Shahbudin: Keeping quiet not an option for Muhyiddin

Muhyiddin should not take things lying down as efforts are being made by his foes to cut him off from the people.

KUALA LUMPUR: The public consensus, said a political analyst in his latest blog posting, is that Umno Deputy President and sacked Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should not take things lying down as efforts are being made by his foes to cut him off from the people, Umno members in particular.

“If many traditions are being discarded in the run-up to the Umno General Assembly, there are other ways to ensure that the party was not affected by these negative moves.”

The reading, said Shahbudin Husin the analyst, is that Muhyiddin should fall back on the latest information and communication technology – video, YouTube, Facebook etc — to get his message out to the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings which would be holding their annual general meetings on December 8. “It’s not enough for him to say that he accepts the decision by the Supreme Council not to allow him to address the three wings.”

“Also, he may not be allowed to make the closing speech as usual at the Umno General Assembly.”

The analyst holds the view that it would not be effective if the three wings – Wanita, Youth and Puteri – are addressed by their respective heads, as decided by the Supreme Council, as that would have been done in any case each time they meet but there was a difference in that the emphasis here would be on maintaining one’s popularity and not on moving the gathering into action. “Hence, the women and the young would want to hear from the top party leadership on what they should be doing, in the months ahead, in tandem with the rest of the party and the government. The challenges are many.”

“In these trying times, there’s a need for the three wings to hear that a spade was a spade as there are grim and tough choices ahead for party members to make.”

Delving into the details, Shahbudin ventured that Muhyiddin should time his message to the three wings with their meetings. “A video recording of his message should surface at the time that he was supposed to address them.”

“The video will be an opportunity for the three wings to hear what the Umno number two has to say about the immediate future. It could be used as a guide not only by Umno but young people everywhere.”

Patently, warned Shahbudin, party President and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak hasn’t finished with his party number two. “He will be looking for ways and means to further isolate him from party members, to marginalize him, as part of efforts to neutralize and eliminate him from the party and politics.”

“Keeping quiet in the face of such aggression is not an option for Muhyiddin.”

The Umno number two, recalled Shahbudin, has been noted for laying the cards on the table in the past, not only on the 1MDB scandal and the RM2.6 billion political “donation” controversy but also other issues as well. “One example is his warning, not so long ago, that if just two per cent of the votes shifted away from Umno, it was enough to send the ruling coalition to the Opposition benches in Parliament for the first time.”

Th debate will continue, said the analyst in revisiting the issue, on why Muhyiddin was barred from addressing the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings as it was party tradition for the number two to do so.

Shahbudin reiterated that Muhyiddin should not expect too much of Najib as the latter was not a “gentleman” in the mould of former party President and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. “When Musa Hitam fell out with Mahathir, the former was still allowed to address the Wanita and Youth wings in 1987 although it was party election year.”

Musa teamed up with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to challenge Mahathir and Ghafar Baba, recalled Shahbudin. “Najib is not facing any party elections this year and already he has moved against Muhyiddin and others in the party too.”

In short, if it was a party election year, things would get even tougher for Muhyiddin and other critics in the party.