Mahathir Quits UMNO

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) today dropped a bombshell when he announced that he is quitting the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), the backbone of the ruling National Front (BN) coalition.

Mahathir, popularly known among Malaysians as Dr M, made the surprise announcement when addressing a crowd of about 1,000 people, mostly UMNO members, in his homestate of Kedah in northern Peninsular Malaysia.

Dr M, who was the country's PM and UMNO president for 22 years, had earlier in his speech urged party members to quit UMNO as a protest against Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's continued leadership of the party and government.

A party member then asked him if he would be the first one to leave. Saying that it sounded like a challenge, Dr M said he would and effective immediately.

Urging UMNO members to follow him, he however added the idea is not to join other parties but to return to the party after Pak Lah is no longer at the helm. Dr M handed over the premiership and party leadership to Abdullah, popularly known as Pak Lah, in late 2003.

Dr M was initially quite supportive of Pak Lah. After all, the latter was his chosen successor, over Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is now Pak Lah's deputy. However, Dr M started criticising the policies and leadership of Pak Lah after the 2004 election,

Pak Lah had led the BN into a victorious national election, said to be even bigger than that achieved by Dr M in 1999; having recaptured Terengganu state from the Opposition and secured more parliamentary seats.

"With this big mandate given by the electorate, Pak Lah was finally able to walk out of the shadow of his former boss and started changing some of Dr M's policies, even scrapping or delaying some of the big projects started by Dr M. This angered Dr M," said a political observer.

Dr M's attacks on his successor intensified after Pak Lah led the BN into a near-disastrous showing in the recent Malaysian election, whereby BN lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament and lost five of Malaysia's 13 states to the Opposition.

This would be Dr M's 2nd exit from UMNO. In 1969, he was saked by then UMNO president and Prime Miniter Tengku Abdul Rahman. However, Tengku's successor Tun Razak (Najib's father) took him back in 1972 and later even made him a Minister. After Razak died in 1976, his succesor Tun Hussein Onn (Razak's brother-in-law) chose Dr M as his deputy. In 1981, Dr M took over from Hussein as both PM and UMNO president.

It is not clear if Dr M's son, Datuk Mukriz, an UMNO Member of Parliament, would follow his father's move. Mukriz had announced that he would contest the UMNO Youth Chief post in December currently held by Datuk Hishamuddin, Hussein's son and Najib's cousin. Hisham would not defend the post.

On of the earliest die-hard Dr M followers to also announce that he is quitting UMNO is former Kedah Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) and former Malaysian Minister Tan Sri Sanusi Junid.

Former Finance Minister and Kelantan royalty, Tengku Razaleigh, who challenged Dr M for the UMNO presidency in 1987 but failed, this afternoon denied rumours that he would also follow suit. He said he will stay on to challenge Pak Lah for the UMNO presidency in December.

The whole nation would be watching over the next few days on who else would follow Dr M's footsteps and the effects it might have on UMNO. Some of Pak Lah's supporters have, understandably, described Dr M's exit as 'good riddence'.

Let's wait and see.