HISHAMMUDDIN’S LAST 48 HOURS AS A MINISTER

And, if by the next 48 hours the Prime Minister just keeps quiet and does nothing, then, on Thursday, Malaysia is going to have a new Defence Minister — who it is hoped will do a better job than the current one who can’t seem to prevent murders and kidnappings in Malaysia perpetuated by foreign elements.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

According to the Free Malaysia Today news portal, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s spin-doctor, Sayuti Omar, has predicted that two cabinet ministers are going to resign (SEE BELOW).

Sayuti did not identify these two ministers or say when they would resign but it is expected that one of them would be Hishammuddin Hussein, the Minister of Defence, and the other Mohd Shafie Apdal, the Minister of Rural and Regional Development.

Hishammuddin has failed to stem piracy and kidnappings in the state of Sabah and prevent the state of Perlis from being turned into a killing field like what happened in Cambodia 40 years ago.

No doubt in Cambodia more than one million people died while so far only a few hundred bodies have been found with an unknown number of victims estimated in the thousands said to have been disposed off at sea.

Anyway, the reason Hishammuddin would have to go is not because he has failed to manage the security of the country — although that should be reason enough — but because of the ultimatum he gave Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Hishammuddin said he would support the Prime Minister only on three conditions (READ MORE HERE). If the Prime Minister cannot fulfil these three conditions this would mean Hishammuddin would not be able to support him. That is probably the main reason why Hishammuddin did not attend the cabinet meeting on Friday.

The Prime Minister would most likely not respond to Hishammuddin’s demands so this would mean Hishammuddin would have to carry out his threat of not supporting the Prime Minister. And if Hishammuddin were as principled as his father was then he would definitely resign like his father did since he can no longer support the Prime Minister.

Hishammuddin would have to wait till Wednesday to see whether the Prime Minister is going to respond and if so what that response is going to be. And, if by the next 48 hours the Prime Minister just keeps quiet and does nothing, then, on Thursday, Malaysia is going to have a new Defence Minister — who it is hoped will do a better job than the current one who can’t seem to prevent murders and kidnappings in Malaysia perpetuated by foreign elements.

Once Hishammuddin throws in his resignation, Shafie, who is also opposed to the Prime Minister, will have to follow suit and resign or else he will be perceived as the pariah of Malaysian politics.

Najib should have cleaned up his cabinet a long time ago and got rid of all the jokers and lame ducks. It looks like finally he can do that and bring back a degree of confidence to the government, which Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once called a half-past six government of half-past six ministers.

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Two ministers will quit, predicts analyst

Najib has dug a hole to bury himself in, says Sayuti Omar

(Free Malaysia Today) – Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s ultimatum to dissident Cabinet members will result in a few resignations, according to political analyst Mohamad Sayuti Omar.

“There’s talk that at least two ministers and three deputy ministers will accept the challenge and quit,” Sayuti said in an article on his website, Merah Tinta. He did not identify his sources.

He was commenting on an Utusan Malaysia report that Najib, at a Cabinet meeting last Friday, demanded the resignation of those who would not support him in the controversy over 1MDB.

“In giving the ultimatum, Najib was digging a hole in which he will be buried,” Sayuti comments in his brief article.

He said it was obvious that Najib was directing his ultimatum to ministers who were not with him countering attacks by his chief critic, former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

It was equally obvious, he added, that the targets of the ultimatum knew that they were the ones being addressed.

“Najib had better be prepared to lose a few Cabinet members at once,” he said. “If three or more ministers quit, it will be a hard slap on him and may cause his own resignation.

“Even though he can replace them, their resignation will give a strong impression that he has lost the confidence of his own ministers. And this will go down in history as the first time that a Malaysian Prime Minister has lost his Cabinet’s confidence.”