M'SIAN PM SAYS HE DOESN'T REGRET DECISON TO HAND OVER POWER EARLIER

By Yong Soo Heong

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
says he did not regret his decision to expedite the handing over of the reins of
power to his successor, Najib Tun Razak.

"The decision did not trouble me. A decision had to be made and I had
considered it very well. I felt good about it and that was why I could be
cheerful," he said in an interview with Bernama in response to a question as to
how he could be cheerful when making the announcement last Wednesday as it meant
giving up the trappings of power.

"I thank God for making it easy for me to decide. I think what I'm doing is
in the best interest of the country and the party," said Abdullah, who appeared
relaxed in a brown Baju Melayu at his official residence at Seri
Perdana.

Having made the decision, it would "allow us to focus on the job at hand",
he said in reference to the over-politicking that had taken place since the
March 8 general election and the need to focus on fulfilling the aspirations of
the people.

"I fully intend to utilise the months ahead to implement my agenda. Leaving
the limelight and giving up power is not my main concern," he said.

When asked what went through his mind before he made his decision, he
replied: "I must say this. After the elections, there are people who said that I
must go. Some people held me responsible for the results which nobody (in
National Front (Barisan Nasional) liked, which shocked the party people,
particularly Umno.

"But there are also others who are strongly for me, urging me to stay on
to continue my work. And they have been coming to the house in groups, telling
me that "you cannot leave, you have your mission, you have to complete your
mission".

"I listened to every side but, at the same time, I had to look at the real
situation, into the future and finally I made up my mind that it was the right
time to hand over the responsibilities."

Asked whether he had informed the King of his decision not
to contest the Umno presidency, the prime minister said he had not as it was
purely a party matter.

"I'm still the prime minister. When it comes to the need to hand over or to
appoint the successor to the prime minister, only then it is important to inform
the king," he explained.

Abdullah said the government had put in place a good foundation and,
guided by the National Mission, the country could achieve its aim of achieving
Vision
2020.

"I am confident that my successor will continue my work and do what it
takes to get us there, he said, adding that regardless of whether he was there
as prime minister, a good foundation had been laid for other leaders.

"Yes, I believe the time is right for a new generation of leaders to take
over. What is important is that Umno and Barisan Nasional must be united in
dealing with all the challenges we are facing.

"I believe the attitude and behaviour of party members will determine the
future of the party - that is very important. If they put public interest before
their own, Umno will be fine."

Asked on demands by some quarters for him to leave the stage now and not in
March or that he should not say anything between now and the time he handed over
power, he said he was well aware of what he wanted to do.

"I have planned my retirement, I have planned ahead on when I need to hand
over and what to do. I am not staying on just to bask in the glory of being
prime minister. I have decided to stay on because I have a mission. I must make
good on the promises I have made, especially on the reforms. Remember, I was
criticised for having promised something which the people liked and welcomed and
then they said that I did not deliver.

"But I did not complete them in the first four years because I had
concentrated on other things. But there is one thing that I would like to
mention, that my election manifesto in 2004 was not only for the four years
(lasting until 2008) of the duration when I am in power and later on I would
make another manifesto."

Abdullah said he had come into power just after the first half of the
implementation of Vision 2020 and he still had three five-year development
periods to implement various programmes.

"I was thinking of the second half where I thought I could choose to
implement what I wanted and at what stage. But there was a feeling of
unhappiness on what the people expected I should do and things I had not
done.

"So when I announced the beginning of the reform of the judiciary and the
Anti-Corruption Agency, there was very strong support. Some people now
questioned why hadn't I announced these reforms before the last elections and
said they would have supported them.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter now as what happened has happened. I will make
sure that I will implement a few reforms and some economic programmes."

Abdullah also said that since he was still the prime minister, he did not
see why he should keep quiet.

"Maybe those who are asking me to keep quiet want to monopolise the
spotlight for themselves," he added.

Asked whether he would miss the hustle and bustle of the highest office of
the land, he said: "Maybe, but I will know it when I retire. It will be someone
else's time. I can safely say that I will not be trying to govern from the
sidelines."

Abdullah, when asked to list down his high points during his tenure as
prime minister so far, replied: "Well, my time is not over yet. Let us talk
after I have served for the period until I retire."

Asked whether a lack of support led to the poor results in this year's
general election, he said, "That's what people say and I tend to believe what
they say. Those were some of the serious complaints because the reform promise
moved a lot of people, judging from the comments in the newspapers after the
2004 elections."

He said the government should have done more and it had faltered in
implementing several programmes.

"We didn't complete them. Anyway, what is past is past. I have always
wanted to institute these changes, but I wanted to do them gradually.

"But maybe people wanted me to move quicker and maybe that's why they
expressed their disappointment. In any case, I have stated that I want to
deliver on these institutional reforms and also launch the social safety net
which will cover 110,000 households."

Asked whether he would have done it differently in terms of timing and
other issues if he had another chance to handle the 12th general election, he
said the timing was carefully thought.

He explained that he had wanted to get a renewed mandate because before the
elections there were so many criticisms over many issues.

"So I thought that it would be good to get a new mandate. That was why I
decided to have the elections at a time when many people felt it would be a bit
too early. But I thought that if I were to delay, it may be a risk. Look at what
has happened after the general election, when the price of oil went up, food
prices as well. And with some other problems cropping up, I thought it would be
more difficult for us to have the kind of results that we got in the elections
where we had 58 seats more than the Opposition."

Abdullah said that if the BN had delayed the polls, it may have been worse,
"because we would have to deal with problems like higher oil prices, inflation
and the global economic turmoil that we are experiencing now."

He said that in many developed countries, having 58 seats more would have
been described as a landslide victory.

"I have met many of my (foreign) colleagues and they asked me why was all
the big noise happening in Malaysia. I told them I did not get a two-thirds
majority and they said, "What? We never got two-thirds. Why are you so concerned
about two-thirds?"

"It is a new situation for us, even for me. After we had allowed this
freedom for openness, we have to cope with it. And the people had reacted to it
in the most enthusiastic way and they think that freedom means that they can say
anything that they want. Like what is happening in the web blogs.

"I am not saying that everyone is abusing it but I think the number or
percentage of those who tend to abuse it or can abuse it is big enough to cause
a lot of concern and problems."

As a result, he said, the country still needed laws like the Printing
Presses and Publications Act, the Sedition Act and Official Secrets Act as a
check and balance.

"But, of course, in implementing the Acts, we have to be wise. It is not a
set of laws to be exploited. We cannot abuse the laws we have with us. They are
to curb things we ought not to do."

Abdullah said he believed that it was unacceptable to have complete
freedom.

"We cannot allow people to spread lies and slander freely, which is
sometimes the case with the alternative media. I just ask them to look at the
environment objectively. I think there is more open criticism of the government
now than ever.

"We have bodies like Pemudah, where criticism of government machinery is
expressed frankly to the faces of senior civil servants. And these criticisms
are acted upon. I believe when people view the situation objectively, they will
see that they have a lot more space for constructive discourse."

Abdullah said he believed that the government ought to know how to grapple
with this openness and freedom as it was a global phenomenon.

"It is all because we have access to more information from all sorts of
sources and the people are learning to communicate with one another in a
different way like SMS, YouTube or Facebook and not the way that they were used
to before. The new communication technology has given us this freedom to
disseminate and freedom to accept," he added.

Asked what he wanted to do most want once he has retired, he said he was at
the moment concentrating on finishing what he needed to do with the
institutional reforms and economic initiatives.

"After that I'll have more time for my "cucus" (grandchildren) and things
like golf and fishing."

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he said: "I will leave that to
the people to determine. I am just thankful that I have managed to serve my
country for this long."

-- BERNAMA