Negeri Sembilan a headache for Najib

He wants incumbent menteri besar replaced but a successor that could keep the factions together remains difficult.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno president Najib Tun Razak is said to want current Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan replaced, party sources said, but deepening factional fighting there has rendered the search for a replacement arduous.

FMT learnt that Najib had himself met Mohamad and spoke of his intention to plaster the cracks in the state’s Umno chapter by replacing him following growing anger against the latter’s brother Azman Hasan.

Azman is Umno’s Rembau division secretary and is said to be in control of the party’s direction in Negeri Sembilan, pulling the strings “in the shadows” through his younger brother Mohamad, who is also the default party’s state liaison chief.

“His control over how things are run in the state is creating a lot of uneasiness on the ground so people want Mohamad removed so that he no longer has any power,” said a party source.

“He has waged war with every other division leaders in Negeri Sembilan including the respected Seremban Umno division chief Ishak Ismail,” the source added.

Ishak, or known to many as “Dato Sahak”, was said to have met with Najib personally and asked for Mohamad to be replaced.

Family dynasty

It is also understood that there is increased distaste for the Hasan’s “family dominance” in the state’s Umno chapter, which many felt could hurt the party and its allies in Barisan Nasional’s election chances in the upcoming national polls which must be held by April 2013.

The Hasans are in every key positions within the Rembau parliamentary division which houses Mohamad’s Rantau state seat.

Azman’s third brother, Ghani, is the division’s treasurer. His son, Shafrul, is the deputy Youth chief of the same division while Shafrul’s wife is the Rembau Puteri Umno chief.

The discontent towards Azman and Mohamad had been reported and cited in many Umno and opposition blogs, most of which had alleged of the existence of a concerted internal effort to force Najib to remove the current menteri besar.

This comes amid a backdrop of growing opposition’s confidence that it can wrest the state in the next national election and growing discontent towards the Hasan family is said to be among the major factors that could contribute to Umno’s downfall in its own fortress state.

“So Mohamad will definitely be out but the question is now who can replace him,” said another party source.

Khairy or Shaziman?

The two names said to have been considered are Rembau MP and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Tampin MP Shaziman Abu Mansor, who is the current Works Minister.

“The problem with this is that if Mohamad is to join Umno at the parliamentary level where will Khairy contest?” said the source, suggesting that other Umno division leaders would want someone else and not the Rembau MP contest Mohamad’s Rantau seat.

Meanwhile, Shaziman will likely not be keen on “regressing” to state-level politics. The source said his works ministry portfolio is reflective of “Najib’s plans for him”.

The works ministry is known to be one of the most coveted ministries and was often given to component party leaders until after BN’s dismal performance in the 2008 polls.

Other names suggested is the popular Bagan Pinang state assemblyman Isa Samad, but his tainted record following his conviction for bribery in Umno’s party polls meant his candidacy could have a negative effect on the ruling coalition’s image in the state.

“So everything is up in the air now and Najib is really having a headache,” said the source, adding that Pakatan may well capitalise on this split to unseat BN in Negeri Sembilan.