Summary

  • Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi takes a sarcastic swipe at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the latter’s praise of his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

  • He reminds the nonagenarian of Abdullah’s gentlemanly qualities and contrasts them with Mahathir’s past actions.

An Umno leader has taken a sarcastic swipe at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s praise of his now-deceased successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

This came after Mahathir lauded Abdullah for his ”graceful” exit after the 12th general election when attending the latter’s wake yesterday.

“Mahathir was right in saying Abdullah was a noble and mature leader worthy of being emulated after he left office when told to do so.

“Pak Lah never left Umno despite being in Team B (in 1987). He did not form a new party. More so, he didn’t try to destroy Umno.

“Pak Lah also didn’t wait until Umno had to be deregistered to resign,” Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi said on Facebook today.

Umno in 1987

The Johor assembly speaker was referring to the internal fight among Umno leaders in 1987, which saw the party getting deregistered.

Team A was led by Mahathir, while Team B was led by former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

The internal strife saw many Team B leaders getting purged from the party. Those affected formed Semangat 46.

However, Razaleigh disbanded the party in 1997, with its members rejoining Umno.

Taking potshots at Mahathir, Puad (above) also said Abdullah did not become an autocratic leader who ruled for decades and did not try to return to power.

“He didn’t attempt to become prime minister again after retiring, more so as an interim prime minister.

“Pak Lah is a legacy worth following. Don’t emulate hypocrisy,” he added.

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Abdullah laid to rest, full state funeral honours at Heroes' Mausoleum

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Anwar pays last respects to Abdullah Badawi

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Sultan Nazrin saddened by Pak Lah's passing

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