Anwar Ibrahim is irrelevant, money politics in Umno is almost eradicated, and the party is on its way to win votes it lost in the last general elections and may even regain the two states in opposition control now, opined Umno vice-president Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

Muhammad also said the recent resounding victory for ruling coalition Barisan Nasional in the Indera Kayangan by-election was an indicator that BN and its main component Umno was back at the fore in the eyes of the populace.

Speaking exclusively to malaysiakini recently, the former Selangor menteri besar said the political climate in the country has now reverted to the advantage of the ruling coalition, especially Umno.

He said Umno was undergoing a smooth transition after facing much turmoil in the past, first the challenge to the leadership of party president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and then the ensuing acrimonious sacking of former deputy president Anwar Ibrahim who was also the deputy premier.

He said that the party has now come to terms with its past, especially after the return of the splinter group led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Muhammad said the party's health was in good shape and it did not need the return of its 'prodigal son' Anwar to further strengthen the party.

Anwar is currently serving a 15-year jail term for sodomy and corrupt practices. He was sacked in 1998 from party and government posts after Mahathir found him to be 'morally unfit' to hold posts.

The unceremonious sacking raised an unprecedented outpouring of protest from the people and saw the birth of the reformasi movement and the Keadilan party. Keadilan then formed a pact with PAS, DAP and PRM, which managed to cause Umno and BN substantial damage in the 1999 general elections, with PAS emerging as the biggest winner among its allies.

Opposition in tatters

Muhammad said during the 1999 general elections, the sacking of Anwar and the swaying sentiments of the people affected the political scenario.

"Then, Umno faced opposition both internally and externally. It was the height of people's opposition to the government and the party.

"[However] Anwar is no longer an issue. The opposition is in tatters and is divided. Keadilan is facing problems; its leaders are quitting party posts and its members are joining Umno. DAP is at loggerheads with PAS over the Islamic state issue and PAS just can't wash away its militant image," said Muhammad.

Without rejecting the possibility of Anwar returning to Umno, Muhammad also said that at the moment no one was working towards bringing back Anwar.

Muhammad added that the reversal in the government's development policy had also played a part in regaining the lost support.

He said the government is now financing more people-friendly projects.

"During the last general elections, there were grouses that the government was only interested in spending billions of ringgit in mega-projects. Now we can see that the government is bringing development to the doorsteps of the kampung folk."

Unwise policies

The 59-year-old former schoolteacher-turned-politician also said that this new approach, coupled with incentives for the 800,000 civil servants, was bearing results now.

"We saw the changes in the voting pattern in Indera Kayangan. In fact the results also showed the hard work put in by Umno in the campaign, although the candidate was from MCA," said Muhammad, who was one of Umno's two directors for the elections.

With these changes, Muhammad is prophesying that Umno will win the votes that it lost in the last general elections and could even snatch control of either Kelantan or Terengganu. PAS won Kelantan in the 1990 general elections and in 1999, the party regained its control in Kelantan and wrestled away Terengganu from Umno.

"We can win Terengganu in the next elections. After coming to power, PAS had implemented many unwise policies to maintain its popularity and this is now causing hardship to the people there," Muhammad said.

Among the first things that the new PAS government did upon forming the state government was to abolish the assessment tax and toll payments. This, Muhammad said, was a mistake as it meant a loss of income for the state government.

This is compounded by the federal government's move to deprive the opposition state of its estimated RM1 billion in oil royalties.

And on recapturing Kelantan, Muhammad said both Umno and PAS have certain weaknesses in the state and the party that is the first to overcome its weaknesses will win the state.

He added that at the moment, Umno seems to the stronger one and has the capacity to overcome whatever weaknesses it has in Kelantan. Nationwide, too, Umno members are putting their act together to ensure a stronger show in the next elections.

Transfer of power

On top of that, Muhammad said the party has also taken stringent steps to eradicate the party's biggest problems in recent years the problem of money politics that was crippling the party.

"We must admit that Umno members today are not the same as before. Then they were more nationalistic. Now it's more materialistic. But we have managed to overcome this problem. The no-nonsense approach by the party to take action against those guilty is showing its results."

The party formed a disciplinary committee to mete out punishments to members found guilty of practising money politics and thus far about 100 aspiring Umno leaders, including some divisional heads, have been suspended from their posts after being found guilty of taking money on the sly.

On the leadership succession in the party, Muhammad said that it would be a smooth transfer of power with the present deputy president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi taking over the helm from Mahathir.

"In the previous turmoil, we have lost many leaders and it takes a long time to recover. We don't want that again. The changeover this time will be smooth."

He, however, did not want to comment on the leadership succession for the post of deputy president. Muhammad, who described himself as a loyal party supporter, also remained tightlipped on his own political plans. He is at present one of the three vice-presidents of the party.