Shahrizat and Najib manipulate Wanita Umno: When the hand that rocks the cradle is unclean

The women's wing of Prime Minister Najib Razak's party, or Wanita Umno as it is called, can't seem to rid itself from corruption-tainted leaders. But neither can the men's wing or the Youth wing. As an illustration, just a day ago, Najib himself was accused of pushing through the sale of a highway firm that could result in RM977mil of public money being siphoned off into the hands of cronies. And Najib is the Umno president.

Indeed, critics say corruption is now so engrained it has become the party's culture, transcending gender or age. To Umno members, this must be a terrible indictment. Young or old, male or female - they are perceived to be corrupt or susceptible to corruption because of the bad behavior of their elite leaders.

For example, the latest graft scandal involving Wanita chief Shahrizat Jali, a once prominent lawyer before she joined politics, looks like getting worse. Armed with a slew of information, mostly obtained from whistle blowers within Umno itself, opposition leaders from the PKR and DAP are now getting ready to launch the next barrage of revelations on the RM250mil NFC financial debacle, over which Shahrizat's husband has been charged for criminal breach of trust.

Pow-wow to defuse anger over Shahrizat's refusal to quit as Wanita chief

To pre-empt this, Najib and Shahrizat are planning to meet 7,000 Wanita delegates this Friday in a bid to defuse already seething anger and outrage. Indeed, there is widespread unhappiness at the way Shahrizat's family blew millions on luxury condos and other personal expenses instead of spending a RM250mil government soft loan for the purpose it was intended for - which was to develop the NFC cattle breeding project. The project was awarded to Shahrizat's husband and children in 2006.

"Both Shahrizat and the PM will address the representatives," Wanita assistant secretary Rosni Sohar told the press last week.

Rosni, however, insists the meeting is to explain why Shahrizat will be 'quitting' her Cabinet position on April 8 and not to placate angry members, nor was it an Extraordinary General Meeting to strip Shahrizat of the Wanita chief's post. According to Rosni, Wanita members were solidly behind Shahrizat.

Yet Shahrizat's own deputy, Kamilia Ibrahim, had weeks ago called on her to step down from all positions and save Umno from further disgrace. It appears that a new 'deal' has been now struck and the party line is as Jerlun Wanita chief had described it, 'We are lucky not to lose her'. The Jerlun chief was referring to Shahrizat's decision to 'resign' as Cabinet minister but to hold onto her party post.

Making dumbos and bimbos of Wanita Umno

This 'dumbing down' of the Umno women is not the first time that the male leaders in Umno have for their own political purposes, scripted and forced their female counterparts to act in their drama, regardless of the truth and the wishes of the Wanita wing itself.

One Women's veteran has however refused to buckle down to the new plot. Rafidah Aziz, the former Trade minister, said it all when she sarcastically pointed out that Shahrizat's resignation was a sham as her term would already be expiring on April 8. "Quit, what quit!," said Rafidah.

But Rafifah was herself accused of amassing a giant fortune by favoring her family with authorized permits to import motor vehicles. This was why she was dropped from the Cabinet in 2008, despite retaining her Kuala Kangsar parliamentary seat. She went on to lose the Wanita chief's post to Shahrizat, who enjoyed the support of the then Umno president and prime minister Abdullah Badawi.

Billed as a 'new broom' by her supporters, Shahrizat had managed to get into the Cabinet despite losing her long-held Lembah Pantai seat to newcomer, PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar. But long before this, Shahrizat was already suspected of corruption and accused of asking for a share in whatever deal involving the Lembah Pantai constituency. Perhaps, this contributed to her loss to the then twenty-something Nurul Izzah.

When the hand that rocks the cradle is not clean

It is hard to believe that the Umno women are really so pliant or are not upset that Shahrizat has turned out to be as 'bad' as Rafidah. "All Wanita chiefs have very thick skins," is now a common comment amongst Umno members. But toe the party line and 'give face' to Najib they are forced to. The 13th general elections beckons and former Finance minister Daim Zainuddin has predicted a June ballot.

Yet, it is not for the sake of showing a united front while marching into GE-13 that is really holding Umno women back. Umno women actually stand higher chances of winning the hearts and minds of voters if they made themselves the conscience of their party and stood up to corruption. After all, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

Sad to say, it appears that Kamilia and other senior Wanita leaders have been 'persuaded' to keep an eye out for themselves rather than their wing. If they don't play to Najib's script, he may drop them from his 'winnable' list of candidates to contest in GE-13.

So it does look Wanita Umno too has become a victim of the cancer eating at Umno. It does not possess any second-line crop of leaders capable of taking charge or having the courage to stand up against corruption. None have the guts to even tick Najib off for meddling in their wing's affairs. Many had wanted to call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to oust Shahrizat if she refused to give up her Wanita post, but it looks like they are forced to put up with her until the party elections and annual meeting are held later this year - after GE-13 is over,

Tacit blackmail: Winnable list vs Wedding gift

It is also interesting to note that Shahrizat too has her own hold on Najib. Her family has been accused of using NFC to buy a RM1.7million luxury apartment in Kazakhstan. Such an investment is disallowed based on the parameters of authority granted to NFC by the government, and Najib has been questioned as to why he, as Finance minister, did not take NFC to task for it. There is also red-hot talk that the RM1.7 million apartment was a wedding gift to Najib's daughter, who had married into a powerful Kazakh political family.

This then is the state of the Umn women's wing as it prepares to gather on Friday to thrash out the Shahrizat debacle. The greater feeling amongst the Wanita grassroots are for Shahrizat to be publicly castigated and immediately stripped of her Wanita chief post. But they won't get their wish. Even at Friday's bash, which is a recognition that the resentment in the wing is strong, they will have to pretend that all is fine and that they are solidly behind a leader, who is already tainted by corruption allegations.

Not only will Wanita be let down by Najib, they are also being sold down the river by their own women leaders, who while they eye taking over Shahrziat's post are too afraid to stand up to the tacit blackmail of Najib's 'winnable list of candidates'. The PM and Umno president can surely be expected to force upon them the political solution that best fits his personal interests rather than those of the women of the Malay community or of Umno or Malaysia as a whole.

Perhaps, as the saying goes, it is still a male-dominated world for Wanita Umno.

Malaysia Chronicle