COMMENT For his participation at the Pakatan Rakyat 2.0 roundtable discussion, Saifuddin Abdullah may have to face disciplinary action.

The warning, issued by Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, came at a time when the Umno secretary-general could not even confirm whether Saifuddin was at the meeting.

It sounds more like putting the cart before the horse. It is ridiculous for Umno to take any disciplinary action, or even talk about it, against any of its members who is better respected by the general population of Malaysians compared with its Sungai Besar division leader Mohd Jamal Yunos, who has in recent weeks filled the pages of the media for all the wrong reasons.

In my opinion, within less than one month, Jamal has damaged Umno’s reputation, which took leaders like Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and Abdul Razak Hussein years to build.

If I were in Saifuddin’s position, I too would not give the hoot to the party leadership, especially since they have refused to listen to his advice as the leader representing the Global Movement of Moderates.

Given the current situation, anyone would also be frustrated.

Umno has lost the middle ground support

It appears to me that Umno has lost its middle ground support, since its leaders have failed to take actions against those who acted contrary to the fifth tenet of the Rukunegara or National Principles, ‘Good behaviour and morality’.

I, for one, was shocked when I read Umno president Najib Abdul Razak saying that the red shirt rally was peaceful and without incident . I wonder if he had read about the attempt by some 800 demonstrators who crossed the police cordon.

At the same time, a CCTV video clip has gone viral showing the aggressive behaviour of some of the red shirt supporters who were allegedly trying to break down the shutters of two shops during the rally.

It is either that Najib is in a sad state of self-denial, or he is too insulated from the real world, or he is being ill-advised.

No one in his right mind, for example, would take time to tell the country that he could still find a one-ringgit chicken for sale in a local supermarket when the world was focusing on the missing MH370 aircraft, or that the Barisan Nasional had the support of the people when Penangites turned up for the Gangnam Style artistes rather than to show their support to Najib.

Umno leaders cannot blame the Chinese for the lack of support towards BN, as compared to during former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s term of office.

Saifuddin should just ignore it

Given that the Umno leadership has lost its own bearings, going after those within the party who were courageous enough to speak the truth, Saifuddin should just ignore Tengku Adnan’s warning.

I will not be surprised if, within Umno, there are many who are equally disappointed with the current batch of leaders.

The Umno election, for example, has been postponed for the next 18 months. Its deputy president was dropped from the cabinet without a proper explanation, except that he had raised questions about 1MDB.

In short, anybody who is not in line with the Umno president or seen being friendly with the opposition will face the party whip, but those who are in the habit of licking the boots of the leaders will be praised, even if what they do is condemned by others outside the party.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

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