Dr M steps up calls for Abdullah to be ousted

malaysiainisider | ...Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi must be removed if race relations are to be improved, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed said today.

'Unless and until Datuk Seri Abdullah is removed nothing that the Chinese parties and Umno can do will help improve race relations or resuscitate the BN or improve the government of the country,' he wrote in his blog, adding that blaming Umno will not achieve any of these objectives.

Dr Mahathir, a trenchant critic of his handpicked successor, said the reason for this was because no one is willing to openly criticise Abdullah and instead 'Umno is made the scapegoat.'

He called the handling of Datuk Ahmad Ismail's reported racial remarks an example of Abdullah's missteps in attempting to protect racial harmony.

'Instead of Datuk Seri Najib Razak apologising, Umno should discipline Ahmad. His apology and its rejection by Gerakan simply angered the Malays. At the same time I don't think support for Gerakan and MCA would increase.

'The BN leader should have called the parties concerned and persuade them not to use the race card. But the leader was too scared to face Ahmad Ismail one-to-one. Instead he resorted to the Internal Security Act (ISA) to prove that he is impartial. Now not only the Malays but the Chinese too will become more angry,' he wrote.... selanjutnya.