Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah of Kelantan Umno was right when he was quoted as saying that the plan for prime minister and Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to hand over the reins to his deputy Najib Abdul Razak was akin to “passing property” from one to another. Or rather Malay families in politics “getting back the property they had lost earlier to usurpers.”

umno 2008 annual general meeting 310708 "Why do other BN components allow Umno alone to determine the change in the federal government?” asks a political secretary to Sarawak Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, timidly, in a SMS. “Here, we assess the MPs by their body language only. We are not making any moves as if the making or unmaking of the federal leadership is the preserve of the Peninsular parties only."

In any case, the 'storm in a teacup' situation within Umno at the moment is really besides the point. It’s an exercise in futility debating whether Badawi is going or staying, whether he will be fighting to retain his Umno presidency or walk away, whether Najib takes over or Tengku Razaleigh gives him a run for his money. These are not the main issues although the Umno infiltrated and controlled mainstream media have been running the propaganda machinery at a feverish pitch, churning out spin after spin, as if Umno is a life and death issue.

Umno should not be allowed to solely determine, nay dictate, the national agenda in politics or any other sphere. Their time in riding roughshod over everyone since May 13,1969, although still not realized, has passed. All the more so when the Umno body politic is in a diseased state, perhaps even entering a terminal stage soon if the factions that can save themselves don’t get as far away as possible. Splintering and scattering to the four winds has happened to the once mighty Congress Party in India, is inevitable given the continued state of denial, the lack of internal cohesion and various competing agenda, all acting in an unholy combination to bring about a visitation of misfortune on a party which has lost its democratic moorings since 1987 and rendered itself irrelevant to Malaysia’s evolving future.

“I talked to 14 Malay taxi drivers between Aug 11 and Sept 9 during my trips to KL for BN meetings. All 14 condemned Umno,” writes a Sarawak BN leader in a conspiratorial SMS citing a barometer of public discontent. “The BN re-branding meetings go on but the enthusiasm seems down. The mindset in Umno is the main obstacle. They just want to patch up here and there but still maintain the old assumptions. We shall see.”

Umno has lost the plot

Sarawakians know that Umno has lost the plot. It no longer has a surefire codified approach to shepherding the Malays, who form 60 percent of the population, into one “unthinking” political platform and gathering the votes, so that a feudalistic elite minority can keep an iron grip on power. For the moment, Sarawakians like the majority of Sabahans, gamely trudge along even as they watch their Borneo cousins periodically blow hot and cold over their role – minor, token, cosmetic – in the federal government despite Borneo contributing a third of the BN seats in Parliament. However, informal “let’s take a common position” talks are going on between Sabah and Sarawak MPs, according to the political grapevine.

anwar ibrahim parliament pc on budget and najib 131008 01 Hopefully, the IGP will not throw a five kilometre cordon around the Palace to prevent the Opposition Leader from keeping his date with the King and his destiny. You can never tell when the culture of sycophancy and survivalism runs so deep in an administration infiltrated by the BN party system, Umno in particular, over the last 50 years.

In any case, old habits die hard. Musa Hassan has done it before, not so long ago, when he threw a five kilometre cordon around Parliament House to prevent Anwar Ibrahim from making an appearance. To add insult to injury, he even managed to persuade a court to go along with his charade and issue him with an arrest warrant against Anwar. Why not just tell the chief of security at Parliament House, if there’s a reason, not to let him in? Blame it on the highly politicised system which routinely educates people beyond their intelligence in a deviation from the principle of democratisation and catering to the lowest common denominator for a sane reason.

It’s ironic and poetic justice that the man once kept away from Parliament House is now Opposition Leader and with every right to throw out the IGP when he becomes prime minister. If for nothing else, this proves that it doesn’t pay for civil servants to meddle in politics. Loyalty to the government of the day should not degenerate into actions which are against the best interests of the nation. A future government can hold such actions to public account to set the record straight and discourage future civil servants from slavishly doing the bidding of their political masters for no rhyme or reason.

That Opposition Leader Anwar has so far not met with the King need not necessarily mean that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” at least in this particular instance. It may simply mean that “some coconuts - on the human head - are not working as well as they were expected”.

Anwar earlier wrote to Abdullah, suggesting that they meet up, perhaps even catch up, but mostly it was a courtesy call during which the state of the nation could be discussed. It was a polite, diplomatic and civilised note, extremely well-written after obviously a lot of careful thought, and one that deserved every consideration and respect. Hasn’t the Opposition Leader any right to pay a courtesy call on the prime minister? Abdullah not only did not agree to meet Anwar, he even rubbished the Opposition Leader’s letter in public. He didn’t even have the decency and courtesy to give Anwar the benefit of the doubt. Abdullah was “offended” that the Anwar letter did not mention the Dewan Rakyat numbers the Opposition Leader had with him. Why should he? It’s not the done thing.

abdullah ahmad badawi najib razak pc change portfolio 170908 06 Abdullah even told the reporters assembled: “I know Anwar. I know him even before you were born.” What’s that supposed to mean? Imagine John McCain saying the same nonsensical thing about Barrack Obama? Sheer incoherence! You know? So what? That’s not the issue here. Get to the point.

Abdullah, in a new spin, reportedly “feared” Anwar pulling some sort of stunt – paranoia! paranoia! Just who is pulling a stunt here? – and refused to meet him, saying that he had “a lot of work to do”. That’s exactly the point. He doesn’t know how to work and is surrounded by losers. An effective leader gets the job done, through managers at all levels who can get work out of people. Obviously, Abdullah fancies himself as some sort of glorified clerk bogged down under mountains of paperwork.

Is BN already history?

The Prime Minister’s Department, which former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad built up into a hyperministry at the expense of the ministries, good governance and genuine power sharing, hangs like an albatross around Abdullah’s neck. Mahathir, who is the ultimate control freak in Malaysian politics, managed to get away with it because he made a lot of promises, many of which he never kept, to the ever gullible Malay votebank. Times have since changed. After Mahathir, the nation has zero tolerance for another Mahathir. Mahathir himself will be thrown out lock, stock and barrel should he decide to make a comeback.

najib permatang pauh 260808 01 However, we have a Mahathir-created system which Abdullah can’t work and which he seems unwilling and unable to change. Where Abdullah has failed, how can Najib succeed especially with Mahathir himself breathing down his neck and prodding him? Hence, Pakatan Rakyat’s call for reformasi (reformation) which struck a chord with Hindraf (the Hindu Rights Action Force) and has been reverberating ever since through the BN ranks. Umno is incapable of renewal and reform so long as it rules at the centre. And the longer that Umno rules, the longer that Malaysia itself will be denied renewal and reform.

Anwar should have all his documents ready when he meets the King i.e. the petition duly signed by a majority of MPs, photographic evidence, video-tapings, sworn affidavits, statutory declarations and any other supporting documents including relevant extracts from the Federal Constitution which will help him lay claim to the government. The economy, race relations and the dire need for renewal and reform should be an important part of his presentation. We need to move on, away from a culture of lies, deceit and dishonesty, rather than continue to be bogged down by the past.

Is BN already history, as MIC president S Samy Vellu once predicted, if his party fails? Will Umno soon be history too as feared by party vice-president Muhyiddin Yassin? After all, it said by historians, strategists and analysts that every organisation contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The oldest existing organisation in the world, the Roman Catholic Church, is only 2,000 years, a microscopic fraction of time since humans first walked the Earth. All the rest entered the dustbins of history within four years (the 1,000 year Nazi Reich) to 150 years (the British Empire on which it was thought the sun would never set).

Getting the big picture (Part 1)

JOE FERNANDEZ is an educationist, former newspaper editor, ex-civil servant and one-time senior manager who feels compelled to put pen to paper when something doesn’t quite jell with his weltanschauung (worldview).