Pak Lah takes on Dr M in 'tell-all' book

'Elegant silence' no more. 'Mr Nice' is set to do battle with his predecessor over spiteful remarks.

PETALING JAYA (Feb 1): Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is finally countering allegations hurled at him by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a "tell-all" book to be published after the coming Chinese New Year, say sources.

The book is edited by well-known academics and political analysts Bridget Welsh and James Chin.

 

If this is indeed true, then it will be the first time Abdullah is addressing attacks from his predecessor, which began soon after he took office in 2003. 

 

The attacks arose from what was seen as Abdullah "pushing aside" development projects started by Mahathir (including cancelling the "crooked bridge" link to Singapore) and unwillingness to continue certain policies.

 

The barrage of attacks escalated following Barisan Nasional's poor showing in the 2008 general election, which Mahathir blamed on Abdullah, accusing him among other things, of being "a weak leader leading a half-past-six government". And that was one of Mahathir's "softer" tirades.

 

Mahathir also openly called for Abdullah's resignation and famously quit Umno in May 2008, citing a lack of confidence in the party leadership. (Abdullah eventually stepped down in April 2009, to make way for current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak).

 

Abdullah's response to Mahathir's attacks was, well, a non-response – prompting former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam, who agreed with the former's stance, to coin the now famous term "elegant silence".

 

And Abdullah or Pak Lah as he is fondly known, has stuck to his code of "elegant silence" religiously, at least in public. Until now. With the publication of the book the "elegant silence" will finally, it seems, be broken. 

 

"Well, it is done in Pak Lah's style which is different from Dr Mahathir's," said another source, who is privy to the publication of the book. This means whether it would "satisfy" those who expect a hard-hitting response from the veteran politician remains to be seen.

 

Still, the timing for the release of the book (assuming it will be released after the lunar new year ) couldn't have come at a worse time for Mahathir, who himself is "under fire" for the shocking revelations made at the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Sabah illegal immigrants over what is known as "Project IC".

 

The book has been in the works since early last year. 

 

"It is not a biography of Pak Lah," said the source. Instead it is a sort of 'KPI'. Personalities were invited to write their views and perspectives on the Abdullah administration, his leadership style, policies, etc. But the source declined to name the "personality writers".

 

"There will be analysis by Welsh and Chin based on their studies and based on interviews they had with Pak Lah last year," added the source.

 

Obviously, it was during the interviews that the allegations made by Mahathir were answered.  - fz.com