Staring right into Umno’s soul

 pic by BERNAMA

THE elephant was in the Dewan Merdeka at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, and yet none of the Umno delegates saw it. Instead, they saw the proverbial kuman (germ) of Pas’ and Parti Pribumi Bersatu’s dominions, and that became their target for ire and derision.

So oblivious were the delegates that their decision at the end of the party’s general assembly was to unanimously agree that Umno severs ties with Bersatu for the 15th General Election (GE15) and not address the presence of that elephant in their midst.

The party is obviously in denial, and worst, it seems to suffer from a collective one at that.

It was this kind of denial that led to its downfall in the 2018 GE and pursuing this same path would obviously promise the same result. If it is not denial, then it is obviously the spinelessness of the less-tainted leaders and the second echelon who dare not stand up and point out the obvious.

It is not rocket science — the leaders who caused the downfall could have saved the party then if they had stepped down, or aside when public opinion was obviously against them. They refused, and they dragged the party into defending them and in the end, they all fell together.

These very same leaders are again still at it, strengthening their grip and controlling the party’s narratives so much so that instead of their position being reviewed and re-assessed, they got to review and re-assess the position of others.

There is nothing bona fide about the decision to sever ties with Bersatu. In fact, there was no altruism when the partnership was struck in the first place.

Anyone with a bit of grey matter would have seen that the partnership, which led to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, was struck with the aim at retarding the ongoing investigations and trials that were heaped upon the Umno leadership for their involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal and kleptocracy.

Whether the Bersatu leadership was agreeable to such an understanding is debatable but the intent of the kleptocrats was quite obvious.

If not for a man with a burning ambition to be a prime minister (PM) at whatever cost and a few mullahs who saw religion as an invaluable political currency, the partnership would have never been realised.

From the very start, how could anyone agree to strike a partnership with a party led and controlled by kleptocrats facing dozens of court cases and under several investigations?

And from the very start, how could anyone agree to work with kleptocrats knowing full well that the withdrawal of their support would bring about the downfall of the government?

It was then not surprising that the government is formed based on positions and rewards and that was what bound the parties together and the Malay-Muslim unity ideal that is being sold is strictly for the naive and clueless.

By now, it should finally dawn upon at least some of them, that these leaders who were selling the Malay-Muslim unity mantra have been exposed to be attempting to forge some sort of alliance with the very parties from PH they had previously demonised as being anathemas to the Malay-Muslim primacy.

Of course, the PH parties which are prepared to reconsider their positions in working with Umno are also driven by the burning desire of their leader to become the PM at whatever cost.

When exposed to the surreptitious deals, the reaction is to be expected that there would never be any collaboration with Umno if it involved the kleptocrats.

That caveat has been a consistent point whenever talks of cooperation with Umno arise.

And that takes the issue back to Umno in which, no matter how they try to rebrand and revive the party, the stumbling block to any new wide support from outside would always be with the condition that the party must rid itself of the kleptocrats as leaders.

In other words, for as long as the kleptocrats control Umno, no one would risk losing their base by working with them.

The problem is that the kleptocrats are very popular down the party ranks. Any lesser-tainted leader who can muster enough courage to stand up against them risks seeing their political career cut short.

This perceived popularity is confined to the Umno ranks. Malays outside of Umno, even those not a member of any party, would find it difficult to extend their support for as long as the kleptocrats reign supreme.

Be that as it may, until and unless Umno could come to their senses or the kleptocrats discovered their magnanimity and affection for the party, a similar outcome as witnessed in the 2018 polls could be expected in GE15 if not worse.

As it is, much as the party had made a resolution to sever ties, the Umno “ministerial cluster”, referring to those holding positions in the Bersatu-led government, are already suspiciously viewed by their colleagues as turning their back to the party.

While views of them being opportunists are not widely disputed, the fact is that their perceived stand had weakened and divided the party further, leaving Umno in the clutches of the kleptocrats.

And the elephant is still in the room.


Shamsul Akmar is the editor of The Malaysian Reserve.