Option 6 for Abdullah ï¿½ Be a courageous reformist PM in his last six months in at least 10 areas which will be a lasting legacy for future Malaysians

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Speech (3) by Lim Kit Siang at the DAP ï¿½Abolish ISAï¿½ ceramah at Serdang, Selangor on Sunday, 28^th September 2008 at 9pm:
Option 6 for Abdullah ï¿½ Be a courageous reformist PM in his last six months in at least 10 areas which will be a lasting legacy for future Malaysians

Tonight, let us explore another option open to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, faced with an ultimatum by the Umno Supreme Councilï¿½s ï¿½926ï¿½ emergency meeting that he abandon his mid-June 2010 power-transition plan and to relinquish his posts as Umno President and Prime Minister in March next year = his decision to be announced before the start of the Umno division meetings on October 9.

This may be described as his sixth option as I had last night referred to five options he would have to mull over in the next 12 days.

If Abdullah is not prepared to take on the Umno warlords by contesting for the Umno Presidentï¿½s post, be a lameduck Prime Minister for the next 12 months, immediately resign as Prime Minister, advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament to hold new general election or co-operate with Pakatan Rakyat to establish a new federal government, there is one more option open to him.

This is to accept the Umno Supreme Council ultimatum that his premiership ends by March next year but ending his hitherto lacklustre premiership in a blaze of glory in the final six months by leaving a lasting legacy for future Malaysians by being a courageous reformist Prime Minister.

Abdullah can begin his six-month programme of reform in the next Cabinet meeting by choosing to act in at least ten areas, viz:

1. Police ï¿½ Establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) by the end of the year, based on the Bill proposed by the Royal Police Commission, in order to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class service to restore to Malaysians their fundamental freedom to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

2. No more foot-dragging with judicial reforms by ensuring that a Judicial Appointments Commission is established by the end of the year and that the country is not plunged into another era of judicial darkness and scandal with the appointment of the first Umno Chief Justice in the 51-year history of Malaysia.

3. A total revamp of the Anti-Corruption Agency, which has proved to be an utter failure with Malaysiaï¿½s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index plunging from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 47 in 2008, when we should have improved to at least No. 30 according to the National Integrity Plan ï¿½ with the formation of a completely independent anti-corruption commission by the end of the year.

4. Far-reaching parliamentary reforms including the introduction of a full-fledged Parliamentary Select Committee system whereby every Ministry is shadowed by a Parliamentary Select Committee.

5. Repeal of draconian Printing Presses and Publications Act to ensure press freedom and an independent media.

6. Immediate release of Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the Hindraf Five and all other Internal Security Act detainees and the repeal of the ISA.

7. Declaration of Malaysia Day on September 16 every year as a national public holiday.

8. 20% oil royalty to Sabah and Sarawak to be devoted solely for the development of the people in the two states and not for the enrichment of a handful of political parasites.

9. Meritocracy as a national policy to reverse brain drain and to retain the best and brightest to transform Malaysia into a competitive global player in the international economic scene.

10. Full acceptance of ï¿½Bangsa Malaysiaï¿½ as primary nation-building objective and not ketuanan Melayu or any other communal, retrogressive or obsolete concept.

* Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor