Umno's sins of commission and omission
It was to be the first Umno-dominated forum to discuss what went so disastrously wrong for the party and its Barisan Nasional allies in the 12th general election on March 8.
It was to be the first Umno-dominated forum to discuss what went so disastrously wrong for the party and its Barisan Nasional allies in the 12th general election on March 8.
Umno supporters’ club MyKMU.net brought in Youth executive council member
Mukhriz Mahathir
, Johor information chief
Dr Mohd Fuad Zarkashi
and former Selangor head
Dr Mohd Khir Toyo
, but the main attraction was the ascerbic former party president,
Dr Mahathir Mohamad
.
The frustration that has run deep in many sections of the party spilled over into three hours of pin-the-blame-on-the-president, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mohd Fuad kicked off the three-hour session by comparing the party to a weary frog. He said Umno has become lethargic because of many leaders who are sluggish but that a change of leadership could raise the party to its glory days again.
Using the 1999 elections as a benchmark, Mohd Fuad said then president Dr Mahathir Mohamad had instituted many changes after that setback. These included the formation of the Puteri Umno wing to reach out to young voters.
Although Umno did well in 2004 under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - who had taken over from Mahathir in November 2003 - the party saw unprecedented losses last month.
BN not only lost a long-held two-thirds majority in Parliament, it also lost four additional states to opposition parties and failed to take back Kelantan which PAS has ruled since 1990.
But unlike 1999, the current leaders have been slow to react, said Mohd Fuad, who proposed reform of the Umno Youth wings and the supreme council.
“Intellectual ability is becoming more important in the current age especially for youth movements,” he said, suggesting that Umno has to be managed like a country if it is to stay relevant.
Umno ‘at the crossroads’
Mukhriz offering few arguments beyond pointing to Abdullah’s “weak and corrupt” leadership.
Peppering his speech with anecdotes on how he has joined Umno only recently - because a “certain family member” had blocked his entry - he had audience in stitches.
“But I understand why my father (Mahathir) prevented me from joining earlier. He didn’t want to be influenced by family members when he made major decisions.
“When my father made decisions, he only wanted to be influenced by the people and not his family members.”
The rest of his 15-minute time slot was spent on taking potshots at Abdullah and son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, who is also Umno Youth deputy head and new parliamentarian for Rembau.
“We have reached the crossroads now and need to discuss issues which determine the survival of Umno and Malays, although there are those who don’t want us to speak up,” said Mukhriz.
“In fact, there is a SMS going around preventing Umno members from attending this forum. Some quarters are preventing us from speaking up today because there is a problem with the country, party and leadership.”
He identified the main problems as nepotism, cronyism, rising inflation, corruption, rising crime and the failure of positive effects of development to trickle down to the public.
“On top of that, we have a prime minister who can’t solve these issues,” Mukhriz noted.
The mainstream media also does not reflect the realities on the ground, and "only serve the interest of selected individuals”.
Because members are afraid of losing their positions and contracts, nobody says anything “...and we are afraid until we have forgotten our struggle for the Malay agenda”.
“If you don’t see the flaws of Pak Lah’s leadership, then there is no need for change. But if you see what I see, if you realise what I realise and if you want to seek the truth like me then I urge you stand beside me to seek the solution, truth together and convince the people especially the Malays in Umno,” said Mukhriz.
Mohd Khir’s 10-year theory
Mohd Khir steered clear of criticising Abdullah, reasoning that Umno is experiencing a common 10-year cycle - as had happened during the 1969 election, about 10 years after the country’s Independence in 1957.
In 1981, the third prime minister Hussein Onn vacated the post for Mahathir and in 1987, there was the Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah-Mahathir battle in Umno. In 1999, Umno again faced a crisis when deputy president Anwar Ibrahim was sacked after a fallout with Mahathir.
This, he explained, was cyclical and all the BN component parties too face such setbacks.
Just as the New Economic Policy came out of the 1969 electoral setbacks, new policies will have to be crafted to address the needs of all the people now.
“We have to be objective when we look at this and not get emotional,” he said.
Mohd Khir (photo, far left) said leadership changes are not the only option - reform of the economic, education, religious and social policies is also necessary.
But the audience was hostile. Booed throughout, Mohd Khir's assertion that he is a clean politician was met with shouts of “Liar!”
Khir, who remained calm, was repeatedly taunted with questions about alleged cronyism during his tenure as Selangor menteri besar. His answers were met with jeers, prompting the organisers to appeal for decorum.
The forum was a robust affair, even leading to a Youth chief from Selangor's Sekinchan branch being hustled out of the hall.
During the question-and-answer session, Sasnizam Adham ( right ) had first asked if Umno was coming up with programmes to attract more youth.
He then asked if Umno would ever consider taking back former deputy president Anwar Ibrahim, now PKR de facto leader.
Before he could even complete his question, other participants erupted in shouts of “Get out!” and “Bastard!”. He was escorted out by the organising team before the situation worsened. [Watch video]
The recent elections saw an erosion of support from all communities for BN, which received only 48 percent of the popular vote.
Indian support fell to 48 percent from 83 percent in 2004; Chinese votes went down to 35 percent (from 65 percent) and Malay votes dropped to 58 percent (from 63 percent).
VIDEOS
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If you love your country, be brave: Mahathir
l 9 min
