Umno at odds with its grassroots

Despite a heavily orchestrated annual assembly, the line of people calling for Najib's resignation is getting longer.

COMMENT

Despite its heavily orchestrated annual general assembly, despite speeches meant to give the impression of unity, despite the imploring for loyalty to the party and, especially, to the President, Umno cannot escape the reality that it stands at a crossroads.

Five Umno branches in Ulu Kelang have just joined the already long line that is calling for the resignation of Najib Razak as party president. It is significant that they have done so after the general assembly, given the care taken to limit media coverage at the event and to ensure that the loyalist message was clear and foremost.

We discussed in a previous article how the orchestration of the assembly was causing frustration in a party known to allow the annual airing of grievances. It’s clear now that the frustration is deep enough for the Ulu Kelang branches to declare that Najib “is killing democracy in the party.” Many who are aware of what democracy entails would agree with them.

It is an inconvenient truth that democracy does not always give us what we want. Most of the time, half the population gets what it wants, while the other half plots, plans, and opposes where it makes sense to oppose. The parliamentary opposition provides – or is supposed to provide – the checks and balances that would keep the government in line. In the context of a political organisation, dissenters are there to keep the leaders and their supporters honest. Without them, without a second opinion, there is no guarantee that decisions made by the leadership will not be skewed.

Ultimately, democracy gives all of us, down to the last of us, a voice when it comes to governance of party or country. That principle is subverted when someone is denied a voice because his opinion differs from that of the majority.

Umno walks a tightrope as its grassroots get more vocal. Najib may prefer loyalists who know when to be silent, but it’s obvious now that more and more members of the grassroots are not satisfied with such an approach.

It is clear that these branches have rejected the new brand of politics displayed at the general assembly. Neither are they impressed by the briefing the party president gave to explain the scandal surrounding him. If this is indeed a sentiment that is typical at the level of the grassroots, then Najib should be kept awake at night, thinking of what lies in wait at the party elections in 2018.