In the recent Umno general assembly, the Umno Youth Chief Akmal Saleh created a stir by urging party members to not be satisfied with their second fiddle role in the government today.
“We do not want Umno to be comfortable with the current situation of being a party that complements others in the unity government.
“Umno needs to return to being the dominant party in the nation’s political landscape.
“While we may be aligned with certain groups today, that could shift next week based on what the rakyat and party members require,” he was quoted as saying, to hint that Umno might go solo in the next general election.
However, just a day after Akmal had urged Umno to rise above its second fiddle position and once again to rule the nation, Umno President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi poured cold water on the idea by stating that Umno should not assume that it is still a dominant party as it once was.
The deputy prime minister doubted whether going solo was the right thing to do for the party based on its current state, and urged party members to “"break out of the echo chamber and its comfort zone”, and not assume that Umno is as dominant as they once were.
"Based on data and sentiments, what advantages do we have? With the increase in new voters, can we influence their perceptions?
"Umno members alone cannot secure our victory. The decisive factor will be the voters out there, who make up a much larger percentage and number."
Echoing Zahid, Umno vice-president, Johari Ghani also stated that he believes that it will take two to three more general elections to restore Umno to its former level.
In tune with Zahid and Johori, Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Pawi also chipped in to dismiss Akmal’s urging by saying that one-party superiority is now a thing of the past.
“Power-sharing is the basis of cooperation, with the presence of several parties collaborating in the government serving as a form of check and balance on one another," Awang Azman said.
Regardless of what Zahid, Johari and Azman are saying, I think that there is still a good chance that one party superiority in the country’s political landscape is a phenomenon that we might see again in the future, even if it looks like it has disappeared from the scene in the present today.
The reason I believe this is simply because the concept of multiparty collaboration on the basis of equality might just be an untenable proposition in our political reality.
The Pakatan 1.0 government in 2018, led by Mahathir was likely the first time that the concept of multiparty collaboration was introduced in Malaysia, and the concept was such a grand failure, that the Mahathir led Pakatan government collapsed in after just 22 months, after a short reign that was marked by a high degree of incoherence, confusion, miscommunication and general dysfunction.
The Muhyiddin and Ismail Sabri led Muafakat Nasional cum Perikatan Nasional multi party cooperation that replaced Pakatan 1.0 also fared no better, as infighting amongst the political parties that made up the coalition first caused the Muhyiddin’s reign to collapse in just 17 months, before being replaced by a lame duck administration by Ismail Sabri, whose castrated, forgettable and inconsequential reign lasted for a mere 15 months.
Just like its multiparty predecessors, the unity government is also marred by instability, incoherence, confusion and infighting. While it has remarkably lasted for nearly two years, throughout the time, it has been troubled by rumours and suspicion that it could at any time collapse, and that rumours and suspicion is still persisting until today.
As of today, the only stable and functional government that Malaysia has had, is the one that follows the old UMNO-MCA-MIC model, where one of the parties in the coalition will act like an “older brother”, while the remaining parties will act as the younger siblings.
The replacement to this concept, where the “older brother” and the “younger sibling” will behave as equals, as practised in Malaysia since 2018, has not yet shown signs of being stable or functional.
In the current Madani government for example, it is not as if DAP, PKR and Umno are happy being in an equal partnership. They have just resigned themselves to an equal partnership, simply because none of them have the internal strength or external support, to raise themselves up above the others, and institute an “older brother, younger sibling” form of partnership.
While Jo Ghani and Zahid Hamidi might be right in saying that Umno today is not in the position to exert its old dominance in the political landscape of the country, and that it might take several elections more before it is able to do so, the reason why what they say is right is also because their leadership is unable to provide Umno with the sort of strength that will allow it to exert its old dominance.
Just because they can’t do it, it doesn’t mean there is no one who can do it.
The person who can probably lead umno back to its old dominant status, is currently languishing in the Kajang prison.
Everybody in Umno knows that it is upon him that Umno can depend on to rejuvenate their party, because even after 2 years since he has been incarcerated, Umno has still not given up hope that he can be released before his 12 years sentence is over. They are still hoping that he will be released at the earliest possible time, because they are hoping that once released, he will lead Umno back to its glory.
Zahid Hamidi and his daughter might be shedding tears at the Umno general assembly in remembrance of Najib languishing in the confines of Kajang prison, but other than shed tears, it is questionable as to whether they will be willing to do anything to bring Najib out of jail.
Najib’s return might revive Umno, but Zahid Hamidi himself might become insignificant if Umno is revived.
In a weak Umno, Zahid hamidi is the captain, but in a strong Umno, it is doubtful whether Zahid Hamidi will even have a place as a crew member.
Zahid is a deeply unpopular figure in Umno and amongst the Malays.
His collaboration with Anwar in the post-GE 15 era is still viewed with suspicion by Umno members and the Malay electorate, and his move to remove Umno leaders like Khairy Jamaluddin and Hishamuddin Tun Hussein are also deeply unpopular decisions.
Considering that, if Najib is ever released, and he returns to lead Umno and brings back figures like Khairy and Hishamuddin into the Umno fold, it is questionable as to whether Zahid will still have a place or presence in Umno.
Without a place or presence in Umno, it is almost certain that Zahid will not have a position in the government, and without a position in the government, his DNAA for his 47 court cases might just resurface and haunt him in his sunset years.
It is therefore not surprising that Zahid has quickly dismissed Akmal’s call to rejuvenate Umno.
Given the option of being a captain in a sinking ship, and a cast overboard out of a smooth sailing ship, who in their right mind would choose the latter?
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