Indecent Portfolio Exchange

I’m puzzled and angry with what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did to ensure that his position in UMNO is secured. What the hack is the need for Abdullah to exchange portfolio with Najib? Is this in the best interest of the country? If Abdullah really see the need, I’m supportive of the swap. But it seems to me that Abdullah does this just to silence the calls for him to step down earlier. He simply put his personal interest above everything.

Finance Minister is an important portfolio because the minister is managing the country’s wealth. Is Najib really the best candidate for Finance Minister’s post among all the UMNO MPs? What kind of logic to arrange Najib to take up the Finance Minister portfolio just because of Najib is the PM in waiting (or will this ever happened)? Why not just pass down the baton to someone who is more capable?

In the corporate world, the head of a big corporation is hardly double up as the head of Finance or Chief Financial Officer simply because they need someone to dedicate his/her time into the financial aspect. PM’s work load should be very heavy, if the PM is also assumes the finance portfolio, he will be less effective compared to the person doing it full time. Enlighten me, which country’s President/Prime Minister taken up both PM & Finance Minister portfolios?

I can see one big problem in UMNO is, they like to do things the traditional way be it right or wrong (for instance, the party chairman will automatically be the PM). If UMNO can not find a suitable candidate among their own peoples, they can be more open minded by reaching out to other component parties in BN to find the best candidate for the post. It is also hard to believe that, there is no one capable of the job other than those from UMNO. The UMNO leadership should be more open minded in matters that concerning the well being of the country, not to benefit UMNO only.