Najib taps Umno grassroots for strength against foes

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has lost the support of former prime minister and mentor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and today, division chiefs are gathering in Kuala Lumpur as a show of strength for Najib. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 8, 2015.

A year ago, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was chairing an Umno party leadership retreat in Janda Baik, Pahang, to assess strategies and review shortcomings from the election 2013 campaign.

Not much is known about that retreat as the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 that March Saturday morning last year eclipsed the Umno meeting. The Beijing-bound passenger jet with 239 on board is still missing.

But a year on, the man who delivered more federal seats to Umno in that election and is arguably the most powerful president ever, needs a gathering of divisional chiefs as a show of strength against nascent internal criticism over his leadership as prime minister.

Today, 173 out of the 191 Umno division chiefs are expected to meet at the party headquarters in Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) to express support for Najib, who won the Umno presidency uncontested in 2009 and 2013.

What really matters for Najib today is those who will not be there and the quality or seniority of leaders in the unity gathering in PWTC.

He has already lost the support of former prime minister and mentor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and further erosion of party support could push him the way of his predecessor –Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

As it is, the latest Merdeka Center survey for January showed that his approval rating is at 44%, the lowest since taking up the party presidency and becoming prime minister in April 2009.

When Najib first started as the prime minister, his approval rating was 45% in May 2009 and the highest ever in nearly six years on the job has been 72% in May 2010. Since then, it has steadily declined mainly on his handling of the economy and ethnic relations.

Now he is under increasing pressure from some in his party to explain the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) debacle, a wholly owned Finance Ministry investment vehicle that has chalked up debts up to RM42 billion.

1MDB’s critics include Dr Mahathir and former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin who are still influential within the party.

Worries over 1MDB pulling the country’s finances down with it have even prompted Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to come out, demanding a thorough audit of the company’s accounts.

The criticism has bolstered anti-Najib sentiments in the party, said insiders but it was still uncertain whether it was enough to coalesce into a movement to get him removed as Umno president.

The spectre of a movement to oust Najib will be at the back of the minds of 173 party division leaders who will be at the meeting. But it is unlikely to lead to Najib’s fall within Umno.

The gathering’s backers, such as Datuk Syed Ali Alhabshee, denied that the meeting was to stave off a putsch against Najib as has been claimed by some critics.

Syed Ali insisted that it was a show of solidarity for a boss that has come under increasing criticism in the media.

"For now, I do not see such a movement (to remove Najib) taking shape. For now," Syed Ali told The Malaysian Insider.

A Penang Umno leader said though there was some acrimony towards Najib within Umno, the pro-Najib sentiment was stronger and the party still wanted him to remain.

“The criticism does not mean that we have to change the president," said the state leader who requested anonymity.

Another Umno official said that there has also been pushback against Dr Mahathir, as some leaders have grown tired and even sick of the former prime minister’s attacks.

“When you do it once, people will take notice,” said the official, referring to Dr Mahathir’s onslaught against Abdullah.

“But when you do it twice, I think it’s wrong. If he thinks his two successors have failed, doesn’t mean that he himself is a failure?”

Except for being defeated in party elections, the official said there was no way to bring down a sitting Umno president even with a vote of no-confidence.

“Some division chiefs have been hit by such votes but they did not have to step down,” said the Umno official.

“But in Parliament, it would be different.”

- TMI