UMNO STATE OF PLAY: 3 CAMPS EMERGE – ZAHID VS HISHAM VS KHAIRY

SEVEN months after losing in the 14th general election, Umno has failed to find its footing as an opposition party and is now split into three camps amid defections and back-door deals in attempts to stay alive.

Each camp has a different view of where the party should go in the new political landscape, sources said, and the loss of 17 MPs and talk of collaborations with Pakatan Harapan parties are signs of the different factions at work.

Party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who has failed to unite the party around a common purpose, leads one school of thought that still dreams of regaining federal power by collaborating with other parties.

The second camp, led by former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein, wants to leave Umno and has specifically targeted joining Bersatu.

The third group wants to Umno to remain an opposition party and to work on rebuilding lost ground to win back public support.

Dreaming of Putrajaya

Party sources said those in this camp, led by Zahid, are hiding behind Padang Rengas MP and Barisan Nasional secretary-general Nazri Aziz who has been tasked with selling Umno’s survival plan to division leaders around the country.

The plan involves supporting PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister after Dr Mahathir Mohamad and collaborating with PKR, DAP, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which is the ruling coalition in Sarawak and Parti Warisan Sabah, the lead party in the Sabah government.

The plan was leaked when Nazri met with Selangor Umno divisions last week. He had sought their buy-in, especially on the matter of working with DAP which Umno has long tarnished as being anti-Islam and anti-Malay.

Grassroots members and leaders reacted with dismay and disbelief, and Nazri’s plan has only served to heighten calls for Zahid’s resignation as president

Leave Umno, bit by bit

Headed by Sembrong MP Hishammuddin, this group has a few movers that include Tanjong Karang MP Noh Omar, Kepala Batas MP Reezal Merican Naina Merican and Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin, who was among six MPs who quit Umno yesterday.

The strategy is to persuade Umno MPs to leave, a few at a time, to become independents first and eventually join Bersatu in stages.

Hamzah was in the third wave of parliamentarians who have left Umno since GE14. A few days ago, five MPs from Sabah quit.

Before that, six others had quit in a trickle between June and October, the most prominent being former ministers, Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamed and Kimanis MP Anifah Aman.

To date, 17 MPs have left the party, with three joining Bersatu and one, Warisan.

There are more MPs said to be ready to leave, as hinted by Hamzah who told newspapers that 33 Umno MPs had signed a pledge of allegiance to Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir a month ago.

Stay on and fight

The third group wants Umno to face up to its role as an opposition party and regain strength without having to collaborate with any other party.

This group has no leader or Umno parliamentarian speaking for it but its views seem to be expressed mostly by the rank and file, who want the party leadership to focus on Umno’s revitalisation/building up.

A few leaders and MPs in this group had hoped that Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan would have stepped up and exerted more leadership as Zahid faltered.

This group sees the defections by MPs who have left as a cleansing process that will aid in the party’s restoration.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com