THE road to failure is paved with misguided loyalty.

Take the case of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. When he became Malaysia’s Prime Minister in late 2003, he was meant to be a break from the past‎ and he assured Malaysians who gave him a thumping mandate in 2004 that he was different.

He was different from the one-man rule known as Mahathir Mohamad, preferring instead to allow the country’s institutions to breathe again.

He was different from other Umno politicians, preferring to tackle corruption head on in the ruling party and higher reaches of government head on instead of going with the flow.

Abdullah made Malaysians believe that we were in safe hands, that he would never abuse power or play the race or religious card to stay in power.

Malaysians trusted Abdullah because he was God-fearing and often said that he would have to answer to the Almighty for all what he did and didn’t do.

Alas, politicians say a lot, promise even more and end up doing much less.

Malaysians discovered a year after giving him the mandate in 2004 that Abdullah was a decent man but his ultimate loyalty was to Umno, not to the people who elected him.

He pulled back his anti-corruption drive when the Umno warlords threatened to revolt. He retreated from his reform agenda when his party and the civil service mutinied.

We pledged our loyalty to Abdullah but it was misguided loyalty because it was a one-way street.

An Umno man through and through, his loyalty was to his party.

Even in retirement, he has put his party before Malaysia. Too harsh? An unfair statement?

Yesterday, Malaysia’s former PM was put on a pedestal by Najib Razak for being loyal to Umno and for having the PM’s back through thick and thin.

Being loyal to Umno and to the leadership has meant being silent on issues of national importance.

Being loyal to Umno and to the leadership has meant being silent on the scandal of all scandals, 1MDB.

Being loyal to Umno and to the leadership has meant being silent on the moral compass of those why occupy positions of power.

Being loyal to Umno and to the leadership has meant being silent on matters that matter to ordinary Malaysians.

Abdullah failed in office as the PM because he put loyalty to Umno before loyalty to Malaysians.

He continues to fail those who once thought him as the country’s saviour by continuing to put a decrepit organisation and its politicians before national interest.

The road to failure is paved with misguided loyalty. – May 26, 2017.