Shahbudin: BN’s future hinges on non-Umno MPs

BN MPs outside Umno are a key factor in Pakatan’s formula which calls for another 30 MPs to help it oust Najib as Prime Minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: The possibility of saving the future of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), ventures a political analyst, hinges more on its non-Umno MPs which come from various component parties. “Since Pakatan MPs are already on accord that they can work with MPs from BN to oust Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, one way or another, the offer should be accepted without any further delay.”

“The clear signals for the MPs, and Najib as well, will come from the Bersih 4 rallies on August 29 and 30 in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. The organisers are planning for 100,000 people to turn out, but there are estimates that the final figure may be anywhere between 200,000 and 300,000 based on the sales of Bersih T-shirts.”

Shahbudin Husin, getting into the specifics, noted that PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali has come up with a formula where Pakatan with 88 MPs needs the support of only 30 BN MPs in Parliament to oust Najib. “Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Muhyiddin Yassin, Shafie Apdal and other leaders with influence and who still love the nation should immediately take steps to gather their strength to accept Pakatan’s offer, on their willingness to work together, to oust Najib.”

“This can be either through the Agong or through Parliament. In Parliament, it can be either through a no confidence motion or by defeating the Budget when it’s put to the vote.”

The analyst figures that BN MPs from MCA, MIC, Gerakan, Sabah and Sarawak plus a few from Umno should be persuaded that Najib’s leadership was not only getting worse, but is headed in the direction of presiding over the destruction of the Barisan Nasional vessel come 2018 when the 14th General Election has to be held. “It doesn’t make sense to allow Najib to hang around until 2018, only to crash to a defeat in GE14 and lose power.”

“The possibility of losing GE14 can be avoided, and the prospect of having a fighting chance re-gained, simply by getting rid of Najib who refuses to account for the RM2.6 billion in his personal banking accounts at AmBank Islamic private banking services, deposited before the last General Elections in 2013.

The issue, said the analyst, is simple: sacrifice Najib now, and live to fight another day. Both BN and the nation can be saved.

No hope should be placed on Umno MPs to help oust Najib. For one, said Shahbudin, the party elections has been put off for another 18 months from mid-2016 when it was due to be held along with the Annual General Assembly. “Another reason is that Umno divisional chiefs are now more into the Cash is King culture introduced in Umno by Najib. They don’t care what happens in 2018, what happens to Umno and BN. No Umno and BN MP believes that the ruling coalition has a fighting chance in 2018 against an Opposition in the peninsula taking it on one-to-one.”

“So, as long as they can rake it in, they will do so, without worrying about the future of the party The opportunity is there when Najib had painted himself into a corner and there’s no escape for him, either now, in the near future, or come 2018.”

The Umno MPs are willing to die, not for Najib but because of him and are willing to be shot defending him, added the analyst, “because it’s there that small fortunes are waiting to be made.”

“The long-held notion that the party was more important than any individual no longer interests most Umno leaders who are in a position to keep Najib as Prime Minister as long as BN MPs from non-Umno parties do not join hands with the Opposition against him.”