Opinion: Harapan has a lousy partner in Umno 

By P Gunasegaram. Copyright January 2023

If more evidence is needed that Umno Baru is a lousy partner in the unity government led by Pakatan Harapan, then the recently concluded Umno general assembly provides more than enough.

First we saw the exploitation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry or RCI agreed by the cabinet on the Tommy Thomas book for political purposes. Then Umno blatantly showed its true colours to shove through a delegates resolution to have no elections for the top two positions.

This killed democracy in Umno by giving Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and deputy Mohamad Hassan or Tok Mat a free ride to the top for five years, making them not accountable to Umno members for their actions or lack of.

Let’s start with the lesser issue. The Umno president used the occasion to capitalise on the setting up of an RCI to investigate former attorney general Tommy Thomas’s book. He urged de facto law minister Azalina Othman Said to make the most of it.

“All information, documents and secret agenda must be uncovered. Aza, this is your responsibility. If you fail, Umno will fail. If you succeed, the party rewards you,” he said.

Despite what Azalina had said that the RCI was broader in nature than an investigation of Thomas’ book, it is now obvious that Umno had pushed for it to make political capital for some of its leaders, including Zahid, as I explained in greater detail in an article last week questioning the need for an RCI on specifically the book.

Zahid had also in the assembly called on the judiciary to give former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak "fair justice" in his criminal trials, adding that Najib was a victim of political persecution.

By extension, that implies that Zahid, who faces 47 charges, was himself a victim of political persecution as well as a number of other Umno personalities who faced charges. Some of these charges have now been dropped. This is the Umno narrative that Harapan has helped perpetuate by agreeing to the RCI.

Question is did Harapan expect this? Was it a willing accomplice to this misrepresentation of information to the public? And how will the general public react to such a stance and stunt by both Umno and Harapan? Surely this cannot be great for the public image of both parties, despite the cheers of delegates.

And then there was the matter of yet again postponing the Umno party elections. Umno Baru became a party highly controlled by its leaders when deliberate changes made to the party constitution made it very difficult to launch a challenge to the party leadership. 

First, Mahathir Mohamad (who initiated this when he formed Umno Baru after Umno was declared illegal in 1987), then Najib Razak and Zahid himself have used these lop-sided rules to maintain power with the help of the Societies Act 1966 which puts immense power in the hands of the Registrar of Societies (ROS) who has substantial discretion over interpretation of rules.

Also, past amendments to this act have put decisions squarely on political parties when it comes to disputes. This is obvious from Section 18C of the Societies Act on the decision of a political party to be final and conclusive.

Section 18C reads: “The decision of a political party or any person authorised by it or by its constitution or rules or regulations made thereunder on the interpretation of its constitution, rules or regulations or on any matter relating to the affairs of the party shall be final and conclusive and such decision shall not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court on any ground, and no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or determine any suit, application, question or proceeding on any ground regarding the validity of such decision.”

Thus, any challenge to this provision will have to be based on a violation of the Federal Constitution and will involve too much time, be too lengthy and need much effort in the courts. Thus the check and balance will have to fall on the ROS but under the circumstances it looks like nothing will happen.

Former PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob opined that the decision to leave the party’s top two positions uncontested can also be determined by the ROS and that any member can make a representation accordingly but added that he would not do it.

 The Societies Act is long overdue for a change. It needs to clearly set out members' interests, especially for political parties, and to unambiguously specify that all political parties must have elections of key office bearers every three years without fail. 

If the party’s constitution says otherwise, then it must be changed. This measure would also wipe out money politics for it will be impossible to bribe over three million members. It’s possible to sway a few thousand delegates with a few million ringgit. Also, it will force all political parties to show a valid membership list.

In fact, a leadership aspirant at the Umno general assembly, former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin charged that phantom delegates were pushed in to ensure that the vote by delegates for no contests for the top two positions would be passed.

Without such a change in the law, Zahid will continue as president and Tok Mat as deputy from 2018 and for a further 3-year term from this year, taking their term to 2026 - an unbroken term of eight years on one election with no elections in between!

That is clearly a blatant abuse of due process to thwart democracy and free and fair elections in political parties and needs to be immediately halted by an appropriate ruling by the ROS and then a corresponding amendment to the Societies Act.

Will such a move come by? Going by Harapan’s bending over backwards to accommodate Umno and its current apparently cosy co-existence with Umno to stay in power neither the first nor the second move looks like it will happen, to the ultimate detriment of the rakyat and the two parties.

What this means is that Harapan, where party members elect major office bearers periodically will be unfairly tied up with Umno which does not. It also means that Harapan and Umno will be different in their beliefs, aspirations, and objectives as well as how they will achieve them.

Over time those differences will prove to be too much. In the meantime, Harapan may well be advised to scout around to see which Malay-based party will be suitable for it or to go for it on their own. 

Whichever path it chooses, it will be fraught with many obstacles, tangles, and snags.

P Gunasegaram, a former editor at online and print news publications, and head of equity research is an independent writer, analyst, and consultant.

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