The bells toll ominously for Najib, BN but sweetly for Mahathir

A resounding win for Mahathir (left)

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

The Umno-Perkasa reconciliation marks several major turning points in the local political scene, according to pundits. It dooms the Barisan Nasional in the coming general election, erodes already wafer-thin credibility in Prime Minister Najib Razak and his 1Malaysia plan, and most significantly, it signals the return of former premier Mahathir Mohamad to power in Umno.

“It is not a favorable statement and it will add to the worry that the New Economic Model may not be as powerful as hoped for by investors in bringing economic reform to Malaysia,” Ramon Navaratnam, past president of Transparency International, toldMalaysia Chronicle.

Ramon was referring to Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan’s denial that his party would sever ties with Perkasa, an ultra Malay rights group that has created racial unhappiness and discord on a scale unseen in Malaysia for decades. Most of Perkasa’s members are the hawks from Umno and its patron is Mahathir. The NEM is the financial adjunct to Najib's prized 1Malaysia and has been strongly opposed by Perkasa .

A slap in the face for Najib, MCA, MIC and Gerakan

On Sunday, Tengku Adnan retracted earlier comments that his party would part ways with Perkasa after Najib, who is also the Umno president, U-turned from the attempt to shift Umno onto a more moderate path in line with his multi-racial 1Malaysia plan.

One of the many spoofs appearing in cyberspace

However, due to pressure from the Mahathir faction, the move backfired and has caused enormous damage to Najib’s personal credibility. It also raises a question mark on the future of BN’s non-Malay components especially MCA, MIC and Gerakan.

“Najib, Tsu Koon (Gerakan’s president) and all the Barisan Nasional leaders should not be under any illusion and must realize that the failure of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to stand up and be counted to condemn extremism and extremists especially from his UMNO and allied or outsourced organizations will be the undoing of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept,” Kit Siang said in a statement.

The MCA, MIC and Gerakan all lost heavily in the 2008 general election due to public anger over their perceived subservience to Umno and their refusal to reflect the wider views of the Malaysian society. Chances are high they will be wiped out in the 13th GE, whom some have predicted could be as early as February or March 2011.

Mahathir wins

Pundits say the U-turn also marks the beginning of the end of Najib’s power in Umno and the return of those aligned to Mahathir, who despite his age is keen to be back in the limelight. The 85-year old ruled Malaysia with a fist of iron from 1981 to 2003 and has been blamed for installing a set of pro-Malay policies that have worsened racial polarization in the country.

Ambitious Khairy and his dad-in-law Pak Lah

He has been at the forefront of a brand of politicking slammed for stoking racial tensions and religious bigotry amongst the country’s various ethnic groups. As patron of Perkasa, he is believed to have engineered its birth to take heat off Umno. However, the move to “outsource” racism has not worked, as since Perkasa’s formation in January 2010, Malaysians have linked the very vocal group to Umno.

Pundits said that probably pushed Najib into a showy dissociation with Perkasa, but he soon retreated after Mahathir gave him a public tongue-lashing, warning that it would be “suicide” for Umno to cut off Perkasa.

Mahathir has also scolded Najib over economic matters, warning him not to be a “good boy” (to Western powers) and allow the Ringgit to be traded in the foreign markets. During the 1997 financial crisis, Mahathir had banned offshore trading of the ringgit in a bid to stem capital flight, for which foreign investors have not forgiven him or the nation.

“Mahathir wants to make sure his own sons get the chance to be PM, not just the Razak lineage. Also fighting for space is Khairy Jamauddin, the son-in-law of another former PM Abdullah Badawi. So far, KJ has thrown his support behind Najib but it looks like Najib has struck another deal with Mahathir. Such is the treachery in the Umno circles,” an Umno watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.