MALAYSIA TO GET HER SIXTH PRIME MINISTER TOMORROW

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong this morning to handover his resignation letter. He arrived at the Istana Negara at about 10am and had an audience with His Majesty Tunku Mizan for about an hour. This was followed by his would be successor Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The Prime Minister in-waiting had an audience with the King at 11.30am till 12.15pm. Najib would be sworn in as the nation's sixth Prime Minister tomorrow at an official ceremony at Istana Negara. The event would be attended by cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and several other dignitaries, including diplomats.

RECORD FIELD IN SELAMBAU

Nominations for the two bukits and one batang closed yesterday. It was a record 15 candidates in Bkt Selambau, three in Bukit Gantang and two in Batang Ai. The crowded field in Bkt Selambau is made up of independents except from one candidate each from BN and Pakatan. Was at the nomination of Selambau and all went well. Now for the hardest part of convincing the voters to pick BN.

UMNO UNDERGOES LEADERSHIP CHANGE THROUGH DEMOCRACY

Umno, the country's largest political party is currently undergoing a leadership change. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has been declared president at the on-going Umno general assembly after he won the post uncontested.
At yesterday's election party delegates picked a deputy president, three vice presidents and 25 supreme council members.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been picked as party number two. The three veeps are filled by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
The 25 supreme council seats has quite a few new faces. This would eventually lead to a cabinet reshuffle and judging from the results yesterday expect the reshuffle to be a major.
To all the winners of yesterday's elections, a hearty congratulations.

MIC PRESIDENT RE-ELECTED

MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was re-elected as party chief for another term -- 2009/2012. He was returned unopposed yesterday after presidential nomination closed at noon. His intended contender Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan could not contest as his nominations were in violation of the party constitution and the presidential election by-laws, according to presidential election steering committee head Datuk K. Vijayanathan. This would be the incumbent president's 11th consecutive term. He has vowed that this would his last term as president.
I know everyone knows about these facts and I know some nasty comments are just waiting to be fired. Please ensure your comments do not carry any disrespectful overtures. I welcome suggestions and constructive criticisms if any. Thank you.

BN NAMES CANDIDATES

The Barisan Nasional has named its candidates for all the three seats which would have its by-election on Apr 7. Nomination is set for Mar 29.
MIC's Datuk S. Ganeson has been named Bukit Selambau, Kedah state seat candidate, while Ismail Safian is the BN's man for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency. The two are not novices or new faces. Ganeson was a one-time assemblyman for the then Lunas state seat. The 49-year old lawyer is also the MIC Kedah deputy chief.
Ismail on the other hand is the former Bukit Gantang Umno secretary in Perak. The teacher, also 49-years-old, is the former district council secretary.
Across the South China Sea, in Batang Ai, Sarawak state seat, the BN has named Malcolm Mussen Lamoh as its candidate. The 58-year-old is an avid sportsman. He has served as an engineer in the state Agriculture Department and is also a former lecturer at UPM and UiTM Sarawak.
While the candidates are relatively young with experiance, the BN expects to give a tough fight in the polls. MIC on the other hand will witness its first by-election in the 2008-2013 parliamentary term. This would be an acid test for the party, to see if it is accepted by the Indian population especially in Bukit Selambau after the March 8, 2008 general election. Obviously some comments are going to be nasty. That is ok but please be constructive in your criticisms. Thank you.