Wanted: New Malaysian PM, Part 3

The noose is tightening. Embattled Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has lost another tussle in the wake of the disastrous national elections on Mar 8.

He's decided to call a party poll at this end of this year, although one of his strongest supporters had tried to push it to next year to avoid another bloodbath. He also lost the fight with the Malaysian king over the appointment of the chief minister of the oil-rich state of Terengganu.

He's losing grip of his own party, the United Malays National Organisation, his cabinet, and the national ruling coalition Barisan Nasional over a spate of issues.

He has not endeared himself to many Malaysians despite having taken over the country in good shape from former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.

As pointed out by the AFP report, Badawi claimed a mandate to rule despite the election losses, but observers say he is on borrowed time as calls for his resignation persist.

The report added that he won a landslide victory in 2004 elections, but was punished in the latest polls over high inflation, rising crime rates and ethnic tensions in the multicultural nation.

New Malaysian First Lady? Part 2

The rumour about Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi getting married to a Eurasian lady called Jean Danker or Jean Abdullah is growing stronger. The Malaysian premier has apparently told certain state leaders that the wedding is on.

According to Wikipedia, Jean Danker was married to Osman Mahmud, who was Endon Mahmood's brother. Endon was Badawi's late wife.

As mentioned in an earlier post, time will tell whether the rumour is indeed true, but we will probably never find out for sure if Badawi's late wife had indeed endorsed the union before her death from cancer last year. Did she ask Jean to take care of her husband or to marry him or both?

New Malaysian First Lady?

Malaysian blogs have been agog with speculation that Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or better known as Pak Lah has finally found a new wife although it's been in the grapevine for the last six months or so.

Susan Loone has quite an interesting synopsis of the rumour although it has yet to be established:

Malaysia-today has an interesting article on Pak Lah’s love life. It says: “Anyway, while on the subject of the Prime Minister’s wife, some say Pak Lah married Jean Danker on 22 January 2007 while others say he will be marrying her tomorrow, 22 February 2007."

Now, which one is true we do not quite know yet but she is already following Pak Lah on his overseas trips. In the trip he made to Perth to officiate his brother’s Nasi Kandar restaurant, it seems his daughter, Nori, went berserk when she found Jean in Pak Lah’s bedroom. Only after Pak Lah explained that there is nothing sinister about the whole thing because they are already married did Nori calm down and, like it or not, accept the fact that her father had remarried.

The word being spread through a whispering campaign is that, just before she died, Kak Endon had endorsed Pak Lah’s marriage to Jean.

Time will tell whether the rumour is indeed true, but we will probably never find out for sure if Badawi's late wife had indeed endorsed the union before her death from cancer last year. Did she ask Jean to take care of her husband or to marry him or both?

PS: kickdefella (who created the poster) has posted a letter to Jean Danker.