Najib's 'poison pill' for Muhyiddin: Hisham to go for Umno No. 2 spot?

Suddenly, all hell seems to have broken loose in UMNO with rumors of a red-hot challenge for the party's top posts starting to crystallize which could result in Prime Minister Najib Razak being ousted by 2 of his lieutenants - Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin and Home Minister Zahid Hamidi.

The latest to lend credence to such speculation is a former senior editor who has long been perceived to be a mouthpiece for former premier Mahathir Mohamad and ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin.

In a recent posting on his blog, the editor made it clear he was supportive of any move by Muhyiddin to challenge Najib for the UMNO presidency, a message that many in the party see as coming from Mahathir himself.

There are also clear signs that Zahid has drawn battle lines with his objection to the removal of the archaic Sedition Act, which Najib had promised to abolish. By objecting, Zahid is telling UMNO members that he does not think that highly of his president and theirs. And in UMNO culture, this is tantamount to an open revolt!

So are Muhyiddin and Zahid finally showing their cards and forming a team to take on Najib at the party polls? Could Muhyiddin really replace Najib as the UMNO president, while Zahid succeeds him as the deputy president?

And so what if Mahathir did decide to throw his support behind the Muhyiddn-Zahid combo? Would it be enough to push Najib off his perch?

Or is this a 'poison pill' painstakingly prepared by the Najib camp to unseat Muhyiddin and pave the way for Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to move up to the No. 2 spot?

Intrigue-laden

Obviously, the key players are not telling but in intrigue-laden UMNO, such complex plotting and scheming are not at all unusual.

Some even say the 'poison pill' theory is counter spin by the Najib camp to head off a Muhyiddin-Zahid challenge by planting the idea that Muhyiddin was being lured into a trap.

Even if such reverse-psychology does not scare Muhyiddin off, it would still help to portray Najib as being in a position of strength and holding the upper hand which he may not be in if Muhyiddin has secured the support of 'king maker' Mahathir Mohamad.

What is for sure is that if Muhyiddin were to partner Zahid, Najib would choose as his running mate Hishammuddin, who is not only his cousin but an UMNO vice president like Zahid.

Those in the Najib camp also point out that the third vice president is Shafie Apdal, who is regarded as a Najib man and can be expected to rally the huge Sabah divisions behind Najib.

Najib's camp is also banking on the 88 seats won by UMNO in the May 5 general election. They insist that this huge UMNO haul overshadows the overall weak BN result in the 13th general election. The UMNO seats, they claim, were won due to Najib's strategy of 'branding' himself rather than his party during the GE13. Hence, UMNO members should be grateful and vote him back as their president because "there is no one else!"

"Who else in UMNO can take credit for that? Muhyiddin? No way, because he was just struggling for himself, he has no national support and his grass root support is just in Pagoh. Muhyiddin had to make himself relevant by proclaiming some differences in views from Najib, to show his supporters in Pagoh that indeed he is his own man. But the fact is Muhyiddin is at the mercy of Najib and has been used by Mahathir," one UMNO watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Can Mahathir and Daim take any credit for the historic UMNO win? Mahathir cannot even take credit for his son’s win in Kedah because Ayer Hitam is one of UMNO's traditional safe seat. If Mukhriz had to go head to head with PAS, he may have lots!" another UMNO watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.

Both the UMNO observers were obviously aligned to the Najib camp. They also highlighted "the fact" that Najib has made sure that many of "his people" were now in high and influential positions to help him stay in power until GE-14 and beyond.

Najib-Hisham vs Muhyiddin-Zahid?

Among those alleged to have been ‘bought’ by Najib and given a new lease of political life with their appointments include Idris Jusoh, Shahidan Kasim, Isa Samad, Ghani Othman and Rais Yatim.

Even Khairy Jamaluddin, the son-in-law of ex-premier Abdullah Badawi, has been appointed a minister while Azalina Othman, who is due to challenge Shahrizat Jalil for the top women's post, has purportedly been promised a lucrative post.

Having placated so many of the power-brokers in UMNO and with the advantage of incumbency behind him, Najib's supporters are confident or at least they say they are that Muhyiddin could never succeed in his challenge.

"Even if Muhyiddin has the guts to do so he will lose. But this is what Najib wants Muhyiddin to do. Najib is setting a trap for Muhyiddin. He will lure Muhyiddin to contest him because he has a plan to continue staying in power; remove his enemies and bring in his own people. Najib wants Muhyiddin to be kicked out via elections as this will give him the excuse to drop Muhyiddin and bring in Hisham as his running mate. It will also silence big-mouths like Zahid Hamidi and others who are against him," said the first observer.

To whose credit UMNO's 88 seats - Najib's or the hard liners?

However, this is not the point of view in other factions in UMNO, obviously including Muhyiddin's.

They blame Najib for BN's poor electoral performance. It was Najib's decision to 'brand' himself as the BN's savior in GE13 that resulted in the loss of an additional 7 seats in Parliament while UMNO managed to hold steady because of the right-wingers there including the Mahathir and Perkasa factions.

Thanks to Mahathir and other hardliners like him, whose consistent rhetoric to the Malays that their political dominance would end if the Opposition came to power, UMNO did well, they insist.

Muhyiddin's weaknesses

So which camp will win - Najib-Hisham or Muhyiddin-Zahid?

It is too early to tell. Muhyiddin, who has displayed an independent streak, is very much a dark horse as far as his policies and ability to unite the country is concerned.

The 65-year-old is actually quite an urbane person, and speaks well. Those who live in Johor will concede that he is a person who can "get things done".

Muhyiddin's chief weaknesses are being perceived as being more racist than Najib and a corruption-tainted record, although this is no where as serious as Najib's own corruption trail which includes a murder allegation.

If Muhyiddin wins, Malaysia will have a new Malay leader. Sad to say, Muhyiddin will owe his victory to Mahathir's support and hence, the opportunity to reform UMNO and Malaysia will be passed up. Mahathir would still stamp his mark on the running of the country.

What's to stop Mahathir from backstabbing Muhyiddin?

It is also too early to write off the high possibility that Najib might strike an 11th hour deal with Mahathir.

If Najib wins over the veteran leader, or put a different way, if Mahathir decides to back stab Muhyiddin, then obviously Muhyiddin would be the biggest loser. This is not at all implausible for many have spoken of a plan to keep UMNO controlled by the 'elite'. It seems a succession plan has already been drafted with Najib passing over the baton to Hisham, who would then pass over to Mahathir's son, Mukhriz.

It is hard to say if Najib can win without Mahathir's support. Most leaders that Malaysia Chronicle spoke with doubt that he can. But should the 60-year-old Najib pull off the impossible, Malaysia would enter a new era which might put Mahathir's surreal 'Malaysia Boleh' to shame.

It would be an era of gross sycophancy and lavishness where UMNO and BN leaders would have to bow low to kiss Najib’s hand, even more than they had been forced to kow-tow to Mahathir.

The happiest winner would of course be Rosmah Mansor, Najib's controversial and high-profile wife, who would be grinning from ear to ear because then her every word would be a command! Every and anyone who wanted to kiss Najib's hand would have to kiss hers first!

Malaysia Chronicle