Umno Lets Mukhriz Off The Hook For Asking Pak Lah To Resign

Malaysia's ruling party says it will not punish former leader Mahathir Mohamad's son for asking the prime minister to resign.

The United Malays National Organization said Tuesday it accepted Mukhriz Mahathir's explanation that he called on Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down in his private capacity.

Mukhriz sent a letter last week to Abdullah and a few other UMNO leaders, saying he should quit because of the party's dismal performance in the March 8 elections. The letter was subsequently posted on a Web site.

UMNO youth wing chief Hishamuddin Hussein said the letter "was damaging because it was made public." But he said Mukhriz did not leak it.

He said "we are not taking any action toward him" even though he is not retracting his view. (International Herald Tribune)

***** This is classic velvet glove treatment. Umno has apparently decided to bend over backwards to accommodate Mukhriz's indictment of the PM. After all, these are hard times for Umno and the last thing they want is for Dr Mahathir to go around haranguing them here and internationally.

This is not the season to make more enemies but tolerating them as far as possible. Also there is the real fear that punishing Mukhriz may inadvertently lead to him becoming a focus point for open dissension against the Umno leadership.
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