COMMENTARY, Jan 6 — Since Sunday, Umno’s various moves have been written about and speculated upon by political observers. The call for a general election, threats to resign from government positions, etc.
Things came to a head yesterday when Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa was sacked.
Instead of the “quick slide of the blade” into the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government most people expected, it turned out to be a bit of a misstep on Umno’s part as the move hardly fazed the government.
So this leaves us with the question of whether the move was to allow space for bargaining for some Umno leaders for personal reasons or to really push for a general election?
While it is reasonable for Umno to push for the latter as PN is not stable (its majority is too slim), the timing is off and reflects badly on Umno’s leadership.
Tan Sri Annuar Musa talks a lot, but no one can determine whether the allegations he makes are true or false.
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has also questioned what Umno really wants.
Umno seems to be in a confused state as its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi grapples with his intentions.
After failing in its attempt to “rock” Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government, the biggest and oldest Malay-based party in the country continues to play the “threaten” game.
Sacking the Federal Territories Minister also seems to have added to the party’s woes.
Instead of retreating quietly from the scene, he has fought back by revealing matters which will create doubts among the three million party members towards their leaders.
Now Zahid has two main problems: one is how to do damage control to achieve his aim to bring down the Muhyiddin government and second is how to face the grassroots over the revelations by Annuar.
The two are no small matters and affect the trust of the grassroots towards him and the leadership as well as the integrity of his leadership and himself.
It all began when Bersatu started being overly dominant which made Umno feel small, too small as the biggest Malay-based party which had been dominant for more than 60 years.
Tired of playing second fiddle and probably not respected by the four-year old Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) as the party is led by leaders awaiting the outcome of court cases, these leaders led the party and grassroots to a confrontation rather than deal diplomatically with Bersatu.
It is a known fact that Bersatu, being a political party, is always on the lookout to expand its base just like any other political party in the country but it is up to Umno to defend its position so that its members and Malays reject Bersatu’s move and advances.
But how can this be done in the present situation when the Umno leadership and the president himself lack integrity and are not respected by Bersatu leaders as well as the grassroots and Malays.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin is just keeping quiet and letting Zahid and Umno sink in a quagmire of its own making. Unless Zahid steps down of course.
