‘DR M IS THE ONE WHO TAUGHT US TO HATE DAP, NOW HE’S WORKING WITH THEM & ANWAR’: SURE NAZRI – BUT SACK NAJIB FIRST, SUSPEND ZAHID & AZEEZ, THEN VOTERS WILL KNOW IT’S A NEW UMNO THAT WANTS TO SURVIVE & WORK WITH PKR & DAP – OTHERWISE WHY SHOULD SUCH A CORRUPT PARTY AS UMNO BE ALLOWED TO LIVE?

NAZRI Aziz is unapologetic despite Umno members’ dismay over his plan for the party to forge an alliance with PKR and DAP in a bid for survival.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general believes it is the only way Umno can survive till the 15th general election.

Becoming a strong opposition party as some Umno members want is untenable as the threat of being deregistered by the Pakatan Harapan government is too real, Nazri told The Malaysian Insight in an interview.

“The main issue is that we face de-registration. We cannot be an effective opposition party with the threat of de-registration hanging over our heads,”   Nazri said, echoing past warnings that its investigations into Umno leaders and its accounts being frozen could lead to that fate.

“We have to face the reality that we are weak. Which is why we have to be nice to the government. So whatever we do, we have to ensure that the party is not deregistered,” he said

He added that Pakatan Harapan chairman and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also wanted Umno disbanded first before the ruling coalition would accept Umno defectors.

The plan to cooperate with PKR and DAP involves approaching PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who is slated to take over as prime minister from Dr Mahathir in about two years.

“Anwar did not promise anything. He just said he’s not the prime minister yet. So we’ll have to go back and see him after he becomes PM. In the meantime, it is status quo and we’ll do our best not to get deregistered.”

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says MPs who have left Umno can only join his party, Bersatu, on the condition that Umno be disbanded. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Seth Akmal, December 15, 2018.

Nazri has been going around to Umno divisions nationwide to sell the plan, which he said is known to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“Of course Zahid knows. I’m the secretary-general (of BN) and he is the chairman,” Nazri said.

He declined to comment on the denial by BN executive secretary, Ahmad Masrizal Muhammad, who said that Zahid would never agree to working with DAP.

Unacceptable conditions

The plan, Nazri said, involves Umno joining the PH government until GE15.

In return, the party will not be deregistered, the government will stop prosecuting Umno leaders and it will give out development allocations to the party’s elected reps.

Umno will not demand any posts in the cabinet or state executive committees. However, it hopes to get posts at the local council and village committee level.

“Our grassroots are used to getting these allocations at the village level. It is difficult for them hold programmes without these posts,” Nazri said.

He admitted that he and other senior Umno leaders had met Dr Mahathir, who is also Bersatu chairman, to explore how Umno could join the government.

“But Dr Mahathir’s condition was unacceptable. He said Umno had to disband and we all had to join Bersatu. We couldn’t do that to Umno.

“So the next alternative was to go and meet Anwar. But Anwar said he was not PM yet. So we’ll have to wait.”

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (centre) and deputy president Mohamad Hassan (left) attending the anti-ICERD rally on December 8. Nazri said Umno cannot ally with PAS as the two parties are competing for the same voters. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, December 15, 2018.

Don’t be sentimental

Nazri said he was aware that the idea of collaborating with DAP was anathema to many Umno members who have been nurtured to see the Chinese-led, multiracial party as a threat to Malay and Islam.

Umno members are more comfortable working with PAS given their similar ideologies to uphold Malay-Muslim dominance in the country. This was evident from their cooperation in the mega rally against the International Convention to Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination (ICRED) on December 8.

But Nazri said it would be a mistake for Umno to forge political cooperation with PAS when it comes to elections, as both parties would end up competing with each other for the Malay-Muslim vote.

“We cannot be sentimental about PAS. At the end of the day, we will compete against them. The reality is DAP and PKR are in the government and we have to work with the government to avoid deregistration.

“Dr Mahathir had once taught us to hate DAP. But now he’s working with DAP. The same happened with Anwar. So it’s not impossible.”  

Nazri said Umno could only be a strong opposition party if the government could guarantee that it won’t be de-registered.

“We cannot be an effective opposition party with this fear hanging over us.”

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT