Is animosity towards Najib-Zahid camp boiling over within Umno ranks?

KUALA LUMPUR – The frustration over Barisan Nasional’s abysmal failure to maintain its political prominence, especially under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the previous government, boiled over during the Umno Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday.

Friction between the Najib-Zahid faction, which is against Perikatan Nasional, and those wanting to maintain ties with the ruling coalition took centre stage at the meet, revealed sources close to the party leadership.

The heated exchanges mainly revolved around Umno’s current predicament in playing second fiddle to the PN government, despite it being the lead outfit in BN and the most dominant party in Malaysia, until it was toppled from power in the 2018 general election (GE14).

Najib and Zahid were the Umno president and deputy president, and prime minister and deputy prime minister, respectively, when the party incurred unprecedented heavy losses in GE14 and lost its grip on the government for the first time in six decades.

The detractors had pointed to the alleged transgressions of Najib and Zahid, who is the current Umno president, as being the main reasons behind the party’s current plight.

Zahid’s final push to pull the plug on PN is said to have placed Umno in an even more precarious position. Among the reasons given is that the bid is seen as an apparent attempt to destabilise the government while it is dealing with a worsening Covid-19 situation.

With its latest move, Umno risks raising the ire of the public, who already have a negative sentiment towards the country’s political landscape.

The majority of the 50-odd Supreme Council members who virtually attended the meeting also aired their concerns that breaking the alliance with the ruling coalition will undermine the efforts of Umno ministers who are spearheading the Covid-19 battle.

However, during the meet, there were attempts to shift the focus to Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who accepted the deputy prime minister post, but they did not hold for long.

Just hours before the Supreme Council meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office had announced the appointment of Ismail Sabri as deputy prime minister, and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as senior minister.

Hishammuddin is Umno’s Sembrong MP.

Conversely, the elephant in the room was the plethora of graft charges pinned against both Najib and Zahid, which were not dropped even though Umno made a return to power under PN following the infamous Sheraton move in February last year.

Following the meeting, Supreme Council member Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin claimed that Zahid manipulated the council into making a decision in line with his own personal agenda.

Zahidi, who is also deputy communications and multimedia minister, told Berita Harian yesterday that the party president had pre-emptively gathered letters of support from Supreme Council members to pull the plug on PN days before the meeting.

This was why no vote was held to withdraw support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is PN chairman and Bersatu president.

Ketereh MP and Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the outcome of the meeting, which culminated in the announcement of the immediate breaking of ties with Muhyiddin and PN, does not accurately reflect the overall consensus of the councillors.

Prior to the “official” gathering on Wednesday, Zahid had reportedly held meetings with some Supreme Council members at the party headquarters on Monday.

Later that evening, he was said to have joined another discreet meeting organised by Ismail Sabri at the latter’s Defence Ministry office in Wisma Perwira.

It was at this late-night meeting that Zahid allegedly confessed that the voice in a widely circulated audio clip – purportedly a phone conversation between him and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim – was indeed his, as reported by Utusan Malaysia.

Still no resignation

However, despite Zahid’s fiery announcement to part ways with PN following the Supreme Council meeting, political observers said its true impact can only be seen with resignations of Umno leaders who hold cabinet and government-linked posts.

So far, the so-called party decision has yielded not a single resignation.

In fact, contrary to the council’s stance to refuse to accept a deputy prime minister’s post, Ismail Sabri was not even asked to resign.

Instead, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan yesterday extended the party’s congratulations to Ismail Sabri, saying the party president also extends his congratulations to the vice-president on his promotion.

Universiti Utara Malaysia academic Prof Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani noted that the council, and not just Zahid, has indeed decided to pull out from the government.

However, the absence of any resignation from Umno ministers has allowed Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun to indicate that there is “no proof” that Muhyiddin has lost majority support.

“Umno’s statement must be followed with action. If there is no action, it means that the current government is still surviving,” he told The Vibes.

Not a single party has been able to prove that it has the numbers to replace Muhyiddin as prime minister, he added.

“Umno has also confirmed that it is not supporting Anwar as the new prime minister, and there is no current parliamentary sitting to prove it as well.

“So, the PN government survives for now.”

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political observer Assoc Prof Azmi Hassan agrees that there has been no solid sign of resignations, and noted that the announcement was upheld for the sake of Umno’s survival.

“The council members are behind Zahid for the sake of the party since not only are the (grassroots) members watching, but people outside are also observing, so solidarity is critical here.

“It is understandable that many of them (council members) have not come out with their own statements contradicting the president’s stand.”

He said although the Supreme Council showed support for Zahid, they are also looking to support the present government in the interests of the party.

“Maybe this is something contradictory, but it is in line with protecting their party and the government since we are facing the pandemic.

“Umno does not want people blaming it if the pandemic becomes out of control.

“The blame right now is on the government, so they (Umno members) need to show their support for their president to avoid the blame being shifted to Umno.” – The Vibes, July 9, 2021