Slightly quiet on the Umno front, but Pak Lah far from safe

Malaysiainsider - (...) Two months into his second term as Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi find himself in political purgatory, more secure in Umno than he was several weeks ago but far from home and dry.

And all signs point to a rollercoaster ride for him over the next few months as pressure mounts on him to lighten the burden of gut-wrenching inflation being felt by Malaysians and fend-off the second wave of attacks by the combined force of the Pakatan Rakyat and his critics within Umno, including Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Party officials and Abdullah’s supporters note that the calls for him to resign as party president have dropped by a few decibel levels compared to the first five weeks after Election 2008. This could be down to several factors, most notably the admission by the PM that his patchy track record contributed to Barisan Nasional’s poor performance at the general election and his willingness to hand over power to Datuk Seri Najib Razak by 2010.

The Insider has also learnt that a couple of weeks ago Najib sent word down to grassroots leaders to stop agitating for a change in leadership and concentrate instead on offering meaty ideas on revitalising Umno.

He was worried that the constant buzz of asking Abdullah to step down before the party polls in December would inject more uncertainty into a government still coming to grips with running Malaysia without its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament.
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