed. What the palace did was only to exercise the right to appoint a Menteri Besar, that to the best knowledge of the palace, has the confidence of the state assembly. Idris Jusoh was apparently seen not to have the confidence of the state assembly any longer.

Some say that Idris Jusoh was a loyalist of Tun Abdullah, and the development that was carried out during his tenure as the Menteri Besar was merely to please Tun Abdullah, rather than the people. I could still remember an occasion when Tun Abdullah who made an official visit to Trengganu early in is premiership, was greeted with ‘Hidup Pak Lah’ several times by non other than Idris Jusoh, immediately after Tun Abdullah had concluded his speech. I think Idris Jusoh acted more like an ‘apple polisher’ in this scene.

Millions was spend on projects that had no direct benefit to the people. The crystal mosque that was to symbolized Islam for the state, and to be frequented by Muslims for regular prayers, ended up being merely a show piece for tourist.

The monsoon cup, an event exclusively for the rich, also did not benefit the people. In the first place, who was the wise guy that actually proposed this international sailing event to be brought to Trengganu? This event is totally an alien event to Malaysians, and I do not know of any Malaysians that had participated in such an event internationally, and won any prizes. Yes, there are many sailors in Malaysia, but they don’t sail for sports. Dato Azhar Mansor is an accomplished sailor who had traversed the globe alone, but he does not compete in any sport sailing. And remember Panglima Hitam; he sailed the globe with Christoper Columbus.

Yes, the state of UMNO affairs in Trengganu is not that ‘palatable’. And it must be for this reason that neither Ahmad Said or Idris Jusoh is made the party’s State Liaison Officer (Pegawai Perhubungan Negeri). UMNO had to appointed Vice President Hishammudin Hussein instead.

Will Hishammudin be able to placate the two ‘warring factions’, and to bring both back to terms? This, we will have to see in the next few days when Hishammudin gets down to Trengganu, and to play arbitrator.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

2 comments:

komando said...

Not much hope for a GUY call Hishamudin to resolve this issue !
What can he do..are they going to listen to him and bury the hatchet and move on like good boys ?
Very doubtful indeed !
Good luck and for your family's sake give it a shot, try saving it for your cousin !

Unknown said...

Ha, ha, my server came back at the right time, just to capture your views on Trengganu UMNO politics!

Coming from this East Coast state, with most of my family and close friends are from Trengganu, I am very well qualified to give my views how we feel about the whole very sad UMNO leadership episode.

To me, both Idris Jusoh and Ahmad Said are typical UMNO leaders whom the RAKYATS want to ged rid-off.
These two guys are good only when they are not in power, but when given the power, they would do anything to bebefit them, their families and the cronies.

These 2 guys are not on their own. Their UMNO cronies would go all out to support them, regardless. If I were Hishamuddin, I would "retire" both Idris Jusoh, Ahmad Said and UMNO "kaki bodeks" from any state UMNO Exco positions and pass them to clean, trusted and reliable guys ( many in Trengganu if anybody cares to find out).

Hishammudin, please, you are nominated by Najib to head Trengganu UMNO not as "arbitrator" of Idris Jusoh and Ahmad Said, but instead, as a leader responsible to put Trengganu UMNO right. Of course, you have to be cruel in order to be kind and save UMNO.