Tuesday, April 08, 2008

I Know When To Quit...

And not a minute longer, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Not his words, but I suppose I am allowed to spin it that way.

What he actually said was that he would not stay (as PM) longer than he should.

There's just so much he has to finish, so much to do, he said in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

Here's the full Bernama story:

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Monday he would not stay longer than he should as prime minister.

"I would retire one day but I could not leave in this kind of political scenario. I will retire one day, of course. I'm not going to stay longer than I should.

"But there are certain things that I like to do now. I cannot leave at a time when the party is in this condition.

I cannot leave at a time when we are preparing for the implementation of development projects. We have already promised the people. We will do it.

"I'm not going to stay on for years. Certainly not," the prime minister told reporters after meeting Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders here.

Abdullah was asked whether he had a date in mind on when he would retire after having named Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as his successor.

The prime minister said Sunday Najib was his successor and that they had no problems between them.

On naming Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as his successor, Abdullah said in jest: "Of course.

Are you in doubt that you have to ask me again?" "Datuk Seri Najib understands me more than you can understand me. I am not going to stay on for years. Certainly not," he added.

Abdullah also thanked Sabahans for having given the mandate to the BN in last month's general election.

"I wish to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations and thanks to everyone and the chief minister (Datuk Seri Musa Aman) for the cooperation in the BN which led to the big victory in the general election," he said.

Leaders of the eight Sabah BN component parties had expressed their appreciation to Abdullah for having listened to their views and having agreed to consider their requests made at the meeting with him.

They also expressed support for Abdullah as the BN chairman.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

" I Know When To Quit ... And not a minute longer, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi."

It should be spun in many ways...

1. " I ain`t quiting, I`ve got lots of project to monitor ".

2. "Me quiting? You must be out of your mind! We won the GE did we?"

3. " We lost only five states and what the big deal asking me to quit?"

4. " I am no quitter. I am a gambler - the country I shall gamble."

5. " QUIT is not in my vocabulary and it is not in my Dictionary but its all written on my face ".

Cili.siber

Anonymous said...

Anyone wants to believe him, that is your right. As I know he is fond of saying the opposite. He is a liar.

Anonymous said...

Quit....Quit.....Quit....
Apa ni Quit..........
Eh....Quit tidur ke?

Ini....... boleh!!!

Anonymous said...

He has ealier before the GE said that he will stay on till at least 2020.

Anonymous said...

Only way thick skin big ears will go is to be kicked out, and there is someone who knows how:

"There was a proposal from Ummi Hafilda Ali, the woman involved in former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's corruption trial eight years ago called for a 100,000 gathering in Putrajaya to demand PM Datuk Seri Abdullah's resignation which was well received by the audience."
http://kamal-talksmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/04/pm-datuk-seri-abdullah-ahmad-badawi_07.html

Anonymous said...

Betul ke? Pak Lah tahu bila nak quit.....??

Maksud nya..... Najib perlu tunggu sikit lama ...ja....sampai........
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Anonymous said...

so you said you won't overstay but then again...

you're not welcome anymore... u know ke?

and there nothing much you could offer, so can you pls leave ke?

Anonymous said...

Yes, this time I think he will quit. The signs are there, KJ totally quiet while the rest sudah bising. He is probably negotiating ways out with immunities for his family especially KJ.If he doesnt quit, I think Najib or Ku Li or Muhiddin will push him out bcos all these guys will have more to loose if AI comes back and manage to convince defectors from BN.

Anonymous said...

What he really meant to say was, "I will not stay for 22 years...like some people."

Anonymous said...

LOL...this is what we call another gentleman's agreement...history is repeating itself or is it same old sh*t different day ?

Samuel Goh Kim Eng said...

It's one thing to know when to quit
It's another to be willing to quit
It seems so hard for some to quit
It's near impossible for certain individuals to quit

(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng - 080408
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
http://msi.Rocky101.com
Tue. 8th April 2008.

Anonymous said...

Quit...sorrylah. He wants to do better than TDM, he wants to do 23 years, only then he wiil quit..Najib, sampai tua la lu kena tunggu.

eddy said...

This Dollah is a U-Turn decision guy, he cannot be trusted at all. He is a consumate liar. If he says he will quit someday I think he will not quit any day soon. Typical Dollah double speak. And Najib my two cent advise is you should start packing already since Dollah has publicly say that you will succeed him which means you WILL NOT.

GobloKing said...

How much more time does this fehla need in order to prove his total incompetence?

I know we Msians are a patient lot..ya..you can even say we are simple folks and tak apa folks...but it doesn't mean we are simple FOOLS.

Why can't this si-bodoh just do what the Tunku did?

Just say "For the sake of my country, I will step down"

oh right..sorry Aina...I forgot..Pak lah sure ain't no TAR!

tarings said...

A lot of people are still supporting him in La-la land despite what most of us said in the blogosphere. The Minister for Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah will ensure that, with his hovering presence.

And he still have some way to go, in depleting the country's resources, that is. Not unlike previous leaders. Not unlike any leader in the whole wide world for that matter. And what's Perth? That's too Batu Pahat or Taiping-ish. He needs a big one in North Sydney, preferably in Mosman or St Ives. And maybe a ranch in Northern Australia as well. Or a vineyard in Barossa.

When he had enough, he'll quit. You can bet your pretty bottom on that. And maybe tell Najib to take over. For ONE term only, please.

But of course, Najib will also have a point to prove.

And we can blog till kingdom come.

Lovely, isn't it.

Anonymous said...

Malaysians have short memories. They forget easily.

Often, a weak man will get stronger the moment you fight him. He mutates and responds like a virus which nothing can kill. That's why the Aids virus is still around.

LKY was weak when he first became PM. The communists were very strong.

Taib was very weak when he became CM in 1981.

Mahathir was weak when he became PM in 1981. He did crappy things like going on an austerity drive which sent the economy into a recession by 1986. This guy didn’t even know how to count. Then, Daim and Samy Vellu came up with the idea of privatisation. Mahathir launched Operation Lalang in 1987. The rest is history.

The point is Mahathir faced a challenge from Musa and Razaleigh in 1987. They both thought they could swallow him.

The Umno vote count was suspended for the Fri prayers. During that one hour, votes already pledged to Razaleigh changed hands. Umno votes can be bought easily.

That's how Mahathir won by 43 votes. If 22 of these votes had shifted to Razaleigh, Mahathir would have lost by one vote.

Mahathir had Umno declared unlawful, re-registered the party as Umno Baru, and kept Razaleigh out. He fixed the Judiciary too to save himself and came up with Wawasan 2020.

A month earlier in Brunei, Mahathir declared that he would stay on even if he won by one vote. The Brunei sultan was mad that Mahathir made such a statement there. This was seen as a warning to the Sultan who had employed Razaleigh as his Economic Advisor, a post reportedly arranged by Daim himself. Mahathir came close to losing by one vote, not winning.

Don't be surprised if Badawi becomes stronger than ever with everybody crying for his blood. After all, he has the power of incumbency. He’s in the chair. If Sabah and Sarawak continue to stick with Badawi, nothing can shake Badawi. How will Sabah and Sarawak benefit if they support the Opposition to form the Federal Government? Think about that. They want to be kingmakers and not followers and sycophants. Even if the MPs from Sabah and Sarawak leave the BN, they will not join the Opposition Alliance.

It’s no use telling Badawi to step down. Who will replace him? That’s more important.

Anonymous said...

joefernandez,
You are right about those other leaders you mentioned - they get stronger when cornered.

But please laa, putting Pak Lah at par with them is like putting proton at par with those german cars. - anyway if we give proton another 50 years perhaps they could, but in Pak Lah's case...

Anonymous said...

The people gave him a mandate in 2004. He did nothing to the people except to incur their wrath with the many misdeeds and screw-ups. The only people who benifited in these years are his family and the UMNO cronies, who have grown richer by the millions. Am I better or worse now than I was 4 years ago? The answer is a definite 'worse'. Not that I do not work hard to improve my life. But look at the situation now: prices of goods have gone up so much; people are so worried about their safety everywhere they go; corruption has gotten so much rampant; misuse of funds by the authorities is getting more and more prevalent... the list of ills beseting this country is too long under him

He may appear to be a Mr. Nice Guy, but he woefully lacks the leadership the country needs to go forward. If he is still around, he can only be a vehicle to those around him to make themselves richer.

Old Fart said...

NOW is a good time. Really!

Anonymous said...

Never underestimate Pak Lah when he is pushed towards a corner... However mild he is he will fight back with vengeance!!

So far he has not shown his true colours as yet...sometimes it is an excellent strategy to let all the warlords flex their muscles but the power of incumbency means that Pak Lah already have all their files at his disposal...

When the time comes to shove ....Pak Lah will confront all the warlords and say..."Either you are 110% with me or you will be history in double quick time. Take your pick. The Grassroots will be with me when you are history!!"

The first step had already being reported....police is investigating TDM on abuse of power......

Anonymous said...

kalo tunku bapa kemerdekaan..
pak lah bapa apa pulak?