Within Johor Umno, a movement to oust Zahid takes shape

Johor Umno, perhaps the most independent of the party’s state chapters, had to pay a heavy price for suppressing its discontent over the scandals that continue to plague former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The state chapter begrudgingly toed the line and remained loyal to the Umno president, and as a result, lost the state in the 14th general election.

While Najib has resigned as Umno president, a movement is taking shape in Johor Umno to also oust acting president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is seen as Najib's man.

When news broke about the 1MDB-linked RM2.6 billion in Najib's personal account, Zahid had come out strongly for Najib.

Word in the political grapevine was Zahid, the then-home minister, had alerted Najib when prosecutors were about to move against him in relation to the 1MDB scandal in 2015.

At the height of the scandal, Johor Umno chief Khaled Nordin had said that Umno was in "bad shape," and the state chapter was relying on Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein to speak up, describing him as a "future leader" of the country.

But Hishammuddin, a Johor leader himself, has decided not to contest in the June 30 party polls.

Meanwhile, Khaled is seen as "too junior" to challenge Zahid, in a party that still adheres strongly to hierarchy and tradition.

This has left Johor Umno without a suitable candidate from within its ranks, despite not wanting a Najib man to take over the presidency.

To date, Zahid is the sole serious candidate to confirm his candidacy for Umno president – though a little-known blogger has also thrown his hat into the ring.

Some in Johor Umno are now looking to party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to challenge Zahid.

"It is not surprising for some people asking Ku Li to contest. We can't have only one candidate for president," a Johor Umno division leader told Malaysiakini.

Hoping for more options

The leader said that Johor Umno is hoping for more people to offer themselves as candidates, and until then, is withholding its support.

"Johor Umno has yet to persuade our grassroots to support any candidate... We will wait for the final list of candidates, then we will decide," he said.

Malaysiakini understands that only three of the 26 Umno divisions in Johor are staunchly behind Zahid, namely Pulai, Sekijang and Tenggara.

Another Johor Umno division chief told Malaysiakini that the state chapter wanted to take a wait-and-see approach, as it did not want to back the wrong horse.

"For now, only Zahid had announced his candidacy (for president). We don't know about the rest.

"Ku Li is still uncertain, so it's hard to decide. If we come out and support him (Ku Li) and he doesn't contest, it would be embarrassing," he said.

While senior Johor Umno leaders are taking a cautious approach, younger ones have begun to overtly declare that their preference is not Zahid.

Onn Hafiz Ghazi (second from left in photo), political secretary to Hishammuddin and great-grandson to Umno founder Onn Jaafar, said Umno needed a president who is an "intellectual" to steer Umno against the ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan's "giants."

He added the leader's character and ideology had to be well-accepted and sincere about bringing change to Umno.

"Based on the information I have received, the person most qualified to hold the position of Umno president is Tengku Razaleigh, who fits the above description," he said.

'Extraordinary courage needed'

However, Onn, who did not want to unsettle more senior leaders in the state, stressed that this was his personal view.

"I am aware that our coming struggle will require extraordinary courage. It requires courage to speak the truth and do what is right, even though what we say or do may unsettle certain quarters," he said.

Onn survived the 14th general election, having won the Layang-layang state seat by a razor-thin 364 votes.

Meanwhile, another young Johor Umno leader is also organising a gathering that appears to be in support of Tengku Razaleigh.

Segamat Umno Youth chief Bastien Onn, under the NGO Persatuan Belia Generasi Merdeka, is organising a meeting about Umno's future tomorrow featuring Tengku Razaleigh.

Bastien is also contesting for the position of Umno Youth deputy chief.

"The people, especially the Malays, want to hear the views of a great Umno leader that is Tengku Razaleigh, who may inspire the Malays, especially those in Umno," the event's organising secretary Syahrin Md Jamaluddin told Malaysiakini.

He drew parallels to the state of Umno today and during its early days, making reference to the party's founder. 

"When Onn Jaafar resigned (as the party's first president), Umno recovered to fight for Merdeka when it was picked up by Tunku Abdul Rahman.

"Now that Umno has lost another president (Najib Abdul Razak), will another prince, that is Razeleigh, help Umno achieve its struggles?" he said. - Mkini