Shahbudin: Why is Umno so terrified of 7 veterans?

It appears that Umno will move against Muhyiddin during the next Supreme Council meeting and either suspend him or strip him of his membership in the party.

KUALA LUMPUR: A political analyst has taken to his blog to point out that that the jury is not out on which is the better way forward to save the nation, get Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak out or sack the seven Umno veterans including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. “Why is Umno so terrified of the seven veterans? Doesn’t Najib have RM2.6 billion which no party president ever had in his kitty?”

“Najib is in control of the mainstream media, and has the power of incumbency with him but feels hapless against the seven veterans because it’s a case of ‘berani kerana benar, takut kerana salah’ (brave because of the truth, fearful because of wrongdoing). Who created the 1MDB scandal and the RM2.6 billion controversy?”

The other five veterans from Umno, noted Shahbudin Husin, are Deputy Umno President and sacked Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Umno Vice-President and sacked Federal Minister from Sabah Shafie Apdal, former Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said, Aziz Sheikh Fadzir and Hamidah Osman. “It’s said that Aziz Sheikh Fadzir and Hamidah Osman are in fact not on the list of seven,” he added. “Instead, former Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Junid and former Wanita Umno leader and iron lady Rafidah Aziz are said to be on the list.”

No matter what, he gathered, it appears that Umno would move against Muhyiddin during the next Supreme Council meeting and either suspend him or strip him of his membership in the party. “The meeting was supposed to have been held on Friday 30 October but has been put off to give party activists sufficient time to gather all the necessary evidence before laying the charges against the seven,” the analyst learnt.

Apparently, the seven veterans will face charges not over their criticisms of the leadership on the 1MDB scandal or the RM2.6 billion political donation controversy but their opposition to Sosma, said Shahbudin. “It’s clear that this is a move to prevent Muhyiddin from officiating at the Wanita Umno, Pemuda and Puteri annual general meetings in December.”

The analyst was commenting on Umno Secretary-General Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s statement that the party was tired and weary of the seven veterans. “The party appears to be more worried that the December meetings will give Muhyiddin an opportunity to raise the 1MDB scandal and RM2.6 billion political donation controversy.”

“The result could be even more Umno members turning against Najib.”

Shahbudin, in resuming his take on the seven veterans, noted that Najib has said before this that the three million Umno members are also behind him. “If the rest of the party members are behind him, why fear the seven veterans? They don’t have any power and no government positions, and are not in any position to buy support.”

Razaleigh was right, said the analyst, when he pointed out that only weak leaders resort to pressurizing others to get them to toe their line. “Razaleigh was pushing the idea that Umno can only remain a strong party if it allowed differences in views and can cope with criticism.”

“He said that ‘we need everybody to help strengthen the party. We need to tolerate those who have other views. That’s the way Umno can be strong’.””

Shahbudin, in agreeing with Razaleigh, ventured that the Umno leaders today were weak characters, unable to cope with the era of openness and sophistication in many matters, differences in views. “They are not given to celebrating dissent as something that should be welcomed and not buried.”