Watch Pak Lah fall

Will he be forced to go or would he persevere and stay on?

I am talking about the mounting pressure on PM Abdullah to leave the scene and let others to take over. The pressure is so bad that Abdullah has to openly assuring Malaysians that he has NOT resigned.

Bernama quoted him last night as saying:

"I am here. I am here. They speculate that I want to run away. Why should I resign?"

"My government has got a strong majority (although) not the two-third majority. Why must I run away from my entrusted responsibilities."

Now lets look at the situation:

1. He has internal Umno problems - arising from people dropped from the candidate’s list for the general election right up to those upset with the undue influence of his son-in-law Khairy on ALL matters.

2. The pressure from veteran Umno leaders are getting hotter by the day. While his predecessor Mahathir has been openly targeting him, there are others who act in the darkness, ready to stab at any moment.

These factors will come into play as the Umno party polls on Dec 16 draw closer. By then many alliances and partnerships will be formed to challenge the top post, especially from Tengku Razaleigh.

Abdullah will have to be at his best, give away so much concessions and win new loyalists to win support and retain his post. As it stands, these look remote!

However things might not wait till December.

I am anticipating an earlier exit, If Abdullah do succumb to all pressure.

The exit could take place within the next 4 to 6 months and for that to happen, Anwar Ibrahim will be the final nail in Abdullah’s coffin.

Anwar’s political ban expires on April 15, after which he is free to contest in a by-election. More importantly he would be free to head his government, with the help of several party-hopping MPs.

With Anwar gathering force and support to form an alternate government, Umno will have to consolidate and regroup to counter the Anwar factor.

As it stands a weak Abdullah is seen as the cause for the weak Umno. A stronger Umno needs a stronger leader who could bring together all the party warlords to stop Anwar from taking control of the government.

The new man could be Najib, could be Razaleigh or even Muhyiddin. And their ultimate cause would be to safe the party from losing all control to Anwar.

To stop that form happening, even dumping a sitting (sleeping) president would be fine with party delegates and members. You just watch it!