Dr M's Sting (Ep. 3 - The Charlie Brown syndrome)

Quote from The SUN Editorial (9 June 2006):-

"... While we may not be privy to what transpired between the two men at the time of the handover, the only promises Abdullah has to keep are the promises he made to the people when he sought their mandate in the 2004 general elections. He pledged to be a PM for ALL Malaysians although he himself is a Malay and a Muslim, and will promote an open and tolerant society. He promised that his administration would work hard to wipe out corruption and improve the public delivery system. He said he would pay attention to the people's well-being and human resource development, rather than erect any more towering monuments.

Mahathir may have picked Abdullah as his successor but in winning the 2004 elections, the PM's mandate came from the people and not from a power broker no matter how powerful. We are after all a parliamentary democracy and have put our feudalistic past behind us.

Truth is Abdullah has fallen short in delivering some of the promises he made to the people in 2004. The grumblings are there among the rakyat. It is those grumblings that Pak Lah should focus on addressing rather than the outbursts of one angry man, even if that man is Mahathir."

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I won't pretend to be knowledgable about what is going on in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration.

I am only concerned with the fact that it is indeed THE TRUTH that our current Prime Minister has failed to cash in on his massive popularity following his outstanding performance in the 2004 General Election.

Two and a half years down the road, his reputation has suffered a steep nosedive partly of his own doing and not least contributed by the scathing and unrelenting criticisms by his former Boss.

He has consistently failed to react to sentiments on the ground on various issues which by now, has done a lot of damage to the goodwill that surrounded him in the past. To say the voters have been disappointed with Abdullah again and again is an understatement.

Yes, people are questioning his sincerity, they are questioning his willpower and ability to do the right thing for this country and its multi-racial and multi-religious citizens and they are beginning to have serious doubts about his ability to improve the rot that has continued to grow and undermine the harmony between the Muslims and non-Muslims in this country.

No doubt, he is the epitome of grace and dignity in the face of Dr M's very public attack. In fact, Tun Musa Hitam praised Abdullah by saying, " It is what I call elegant silence. It is the mark of a very, very good leader."

We only have nice words to describe Abdullah's demeanour and personality. After all, he was known as Mr Nice Guy before he assumed the top post.

But do Charlie Brown types make good prime ministers? Are Charlie Browns capable of being very, very good leaders?