Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - It looks like Umno is taking a leaf from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's book of political melodrama - but instead of feeling flattered, the chilling scenes being played out in public may strike terror in Anwar's heart.
The moves made by Umno president Zahid Hamidi are crystal clear - he is trying to make Umno great again. And to do that, Zahid needs to unite the party he personally cracked into pieces in 2022 so he could align the once-mighty Umno with the foe it hates the most - the Pakatan Harapan coalition which not only includes Anwar's PKR but also the Chinese-dominated DAP - while making Anwar prime minister at the same time. Of course, it didn't hurt if Zahid could also squeeze from the government they formed together a discharge from all his corruption court trials.
Indeed the 71-year-old Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, had surprised the nation and the Malay community on which Umno's power-base is built on, when out-of-the-blue he announced the lifting of a suspension on former MP Tajuddin Rahman, who had been 'frozen' for criticizing him some two years ago.
All eyes immediately swiveled to the bigger and more talented figures whom Zahid had either suspended or sacked during his ruthless purge, which had the backing of disgraced former premier Najib Razak, who still wields enormous clout in Umno despite his being in jail to serve a reduced six-year sentence for corruption.
Names long associated with Umno crisscrossed the nation. Favorites on the lips of the many Malays wishing for the once-mighty party to regain its former glory were Khairy Jamaluddin, a former health minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, a former high-flying senior minister, as well as those who have since joined other parties such as Shahidan Kassim and Annuar Musa.
As expected, Zahid's move, described as 'generous-hearted' by his propagandists, was immediately lauded by other Umno personalities, who were also quick to warn the former 'rebels' to behave better this time around should they decide to take up Zahid's offer to appeal.
FROM 'UNBOWED, UNBENT, UNBROKEN' TO SPINELESS?
Today (December 9), Umno's controversial youth chief Akmal Salleh perceived to be aligned to the Najib faction in Umno, was the latest to welcome back those who had been sacked or put on ice. Zooming in on Khairy, Akmal insisted he was the living 'proof' that Umno members need not be yes-men to thrive. He also claimed Zahid had "never once asked me to stop airing my views."
Whether Akmal really believed his own words or if Khairy believed him may never be known because the next scene that can be expected to play out is likely to be a tearful reunion.
"It's a bit of a disappointment because most people had expected Khairy to show more spine even though it's been quite noticeable that he has been angling to get back to Umno," an analyst told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
He was referring to Khairy's refusal to join other parties despite taking pot-shots at Zahid, Najib and Umno now and then. The stances on various issues taken by Khairy, a former Umno youth chief who once aspired to become PM before he was 40 but is now 48 years old, have also always been couched in terms comfortable to the Umno line and psyche.
Once a fierce opponent of Najib's massive 1MDB corruption debacle, even demanding Najib's resignation, Khairy's views seem to have mellowed. Whether or not it's the hypocrisy that is so common in politics, a yielding almost a U-turning of sorts appears to have seeped in, and it is hard to foresee that the two-facedness won't grow bigger as Khairy gets back into the Umno groove.
“Since I was expelled, I have not joined any party despite receiving offers. Almost all parties have made formal or indirect offers to me, and I have declined,” Khairy was reported as saying by Malay daily Sinar Harian over the weekend.
“I was even given the opportunity to be a candidate during the state elections, but I refused, because in my heart, I still see myself as a member of Umno. I didn’t leave Umno; I was expelled, and to this day, I am still unsure why I was removed,” said Khairy.
Yet in January 2023, Khairy had posted on social media: “Tonight I was sacked by the party I love, to which I showed allegiance. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken.”
The Umno supreme council gave him the boot after he as good as suggested that the Zahid faction had 'cheated' at an Umno general assembly by bringing in “imported delegates” to manipulate the voting outcome on an agenda that included Zahid's controversial decision to align Umno with Pakatan instead of with the PN coalition, which is anchored by the Malay and Muslim-centric Bersatu and Pas parties.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Hishammuddin, who is Najib's cousin, has yet to speak. Whether he will make the right sounds like Khairy to have his six-year suspension lifted remains to be seen.
Considered for the longest time to be his flamboyant cousin's meek and docile follower, Hishammuddin had surprised many in the country when he allegedly tried to lead a group of Umno and BN members of Parliament over to the PN, which would allow Bersatu and Pas to retain the government they had led together with Umno, as a junior partner, before the 2022 polls that swept Anwar and Pakatan to power.
Already another Najib loyalist Puad Zarkashi has opened the door for further communication, calling on Hishammuddin as well as Khairy not to blame Zahid for their woes.
“There’s no need to use Zahid as an excuse,” Puad had told the press, pointing out the main reason for the disciplinary action against the duo was for disobeying the party line. Puad also told the pair to just file an appeal instead of waiting for an invitation or for Umno to lay out the red carpet.
Perhaps most revealingly, Puad said it was not a question of whether Hishammuddin or Khairy might challenge Zahid for the party presidency as many have accused Zahid of fearing - but an issue of loyalty to the party and the decisions it made.
"Put it this way, without the purge, would Zahid have arrived at a consensus to ally with Anwar and Pakatan? So what compliance with what consensus does Puad mean? That's what Zahid and Najib are clever to omit saying," said the analyst.
Furthermore, the one giving Zahid the biggest competition these days is neither Hishammuddin or Khairy but Mohamad Hassan and after that Ismail Sabri, the analyst added.
"Zahid always plays a very smart political game. He might have lost his seat without Anwar but without his manoeuvering, Anwar would never have made it as PM. Instead of waiting, Zahid has already moved onto playing statesman allegedly for the greater good of Umno, while Hisham and Khairy can't even beat Mohamad Hassan or Ismail Sabri now. If anything they can help take the heat off Zahid that's coming from Mohamad Hassan - dilute his support or the patch up and then divide and conquer ruse as always," continued the analyst.
DAP STILL OF USE, BUT NOT ANWAR OR PKR?
Indeed, with a DNAA (or discharge not amounting to an acquittal) now in hand and less than three years to go before the next general election needs to held, the savvy Zahid is reportedly eyeing the PM's post for himself.
And even if Zahid cannot get it due to his own unpopularity even within Umno itself, the move to unite and heal his party can mitigate his corruption-tainted legacy as well as increase his bargaining power with the 'party warlords' who can pip him to it.
Umno's party election is scheduled to be held in 2026 or a year before Malaysia's 16th general election needs to be balloted and while Zahid has outrageously postponed party polls in the past, he is unlikely to get away with it again - with deputy president Mohamad Hassan already among those eager to challenge him for the presidency.
"Replacing Anwar is a step further and replacing Zahid is a step nearer," said the analyst.
"But replacing Anwar is clearer, almost everyone can see it even though they don't outwardly say it. However, replacing Zahid is trickier - will it be Mohamad Hassan, Ismail Sabri or Hishammuddin Hussein? Or will Zahid pull another postponement stunt and stay on? The odds are now with Mohamad Hassan to be Umno's PM as he has a relatively clean record and is acceptable to important allies like Pakatan's DAP and PN's Pas because on its own, Umno won't be able to win enough seats to form the next government. It can crush Anwar's PKR party and recapture the protest votes it lost in 2022 but it will need strong partners like Pas or DAP or preferably both if it's possible to get them to work together," the analyst concluded.
Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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