War of words show Umno is badly in disarray

The prelude to the 13th General Election is clearly in full force as Umno gathers itself to hold its General Assembly in early December - seen as the final flag off for nationwide polls.

And one can bet the Umno assembly will be of torrid interest to all Malaysians, especially for the majority who are without physical access to the meeting. For the past 54 years, it is the Umno delegates attending the assembly who get to decide who will be the prime minister of Malaysia - with impunity.

By convention, the Umno president also becomes the prime minister of Malaysia and this is why the party has so fiercely fought off a two-party system, trying all ways and means to kill off the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

However, now that the opposition is already well ensconced in the Malaysian psyche, perhaps for the first time the Umno president will not be the prime minister of Malaysia any more. Why? Because the Umno-led BN coalition faces a real risk of losing power in the coming GE-13, which is why there is so much interest in this Umno assembly, where the mindset of the party chieftains and grassroots will play a large part in determining the immediate future of the country.

When the 'minority rules'

Umno's past stranglehold on power has always been a case of the minority super-ceding the majority, and contradictory to the stance of “majority rules”, which ironically is always touted by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad when justifying his Malay Supremacy politicking.

It is against such a setting that the latest comments by Mahathir Mohamad has caused such a stir. Not so much as to what was said but rather, that this is the truth that UMNO has refused to accept or address through the years since the 2008 elections. UMNO has chosen to surround itself within an imperialist bubble that has isolated its leaders from the reality on the ground.

This bubble is evident in the various policy decisions that have been announced, only to incite public outcry and then quickly retracted. Thus, to be told that UMNO is weak goes against the very nature of this imperialist bubble. This is why Mahathir's words hit home squarely and painfully.

“Umno became badly damaged when Tun Abdullah Badawi took over. Because he prioritised his family and there were so many corruption allegations. And everyone knew about his son-in-law’s involvement,” Tun Mahathir said, referring to Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

“This damaged Umno has been inherited by Datuk Seri Najib Razak for him to fix. Umno needs time before it can become stronger. “But Najib is busy and does not have enough time."

PM in absentia

Indeed, Najib Razak has been busy. At a time when the nation needed its leader to address its woes and to provide a measure of understanding; he has been absent - relegating his duties to his underlings who have provided conflicting statements that have not done much good for the citizens of Malaysia.

So it was that instead of addressing Mahathir’s comments head on, Najib left it to his cousin and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to rebut the grand old man of Umno, rather than take on the task himself and speak up for his own administration.

Hisham, also an Umno vice president, told reporters “this is not something unique to Umno. I do not deny that this will hamper our process... but we are going through a revision and transformation.”

The Home Minister tried to put a good face on it by saying it was not unusual for Mahathir to throw out challenges and ideas for the party ahead of a general assembly, and that members would need to rise to the occasion. Hisham also unwitting revealed one of the grouses Mahathir has with Najib - his cowardice in getting a mandate of his own rather than rely on the power he inherited after ousting predecessor Abdullah Badawi.

“This will answer a part of Tun (Mahathir's) concerns,” said Hisham, insisting that Najib was already in the process of getting the party ready for the upcoming general election.

Najib has failed to arrest the slide in Umno

But Hishammuddin’s reply was as usual weak and in fact does not refute Mahathir's comments. It merely confirms the latter’s assessment of Umno. The revision and transformation of Umno had been promised since the days of Abdullah Badawi, and further emphasized when Najib Razak assumed the premiership of Umno. Yet, three years down the road, Umno has not improved. Instead, it has regressed into a state of exclusiveness - branding itself as more ultra-Malay and no longer a progressive and moderate political party.

Factions and infighting within the party divisions contributed to Umno’s failure in the 2008 elections and it looks like more of the same in the coming GE-13. Mahathir was right in his assessment, Umno is in disarray and Umno has not acknowledged this.

But Dr M's own solution may be too toxic

Yet, the solution offered by Mahathir - a medical doctor by training - may well prove to be the final poison that will finish off Umno. Like a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy, Mahathir's prescribed mix of toxic chemicals to kill off the cancerous cells may be too high dosage and end up killing the patient instead of the cancer.

Based of Mahathir's advice, the solution for Umno is to befriend the likes of rowdy, ultra-Malay 'rights' groups like Perkasa - in other words, shift even more to the right and to hell with the rest of the country as well as to the world.

However, any move to befriend Perkasa for the purpose of gaining a higher vote count from the Malays would be akin to playing dice with the future of the multiracial country. To date, what good has Perkasa brought to Malaysia? Has the once mighty Umno fallen so far down it has to associate itself with racist groups in order to gain traction with its traditional electorate. Make no mistake, race championing is a powerful tool but as Australia's fallen politician Pauline Hanson has found out to her own cost, it is a tactic only for the weak, desperate and intellectually barren.

In disarray

The latest war of words between the Umno big-wigs do show a party in disarray and one unable to come to terms with reality. In the course of gaining the Malay vote, Umno has ironically made itself irrelevant to the plight of the Malays. Greed for political power and material riches has made it forget what it stands for. It has ended up sidelining the very people its founding fathers had set out to protect. Its current leaders are disconnected from the party and the nation as a whole. They are only interested in remaining in power.

It is high-time that Umno takes a sabbatical and do some serious soul-searching. A little time in the wilderness has done wonders for many, and it’s timely that Umno takes that lone walk to reflect on itself and its misdeeds.

Repenting and seeking forgiveness from the Malaysian people is a good way to unskewer itself from racial and religious bigotry and get back on track to a more balanced and healthy view of the community, nation and the world. Then and only then, can Umno rejoin the planet of the sane and humane.

Malaysia Chronicle