Radzi quits Umno, BN sec-gen posts; Tengku Adnan takes over

Radzi quits Umno, BN sec-gen posts; Tengku Adnan takes over
By Arman Ahmad & Deborah Loh

19 March, 2008

Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad has resigned as Barisan Nasional and Umno secretary-general. The MP for Kangar was immediately replaced by Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, the MP for Putrajaya and former Tourism Minister in the previous Abdullah administration. Speaking at a Press conference at Menara Datuk Onn, Radzi said he was resigning because was “unable to work effectively anymore.”

"I have spoken to the president. I offered my resignation from both posts. I also thanked him for giving me the opportunity to serve for four years. I have enjoyed these four years and I pray that Umno will continue to prosper under his leadership," he said.

Radzi, the Home Affairs Minister in the previous government, was dropped from the new Cabinet when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled his cabinet line-up yesterday.

Radzi has had a colourful career in Umno, first contesting in the 1982 general election when he won the Kangar parliamentary seat, and held it until the 1986 election.

He left Umno in 1987 and joined the now defunct Semangat 46 but rejoined Umno in 1990. He contested the 2004 election and won the Kangar seat. He retained the seat during the recent polls by 13,671 votes, increasing his majority by about 1,000 votes.

Below is an excerpt of the Press conference:
Q: Why did you resign?
A: I feel that i cannot work effectively anymore in the present cir circumstances

Q: Is it because of what happened in Perlis? What was supposed to have transpired between you and the former Menteri Besar?
A: I don’t think so. I hope not. I'm also happy that there is a new leadership in Perlis.

Q: Did you resign because you were not chosen for the Cabinet?
A: I do not know. That is a sign - an indication, I feel I cannot perform my work anymore, that's all.

Q: Why did the Prime Minister not select you for his cabinet?
A: I don’t know. That is his prerogative. Maybe he wants new faces.

Q: Are you disappointed?
A: No. I've been in and out of Umno before, you know.

Q: What was the Prime Minister's reaction when you tendered your resignation.
A: He accepted it. He accepted it. He accepted it. He said to please tell the Press that I've spoken to him and that he has agreed.

Q: You are seen as a staunch supporter of the PM and now you are resigning. Isn’t this bad for the country?
A: I don’t think so. In politics there is always people taking over. Nobody is indispensable. Life goes on. New faces take over and they perform better.

Q: Does this foreshadow a split in Umno?
A: Please don’t think that it's a split in Umno. I don’t belong to some faction of Umno. I will remain as a friend. When I spoke to the Prime Minister, he stressed to me to please keep in touch and come and see him to talk to him when he needs advice from outside. I would certainly keep in touch with him

Q: What advice would you give the Prime Minister?
A: Not now but when he endeavours to put Umno on a better footing I'm sure I can contribute again.

Q: What will you do know?
A: I am a Member of Parliament. I will still go back (to my constituency). I promised that I would nurture and guide the younger elected representatives. I guess it is my responsibility to guide them and make them better MPs. I noticed when we were campaigning, some people said when they called the members of parliament, they did not come. When you win big, you become arrogant and that's not right. We won big in Perlis. I increased my majority by 1,000 and three out of five constituencies also increased their majority. That's a rare achievement. I don’t want them to be arrogant, to feel big headed and think that we are too good.

Q: What do you think of your term as secretary-general?
A: I think I have done my best. I hope members of Umno will accept it with open minds. Do not speculate or create stories. Resignation is a normal process in a party and this makes it better and stronger, especially under the present circumstances. I think the president will quickly appoint a new secretary-general.

Immediately after Radzi stated his resignation, a replacement was already in place - Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, the former Tourism Minister who was dropped from the Cabinet, Deborah Loh reports.

“I am grateful for the appointment. I was informed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday morning before he announced the new cabinet,” Tengku Adnan said.

Tengku Adnan said he met Radzi this morning before the latter announced his resignation.

“We briefly discussed the secretary-general’s work and agreed that preparations for the next general election have to begin, even now.

“Umno is still relevant, we did not lose in the recent election, we are only eight seats short of a two-thirds majority. We will find out the needs of the people and what they want, so I have called for an internal post-mortem of the party, in addition to the independent post-mortem,” the MP for Putrajaya said.

Tengku Adnan he also went to the Umno headquarters to organise a few things, including giving instructions for the internal post-mortem.

“So far we know that of the over 10 million registered voters, BN got 4.9 million votes. So we are still getting the majority of votes.”

As for internal turmoil within Umno over unhappiness with the prime minister’s leadership and the selection of cabinet posts, Tengku Adnan said all negativity should stop immediately to allow the party to strengthen.

He said he would seek a meeting with Abdullah as soon as possible.

later in the evening, Abdullah confirmed that Radzi had resigned from both posts.

"We had a discussion where he told me just now he wanted to step down. I have no objection and I have to respect his decision. He said he wanted to pave the way for the others who could continue fighting for party's cause."

However, Abdullah said there were previous Umno secretary-generals who could still function effectively without a cabinet post.

On Radzi's replacement, Abdullah said he had already spoken to Tengku Adnan about it. "And he is willing to accept the posts."