Najib very much in control of the levers of power

Mahathir and his band of loyalists will be frustrated again.

COMMENT

By Din Merican

I am not surprised by the latest move by Tun Dr Mahathir to quit the Umno he created, which was renamed Umno Baru, to replace Umno (1946) outlawed by Justice Harun Hashim after 1987. I regard it as a preemptive move on his part to forestall his own sacking from the party. On that score, Dr Mahathir is not like Muhyiddin Yassin.

Lest some of us may conveniently forget, Umno Baru is not Umno. Umno Baru was Mahathir’s creation with a new constitution that gave the party president almost absolute powers. It is very difficult to dislodge the president because the rules for party elections are skewed in favour of the incumbent. For that, we must thank the Tun. Furthermore, Umno Baru is the godfather of crony capitalism and money politics. While Umno 1946 was a party of Malay school teachers and housewives, the party which Prime Minister and party President Najib Razak inherited and used to his advantage is a party of elitists and businessmen. Corruption is the lifeblood of Umno Baru where, as Najib rightly puts it, “Cash in King.”

What impact does this Mahathir move have on Najib? For that, I need the advice of our MH370 bomoh! Since he is probably on Najib’s payroll, the Bomoh will likely tell me that Najib will survive because he is kebal (invincible protected by the spirits). So, Dr Mahathir’s resignation can only be treated as a mosquito bite. Umno members will continue to support Najib as long as he has the cash to buy their loyalty.

Mahathir and his band of loyalists will be frustrated again. They cannot count on Pakatan Harapan since DAP and its partners do not trust him. Mahathir only wants to remove Najib, but he is not a reformer. So we are stuck.

Umno will not change; the Pakatan Harapan is divided and leaderless; and there is little civil society can do to unseat Najib except to urge Mahathir on. The incumbent President cum Prime Minister is very much in control of the levers of power including the ability to declare a state of emergency under the new NSC (National Security Council) law, if the situation warrants it. As a nation, we are in a state of political paralysis.

More than I care to admit, Najib is obviously a very astute politician, who has surrounded himself with very sharp strategists.