Disgraced former PM Najib Razak is still a political force to be reckoned with—even when he is behind bars. The reactions toward the latest court ruling, which dismissed his house arrest bid, have created much noise, both from Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin's "celebration" post may be an innocent, ‘jovial’ jab against the former PM. But Umno did not take it lightly. In no time, the DAP publicity secretary found herself at the centre of a fierce retaliation. Umno Youth leader Dr Akmal Saleh is leading the charge again, this time urging the coalition to leave the unity government.
Top echelons across the board are on the same page as Dr Akmal. None of them has the mood for the kind of brickbat with none other than the DAP. The Umno president and deputy PM, while acknowledging the anger, played a more ‘peacemaking’ tune, urging (members of the government, perhaps) not to “add fuel to the fire”.
His deputy, Mohamad Hasan, ‘returned the favour’. His post cynically mentioned a tunnel case—a joke associated with DAP chair Lim Guan Eng, who is embroiled in a court case involving the Penang undersea tunnel.
But despite the brouhaha about Najib and his supposed influence and weight in Umno, the party may not leave the government for his sake. It may feel tempting to do so. Najib, after all, is seen as the leader who could raise Umno from the dead. Its members on the ground have already taunted the leadership to call it a day with the unity coalition.
The reason is simple: Ahmad Zahid's political survival and his dormant court cases are stronger reasons than Najib's legal misfortune. The Bagan Datuk MP single-handedly decides the party's future after GE15. He made the decision to be with PM Anwar, and he got to reside in Seri Satria again.
Zahid also does not want to end up like his former boss. Soon after his post, the Attorney General’s Chambers issued a statement—out of nowhere—about the DNAA decision on his Yayasan Akal Budi case not too long ago. For those with political amnesia, Zahid is the subject of 47 cases involving the misappropriation of funds from the charity organisation.
Umno has become short-sighted in its quest to save its leaders. It would seem that whatever political masterstroke and cunningness that is still with the party has evaporated into thin air. The temptation of power, especially for the top guns, has left the party in disarray over its direction.
This is, of course, a paradox. Parties that form the government are usually the strongest and most popular. Not the case with Umno. It has twice become part of the government while being rejected and defeated in elections. The first time was when it joined hands with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in what is known as the Sheraton Move.
Umno's refusal to sit on the opposition side in Parliament has weakened the party. It should have gone through a complete rejuvenation process along with a change of guard soon after its defeat in the 2018 election. Had Umno remained in opposition, it might have had a chance of making a comeback in GE15. But of course, for Umno to chart this course, sacrificial lambs are needed—Zahid may be thrown into prison. And that's a fate he wanted to avoid.
There is another thing to observe. DAP has been nothing but cunning and strategic in this latest polemics. They set the tempo and Umno merely dance to the tune. DAP’s strategy is rooted in a single overriding imperative: securing and consolidating its non-Malay core vote ahead of the next general election.
The house arrest issue gave them the golden opportunity to show that they still have it. Considering that the DAP were practically routed in the Sabah election, they must have thought of a comeback.
By contrast, Umno is kept on the back foot. They are trapped in reactive mode—chasing side issues, responding emotionally, and mistaking provocation for substance.
Instead of setting counter-strategies, they are drawn into psychological skirmishes designed to exhaust and distract them.
Former Economic Minister Rafizi Ramli is right that repeated threats will lose its fear factor. Umno will be the boy who cried wolf when there is none. If Umno's intention to quit is real, then it should do it first at the state level. It can easily join hands with Perikatan Nasional (PN) and remain the government of the day in several states that it currently controls. This would at least send a shockwave. But as of now, Umno can only cause a ripple.
Ahmad Mustakim (ahmadmustakim.92@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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