APRIL 9 — Destination currently reads, nowhere. He’s fading faster than expected.

It’s as though after being kicked out of Bersatu, Hamzah Zainudin stands in the parking lot, toying with his smartphone while it is on flight mode and pretending to book a ride.

Raised in Umno, to posture is second nature but the Larut strongman is steadily losing momentum by, well, just posturing.

The defiance shown after his sacking by Bersatu by having a gathering the day after with most of the party’s MPs in attendance was a strong start but two months are about to pass and few outside or inside Perikatan Nasional are aware what the leader of the Opposition is up to.  Or where he intends to go.

Everyone is fairly certain who he is against, however hardly anyone is aware what he is for going forward.

PAS have appointed a chairman for PN and by June, do not hold your breath, they’d appoint a new Leader of Opposition from their ranks.

When that happens, unless other developments precede it, he’d be without a party, a coalition or a meaningful position.

It’ll just be Larut in Dewan Rakyat, seated next to Muar and Bukit Gantang in the Siberia of the lower chamber. Political indecision is a career-killer even in risk averse Malaysia.

It probably makes a lot of people at Umno’s headquarters chuckle. How about them apples?

He had a charmed life in politics till about eight weeks ago.

Hamzah jumped ship from Umno in 2018 to a Bersatu chaired by Mahathir Mohamad. By the time president Muhyiddin Yassin’s crew ousted Mahathir from the party and as prime minister, Hamzah was already a senior figure in the nascent party. 

Appointed home minister in the pandemic Cabinet. When PN failed to deliver in GE2022, it was still an up for Hamzah as he was catapulted to become the coalition’s face in parliament as leader.

Last year in June, Hamzah worked with the leadership to prop himself up as deputy president, thanks to pliant Ahmad Faizal Azumu or Peja relegating himself from deputy to vice-president, to enable the manoeuvre.  And being declared at the party’s October polls as the unopposed number two was just a step away to the top post.

Thereafter, lead the party and coalition to GE16 and the highest office in the land.

That quickly? Can be if it is a charm offensive in tandem with an internal ouster of Muhyiddin. Dance with the committee while assassins wait in the dark with silencers.

Gathered statutory declarations (SDs) from 120 division chiefs asking for a polite leadership succession. To Hamzah it was stratagem, to Muhyiddin it was a hostile takeover.

A series of sackings and suspensions followed, culminating with Hamzah’s own axing.

Future researchers cannot claim it a misunderstanding, as there were elaborate and painstaking efforts to undermine the president with the active role of the Perak Man. A hundred-twenty division chiefs do not randomly submit SDs.

Traded blows, in the sick-bay

Hamzah knew a standoff was building from the year-end Perlis putsch which precipitated Muhyiddin and allies’ resignations from PN posts. Yet it seemed the only thing he was ready for was for Muhyiddin to hand over the reins rather than fight.

Both were bloodied by Hamzah’s sacking. The ex-deputy had 18 MPs but no  platform. They’ll wait but not forever. Politicians must consider options. Former Srikandi chief and Melaka chieftain Mas Ermieyati Samsudin has a state election in December, which determines her own political future. She backs Hamzah, for now.

Muhyiddin has perhaps six MPs including himself. While he can enjoy Hamzah’s struggle, he’d rue his party’s diminished stature. Even more so when there’s a global economic situation to rival the 2008 meltdown. Sitting governments are often punished and the benefactors will be the Opposition parties.

The Bersatu implosion forces PN to stutter as PAS is ill-equipped to step up due to its own deformities.

Surf conditions are perfect, and they cannot find a single surfboard among them to ride the wave to glory.

Panderers are Yellow Pandas

Knowing how Hamzah got to this predicament and PN’s preoccupations with being preoccupied explains the malaise. Yet, seeing Hamzah’s no-agenda method explains his own ineptitude.

The initial conversation was refashioning the inactive Parti Keluarga Malaysia, which unfortunately shares the abbreviation of the defunct Parti Komunis Malaya (Malayan Communist Party).  It seems Hamzah is less comfortable to speak about the PKM ties.

Days ago, he intimated he may opt for PAS membership.

He cannot just pack and leave one major party for another and expect seamless integration. The entry of ex-PKR leaders into Bersatu lent to the power struggles between him and Muhyiddin.

PAS is a 75-year-old party which has navigated itself firmly as a cleric led movement the last 40 years. How does a soon to be 70 quantity surveyor turned Umno-style corporate bigwig position himself in PAS? And does he also drag along his 18 MPs?

Being open to options in the first week was prudent. Not narrowing choices after two months starts to give a scent of uncertainty. Which then makes supporters nervous. Umno is aggressively seeking to recoup ex-leaders who bolted, that’s the majority of MPs with Hamzah.

If the new leader does not deploy a pathway to power for the followers, and the old grand party opens its doors, doubt seeps in.

Mas Ermieyati is the Public Accounts Committee chair and grassroots leaders in Melaka, Umno only get stronger with her back as Masjid Tanah MP. Ronald Kiandee is a six-time incumbent at Beluran and can up Umno’s appeal in Sabah and give a valuable seat  to tip the count on election night.

Umno rubs its hands with glee in anticipation in case Hamzah is a zero, they can become the hero and embrace old guards back into the fold.

While Hamzah has succeeded in the past, it has been on the shoulders of giants in Umno and Bersatu. Now, when the opportunity presents itself to him to kick off his own vehicle he displays more hesitation than enthusiasm. 

It’s fun being angry and rewarded for wild fury all the while, but leading at the top means having a vision.

Perhaps this was always beyond his pay grade.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.