Some veterans back Abdullah, others want handover - The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The Umno Veterans Association has pledged support for Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as party leader and Prime Minister and asked him not to quit.

However, Mubarak, the association of former Barisan Nasional MPs and assemblymen, which has many members who are also Umno Veterans members, said it backed a handover from Abdullah to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Abdullah here yesterday, Umno Veterans Association chairman Tan Sri Tajuddin Ali said he told the Prime Minister that he “must stand firm and never be shaken by anybody.”

“If anyone moves a vote of no confidence against him, it would be a futile one for sure,” he said.

Tajuddin described the present discourse going on in Umno over its performance in the March 8 general elections as an effort to “cure hiccups with some good medicine.”

On whether Umno members were making this move to ensure Umno’s survival, he said: “We have given Pak Lah full mandate, full confidence and he must stay there. He has got every right to stay there.”

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/16/nation/20962888&sec=nation]