It seems like UMNO is at it again. To have elections for all positions or to refrain and preserve the Top two leaders who may have a good chance of losing. Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed voiced his concerns of a divide in the party if a full election was allowed.
These fears have now been voiced out by three chiefs so far and all claiming the same reasons which is the fear of a party split.
The other two who suggested the same were Jamal Yunos and Khairul Azwan and were immediately castigated by retired UMNO stalwart Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz the very next day in the media. Nur Jazlan Mohamed said that there is disunity in the party after the GE15 which will cause even more damage if the top two positions were open to challenge, he warned.
Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the Supreme Council is yet to decide and will have the final say on the matter.
Mouth tools
Do these people who comment in the media really mean what they say or are they just mouthpieces of those who fear to compete for leadership democratically? To sum up their concerns that they keep repeating to maintain the current leaders by absolution of the process of an election are as follows.
- UMNO would face a party split citing what had happened in 1987 when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the presidency and the split led to the birth of Parti Melayu Semangat 46.
- UMNO is in a vulnerable process of rebuilding due to the poor performance in the recent elections and so the status quo must be maintained.
- UMNO’s loss should not be attributed to only the top leadership and must be also shouldered by all its members.
- All state divisions must be willing to sacrifice themselves to win back voter confidence and therefore should remain loyal to the existing leaders.
- UMNO should not think of replacing the two top leaders just because of its loss in the GE15.
As such a motion to disallow contesting for the top positions would be tabled at the party’s general assembly which is scheduled to be held on Jan 11th till the 14th.
Zahid Hamidi
Zahid had earlier declared that he was a democrat and he said he had proven this during 2018 when he was in favour in holding elections for the top posts even though it was decided against such a move at the general assembly earlier.
According to Malay Mail, he did not insist the same but instead he said that he left the decision of choosing the type of democratic system that UMNO should want to follow to the 160,000 delegates from 191 divisions nationwide.
Some Insights on - if the two top posts were to be contested
To further examine the two top positions of UMNO, it is certain that both Zahid and Tok Mat have advantages that would help retain their positions even if the delegates decide to hold elections. This would depend entirely on the mindset of the members in the party and those who dare to challenge the current leadership.
- Even though they have cases against them and have been one of the causes of losing badly in GE15, both hold positions of power in the Government and this tips the scales to their advantage.
- The other factor is that UMNO grassroots may not forget that Zahid Hamidi and his deputy did lead them through the tough times after GE14 when Najib Razak was forced to resign as president.
- Annuar Musa and Shahidan Kassim, enemies of Zahid, have already been expelled and are no longer a threat.
- This leaves Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Hishammuddin and Khairy Jamaluddin who are people not to be underestimated. All of them are known to have good grassroot support but unfortunately.
- Ismail Sabri's weak performance during his tenure as PM.
- KJ’s failure to be re-elected.
- Hishammuddin’s abstinence in holding any post in UMNO after the disastrous outing of GE14 reflecting weakness in leadership and his close association with Azmin Ali (former PKR president and now Bersatu vice president) may all be advantages to both Zahid and Tok Mat retaining their positions.
No matter what is said by the political pundits, political analysts or even the Rakyat, the simple and salient fact of that ‘Melayu Mudah Lupa’ would possibly be Zahid Hamidi and Tok Mat's greatest asset to remain relevant.
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