'Peace pipe' Zam in a jam 

Malaysiakini -3/7/2006

Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin is certainly in deep trouble now. 

According to him, there is a plan and a mediator to mend the ties between Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The MCA-owned Star reported that the mediator is former Umno secretary-general and current Malacca governor Mohamad Khalil Yaakob although the daily claimed that its survey showed that current Umno disciplinary board chairperson and ex-foreign minister Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen is a better choice. 

Earlier, it was widely speculated that the mediator said by Zainuddin to be “loved by Mahathir and respected by Abdullah” was little-known business tycoon Mohd Abid. 

Now, Zainuddin has even denied that Khalil is the mediator. However, according to the staunchly pro-Mahathir former editor-in-chief of the Umno-owned New Straits Times Kadir Jasin, Khalil met Mahathir on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur for more than an hour. 

He was reportedly told by the ex-PM that the latter will not change his stand on several issues he raised publicly regarding Abdullah’s administration. Kadir also claimed that Mahathir told Khalil that Abdullah has the right to answer and rebut his questions and as long as Abdullah keeps silent, Mahathir will hold fast to his position on the issues. 

On June 24, Mahathir told a public lecture attended by, among others, opposition leaders, that he would ‘go after’ Abdullah even into a ‘lubang cacing’ (wormhole) to get the answers he wants.  Abdullah is currently in Australia for a two-week break while Mahathir has flown to Turkey and Greece for a vacation until June 20. 

Up to this point, Abdullah has still not responded to Mahathir’s reiteration of his position on the various issues. 

Personal dilemma 

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak - who is widely believed to be the ultimate intra-party beneficiary of the Abdullah-Mahathir row - reportedly said he was not informed of Zainuddin’s plan for mediation. While Umno vice-president Mohd Ali Rustam reportedly said that reconciliation efforts “should be done discreetly and away from the media glare.” 

The statements from Najib and Ali Rustam can be seen as expressions of dissatisfaction towards Zainuddin who first broke the news of the purported mediation process to the media. Zainuddin, a publicly known nemesis of the pro-Abdullah New Straits Times, has long been identified as a Mahathir loyalist. 

However, there is widespread speculation within Umno that he is now caught in a personal dilemma of not wanting to be publicly seen as ‘ungrateful’ to his former boss and on the other hand, also preserve his current interest in the new administration. 

It is to Zainuddin’s interest not to see a complete split between Abdullah and Mahathir in the run-up to next year’s Umno general assembly and party elections. 

In any case, Zainuddin, having broken the news on the mediation process without the knowledge of the second-in-command of the party and his followers, has more likely than not incurred the wrath or at least displeasure of a large and powerful segment in Umno whose interest is to see Abdullah’s standing further weakened by Mahathir’s public attack so that vacuums can emerge. In other words, the personal interests of Zainuddin and that of Najib and his followers are antithetical. 

What is more interesting is the statement by Kedah Menteri Besar Mahdzir Khalid who said there is no need for any mediator as the row was not personal but “differences in opinion”.  Mahdzir is a former political secretary of Abdullah who is widely believed to have taken a hardline stand against Mahathir at the height of the speculated sacking of the former premier from Umno.  So, it could be reasonably assumed that Zainuddin’s ‘reconciliation plan’ has been rejected by both the Abdullah and Najib factions in Umno. 

Keeping the peace 

Can it be that Zainuddin’s initiative represents Mahathir’s interest? Very unlikely. 

Why should Mahathir want peace now since he has achieved rather obvious victories? He has broken the shackles of a media blackout, forced Umno and the government to respond to his questions and showed the world that he cannot be sacked or disciplined even when he breaches party discipline. 

Moreover, as Mahathir himself has repeatedly indicated or proclaimed, his public critique of Abdullah’s administration is not personal but reflective of the public sentiment on certain national issues of vital interests and pertaining to the fundamental questions on national sovereignty, economic policies as well as the style of governance and leadership.

Why did Zainuddin feel so confident as to take it upon himself to announce the reconciliation process, bypassing Najib as well as other Umno behemoths? One explanation is that it is to his personal interest to keep the peace as he is an ex-loyalist of Mahathir and current minister of Abdullah. Another is that Zainuddin may indeed represent yet another faction in the party comprising those who share his interest to preserve the status quo so as to prevent any open split that will force them to declare their loyalty in black and white. 

Now that the reconciliation plan has become another controversy in the Abdullah-Mahathir row, it seems that the slug-out is going to be long, hard and messy. 

Source: www.malaysiakini.com