MUKHRIZ first casualty of Najib's Malay economic agenda: Dr M hoisted by his own petard

KUALA LUMPUR - It looks like Mukhriz, the youngest son of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, is the first casualty of a slew of new affirmative action incentives for the Malays announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak a day ago.

The Kedah chief minister has been given a public signal he will NOT be welcomed to contest for one of the three vice-presidencies in Najib's Umno party as the latter apparently wants the power status quo to be maintained.

To Umno watchers keenly observing the shadow play ahead of the party's election for a new central leadership next month, the signal came from Home Minister Zahid Hamidi,.

In remarks carried by national news agency Bernama, Zahid lauded the youngest son of former premier Mahathir Mohamad as a capable, young leader but said he should seek Najib's advice before deciding to contest. Zahid was also reported as saying Mukhriz should work with the incumbents and other senior leaders.

"My opinion, for those wanting to contest the vice-presidency posts, to discuss the matter with the party president first. Get his views, advice. Certainly, the party president has his own opinion on the persons to be at the party's number three post."

Zahid had been asked to comment on swirling speculation that Mukhriz would contest a VP post. "He (Mukhriz) is young and among the best candidates for the party leadership in future," Zahid added.

Another senior Umno leader joins the Najib camp

Zahid is one of the 3 incumbent VPs in Umno; the other two are Hishammuddin Hussein, the Defense Minister and Najib's cousin, and Shafie Apdal, the Rural minister and Sabah Umno representative. All three have stated their intention to defend their posts.

The trio are being challenged by former chief ministers Isa Samad and Ali Rustam, while Mukhriz, the current Kedah chief minister, and Musa Aman, the current Sabah chief minister, have indicated they may join the fray. If they do, chances are high that Hisham and Shafie will be ousted.

With his latest remarks, Zahid has also indicated where he currently stands in the ongoing shadow-play for power ahead of the Umno election for a new central leadership on October 19.

Respected by the Umno grassroots, Zahid's support has been sought after by both the Najib and Mahathir camps. Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahrizat Jalil, the head of the Women's wing, have both already made it clear they back Najib.

"Zahid's remarks are meant to show he is supporting the Najib camp. Either he has already been endorsed by Najib or he is signalling that he will support them against Mahathir if they back him to retain his VP post. Whichever it is does not matter, the inference is the same," an Umno watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.

"What is more significant is that Najib has made another advance against Mahathir in that another influential senior Umno leader has chosen to side with Najib. Perhaps this also has to do with Najib's announcement of the new incentives for the Malays yesterday. The new affirmative action package - whether effective or not - will boost Najib's popularity in Umno. For now, it is enough to put him above the reach of the Mahathir camp. It also helps guys like Zahid to decide who to support."

Will Dr M swallow his pride & lie low or will he wage a even more toxic war?

The current Umno party is actually Umno Baru, which was registered in 1988 after the original Umno was struck off following a power tussle between Mahathir and Tengku Razaliegh Hamzah in the 1987 Umno election.

Despite retiring in 2003, Mahathir is still very powerful in Umno Baru - the party he founded and has been accused of wanting to hand over to Mukhriz. Whoever is the Umno president is by convention appointed the country's prime minister. Hence, the all-out fight for the top Umno post.

While Mukhriz, who had failed to capture Umno Youth chief post in the 2009 party election, is regarded as being too junior to make a stab for the presidency, he needs to assume one of the 3 vice presidencies if he is to make it to party president within the next few years.

At 88, Mahathir is obviously impatient to ensure his son's future, and while he may fail to upset Najib or to put Mukhriz into one of the 3 VP slots, he is said to have made sufficient 'tie-ups' with various other factions and their 'warlords' to whittle down Najib's power.

"The ball is now in Mahathir's court. Obviously Najib has the advantage after Saturday's unveiling of the new Malay package. It is up to Mahathir whether to swallow his pride and lie low or wage an ever more toxic and vicious war against Najib," said the Umno watcher.

"Whichever it is, Najib won't be able to be effective in Umno or in the nation. By swerving right to please Umno members, he has put the nation's economy in a very precarious position and that makes him and his administration very vulnerable. Either you are a great Umno president and run the country to the dogs or you are a great Prime Minister and put a stop to Umno's excesses with real reforms."

"But what Najib is doing is to offer the Malay more 'bribery'. It is not only spoiling them but entrenching a greater 'hand-out' and corrupt mentality. You really can't straddle two 'sampans' and hope for the best, which is what Najib is doing. At a critical time in the global economy, he is putting Malaysia's interest last and his personal interests first and this is why we have already been downgraded to 'negative' outlook by the international rating agencies. We won't get the socio-economic reforms needed by the nation and neither will Umno see the reforms it needs to survive."

Hoisted by his own petard

In a highly-publicized move on Saturday, Najib had announced steps to further boost the economic participation of the ethnic Malays, entrenching race-based policies seen as shoring up Malay support ahead of the Umno election.

The measures include privatising some government services and granting more government-related contracts to firms owned by ethnic Malays, known as Bumiputeras or "sons of the soil".

"Najib is burnishing his Bumiputera credentials ahead of the party election so that no one can say that he hasn't thought about their loyalty in the recent election," Ibrahim Suffian, director at independent pollster Merdeka Centre, had told Reuters.

It looks like Mahathir may have finally been hoisted by his own petard.

The excessive pro-Malay and unconscionable race-championing policies were exactly the style Mahathir had used to cling to power in Umno. Sad to say, Najib may have now beaten him at his own game!

Malaysia Chronicle