Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today dismissed accusations that he had conspired with the Opposition to go against Umno, through the publication of the book Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia.
“That is tantamount to twisting the facts and is slanderous. The criticisms given during the interview with me, as contained in the book, were made because I wish to see that Umno continues to have the people’s mandate and trust.
“I have never left Umno and, God willing, when the time comes I will breathe my last in this world as an Umno member who loves his motherland,” he said in a statement.
“The book was not written by me,” Abdullah said, adding that it was compiled by two academicians, James Chin and Bridget Welsh, who included several essays by contributors on my administration as prime minister.”
The editors, who are university academics, also had to issue a similar statement last Saturday, stressing that Abdullah’s contribution was only in the interview with them.
“We have contributors from all sides of the political divide and academic observers. We worked to have a balanced collection and part of the balancing was to give space to (Abdullah) himself to put himself on record on his tenure,” they said.
Abdullah, 73, acknowledged the potentially controversial reaction to the book but urged the public to be open-minded when reading it.
He said that he was only associated with an interview in 2011, which was more inclined towards replying to questions raised by the writers who had contributed to the book and providing him with an opportunity to clarify several points inserted in the book.
“I did not sponsor or ask for the book to be published. It is the norm for academicians to make an analysis of our country’s political history and, definitely, my era did not escape academic research.
“I only agreed to be interviewed so that my views and explanations can be carried in the book,” he said.
It had been reported that Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah, daughter of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, would launch the book in Singapore on Aug 30.
Abdullah also clarified he did not have any knowledge of the book launch or invitations to it, and would not attend it so as to prevent further misconceptions regarding the book.
He said any decision and effort to publicise the book is the publisher’s.
