Who cares where Muhyiddin is seated?

What the people want to know is whether he'll be able to speak during the Umno general assembly.

COMMENT

Muhyiddin Yassin just cannot catch a break these days. The former Deputy Prime Minister and Umno strongman is a shell of his former eminent self. His seeming reluctance to grasp the brass ring as Mahathir Mohamad’s champion has made his late re-entry into the game something of a footnote.

While he still commands respect and loyalty from some grassroots leaders in his party, Muhyiddin is effectively powerless even though he retains his position as Umno Deputy President. We’ve been told that he’ll be allowed to sit beside the President, Najib Razak, as if that still matters. Indeed, the way things are going, even that can change in a day or two. Anything can happen between now and the day the assembly opens.

With the possibility of his sacking looming, Muhyiddin recently returned to his constituency of Pagoh to ask his constituents if they would still vote for him as an independent election candidate. Given the pride with which Johoreans regard Muhyiddin’s struggle for party and race, it is safe to assume that some, if not most, will follow him, but the idea of a Malay-majority Johor seat going to someone outside Umno is something the party still finds hard to grapple with.

Whether or not Muhyiddin retains his seat – as an Umno or independent candidate – is a question that can be answered only when the general election comes around. The more important question now pertains to the general assembly. Will Muhyiddin be allowed to address his party as Deputy President or even as a normal member of Umno, regardless of where he will be seated?

After being denied the traditional privilege of delivering the address at the joint opening of the Puteri, Youth, and Wanita Umno assemblies, Muhyiddin essentially has no role in the proceedings. And his absence from recent Umno Supreme Council meetings is a sign that the party will place a full stop to any attempt at stabbing Najib Razak in the back or front. After all, if you’re not with Najib, you’re against the party.

That being said, Muhyiddin is still a member of the party, and thus entitled to take the podium. If he is allowed to speak and, with the full knowledge of the risks, decides to speak the truth to power and stick by his principles, Muhyiddin could generate a greater impact within Umno than all the combined efforts from without could create. Of course, this is assuming he is not sacked outright during the Supreme Council meeting the day before the assembly officially begins.

Whether Muhyiddin chooses to speak or not, it is highly likely that this will be his final general assembly, or at least the last one where he assumes a position of some importance and relevance within his party. If he is sacked before the assembly officially begins, then he must speak out or risk being abandoned politically even by the allies he may still have. The question of where his seat will be is the least vexing question to him and his supporters.