Umno assembly: Lion fails to roar, but claws are out

 

Umno’s 75th annual general assembly did not end with a bang. There was no sizzle, just some fizzle.

I had expected something new to come out of the assembly after all the buildup but, no, the delegates just confirmed some things we had already heard.

However, in confirming Umno’s stand on certain issues, the second general assembly since Umno lost power in 2018 brought clarity to the short-term direction it intends to pursue.

I say short-term because the debates were almost all about taking power again in the next general election. But this is not surprising because politics is about power, and Umno is like a lion craving to regain its position after losing leadership of the herd.

What were the main outcomes of the assembly? One, the party adopted a resolution to sever ties with Perikatan Nasional (PN). This wasn’t surprising as for months Umno leaders have been talking about it. It was just a formalisation of what everyone knew.

This is where, I think, the Umno leadership failed to act like a lion. Instead of leaping and taking down the prey at one go, it signalled its intention months in advance and announced it on Sunday. What Umno has done is simply give its political enemies time to prepare.

Why do you think PPBM chief Muhiyddin Yassin went to Sabah before the Umno assembly? To say “hi” to Sabahans?

No date was fixed as to when Umno would sever ties with PN. Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the delegates had given him and the party’s supreme council the mandate to decide when to withdraw support for the PN government.

Why didn’t the assembly decide to immediately cut ties and tell its ministers to quit the government? That would have triggered a snap election.

I suppose the fact that we are still facing a Covid-19 pandemic would have been an important consideration, as some voters may be upset and PPBM would use it to flay Umno in the election campaign.

Also, it’s better to be in government when you are preparing for a general election because, Umno, of all parties, should know that more resources are available to “convince” supporters and voters. Umno, through its ministers, can strengthen itself, especially through allocations or service to areas or people who need them.

Quitting the government now may, perhaps, also result in more Umno leaders being probed for possible past infractions or misdeeds.

Another outcome was that Umno would contest the 15th general election under the Barisan Nasional banner. This was expected too.

Zahid said delegates decided that Umno should demand that the general election be held after Aug 1, when the state of emergency is slated to end, or sooner if the emergency is lifted before then.

Zahid, deputy party president Mohamad Hasan and some other delegates spoke about uniting Malays and the need for strengthening Muafakat Nasional which consists of Umno and PAS.

But some other delegates urged PAS to make a choice and state clearly whether it preferred to work with Umno or PPBM. Umno is still playing ding-dong with PAS over partnering each other in GE15. PAS, of course, wants the best of both worlds. This matter was not resolved by the assembly. Not very lion-like.

Umno leaders and delegates criticised unnamed members who were disloyal and spoke about “traitors” who allegedly revealed the party’s discussions to “others”, meaning PPBM, but failed to act on it. This simmering issue has been allowed to fester, which means the infighting can only get worse. Again not very lion-like.

Also, the question of how it will resolve the desire of Perlis and Sabah Umno to continue cooperating with PPBM in the next general election remains unanswered. The assembly would have been the best avenue to resolve that.

What was resolved was that Umno would not work with PPBM, the DAP and Anwar Ibrahim, who heads PKR, in facing GE15. Although many expected this despite earlier talk of Umno and Pakatan Harapan exploring the possibility of cooperation, it did make clear Umno’s official stand with regards to cooperation with these parties.

But Zahid left open the possibility of working with these parties in the future when he said alliances and cooperation would only be considered after GE15 and depending on how many seats the party won.

Zahid, I felt, could have been more forceful as a leader in setting a direction for the party and in demonstrating to voters that Umno is in the process of reforming.

For instance, there are so many pressing issues that Malaysia is confronted with and all he could think of is that when Umno secures a two-thirds majority it will amend the Federal Constitution to strengthen shariah law.

No doubt it was the right setting as its members are Muslims (with a negligible sprinkling of non-Muslims from Sabah) and it is a party fighting for the rights of the Malays, but it was certainly not the right time.

For this statement is likely to further alienate non-Malay voters at a time when Umno can do with more non-Malay support. Contrast this with the wooing of non-Malays by Muhyiddin in Sabah and elsewhere.

Muhyddin has already warned that PPBM would contest every seat if Umno contests all the parliamentary seats, adding: “If Umno wants to take it all, I want to take it all too.” Now that is a roar.

Fortunately for the party, Mohamad set the right tone in opening the meetings of the Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri wings.

Saying Umno must be in the driver’s seat in any future cooperation, Mohamad added that the people needed to be convinced that no government was stable without the support of the largest Malay party in the country. This was because, he said, Umno was the only Malay-based party that had the influence and that practised moderation.

He stressed that Umno would not compromise on protecting the rights of the Malays. This will obviously go down well with the Malays.

Later, talking to the media, he said: “We won’t take care of the Malays alone but everyone. We can’t play favourites”. These are sound bites that will resonate with non-Malay voters.

Obviously he knows that when Umno leaders speak at the party assembly, non-Malays are also listening, and that in any election, non-Malay votes count too.

While most delegates were bashing PN, talking about uniting the Muslims and enjoying a bout of self-motivation, it was Johari Ghani and Shahril Hamdam who dragged their attention to the larger picture.

Johari, the Federal Territory Umno chief, while calling for unity within the party, spoke about the need for political stability and economic growth, without which no country can long survive.

He had his eyes beyond GE15, and the nation, not just Umno, when he spoke about recovering the competitive advantage which Malaysia has lost.

Saying foreign investors were bypassing Malaysia for its neighbours, the former second finance minister laid out several measures to ensure an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth.

The first thing is for investors to have confidence in the country’s political stability and no investor will be convinced of stability when the country is under a state of emergency.

“We should urge the PN government to end the state of emergency, otherwise we won’t get investors. They want to see democracy in practice,” he said noting that FDI in 2017 amounted to US$13.5 billion (RM56 billion) but dropped to US$2.5 billion in 2020. In contrast, he said, Indonesia’s FDI of US$4.5 billion in 2017 rose to US$18 billion in 2020.

He also spoke about the need for economic direction and at least a proper five-year plan for investors to know what was in store and how they could benefit and contribute. Johari stressed the need for workable strategies, including in the industrial, tourism and agricultural sectors.

Umno Youth deputy leader Shahril also spoke about the economy, the situation facing the nation today and the urgent need to tackle joblessness among youths.

The Umno information chief called for an overhaul of the economic system and radical solutions, not the worn-out measures of the past.

Youths, Shahril said, were more concerned about financial issues than politics and Umno must capture their imagination and trust.

He also urged Umno to push for reforms such as limiting the term of the prime minister and introducing an anti-hopping law.

A few Wanita delegates, including Nor Haliza Zainal Abidin of Negri Sembilan and Nor Hafizah Othman of Penang also spoke on the economy, including the need to ensure Malays were not left out of the digital revolution.

Although I said in the beginning that overall the entire assembly was more of a fizzle than a sizzle, the fact remains that it did send one message loud and clear: The lion is not dead. And it is very hungry. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.