GEORGE TOWN – A political scientist said the sacking of prominent leaders from Umno last night may either be the beginning of a crisis or the end of the party’s attempt to cleanse itself of an internal rebellion.
There are simply many mitigating factors accompanying the wave of shocking sackings, said Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Sivamurugan Pandian.
The public, however, should not be alarmed because Umno had gone through a few crises in the past and has often emerged relevant, said Sivamurugan, who also admitted that this time the problems seemed mounting.
In 1969, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed was sacked from Umno and led to the eventual formation of Barisan Nasional (BN) from its original form of National Alliance, which drowned under the weight of too many unrealistic expectations, said Sivamurugan.
Then in 1987, Umno split into two – Umno Baru under Mahathir and Semangat 46 under Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
This caused much reflection about Malay-Muslim dominance but eventually they closed ranks, said Sivamurugan.
In 1998 when Dr Mahathir expelled his then deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is now the prime minister, the multi-ethnic party PKR was formed as a consequence.
So now it depends on what those sacked choose to do, said Sivamurugan.
“For me, it seems that the sacking does not end a crisis but starts a fresh one.”
He reminded that former sacked Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin shares a political affinity with PKR leaders Nurul Izzah Anwar and Rafizi Ramli because they are of the same generation and era.
Former vice-president Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein is also close with MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong and MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan because of their time as youth leaders in BN.
“He may engineer for his close pals to exit BN so one crisis may lead to another. There is this uncertainty,” the academician said.
He pointed out that the “ball is now in the court” of those sacked or suspended, agreeing that for the first time, Umno is without its famous scions who hailed from its founder and previous party presidents.
Umno has now been purged of the famous sons of party presidents.
Hishamuddin’s grandfather Datuk Onn Jaafar founded Umno before leaving the organisation, while his father is the third prime minister and party president Tun Hussein Onn.
Former president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak remains imprisoned. His father is the second prime minister and Umno president, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.
Khairy is the son-in-law of former president Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Former prime minister and party president Dr Mahathir has left Umno together with his son Mukhriz, leaving only Najib’s children in the party but since they are young, they only hold minor positions, he said.
Sivamurugan said that Anwar had anticipated that BN may be weakened due to Umno’s warring ways and has consolidated ties with Sabah and Sarawak parties to secure the longevity of the present national unity government.
Sivamurugan hopes that Umno can come to terms with its present position in Malaysian politics and initiate a rebuilding process, as any losing team would do.
“The question is whether all members can close ranks and move forward,” said Sivamurugan. – The Vibes, January 28, 2023.
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