Commentary: UMNO\u2019s dark September - twin storms threaten party\u2019s\n\u2018blue wave\u2019<\/p>\n
Despite UMNO\u2019s resurgence, recent events have shown that the party\nhas a long way to go before it can complete a political comeback, writes\nCNA\u2019s Leslie Lopez.<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR: Within a single September week, the seeming rise in\npolitical fortunes of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was\nwhipsawed by two separate developments. One handed the party what would\nbecome a double-edged sword and another has plunged its newly-won state\ngovernment into open constitutional warfare.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s step back a bit, because understanding the context of this\nwhipsaw UMNO is now faced with is important.<\/p>\n
Just weeks earlier, UMNO and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that\nit leads appeared to be riding the wave of a genuine revival. It\nretained control of the Johor state government in July in a landslide\nelectoral victory, before recapturing in August the Negeri Sembilan\nstate government that was previously controlled by Prime Minister Anwar\nIbrahim\u2019s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.<\/p>\n
UMNO was entering the fourth quarter of the political year with\nconfidence. It was capped at the party\u2019s three-day congress that began\non Sep 9 with its leaders claiming that the so-called \u201cBlue Wave\u201d, the\ncolour shorthand for both UMNO and BN, was ready to sweep the country\nwith the backing of the country\u2019s politically dominant Malays.<\/p>\n
Its president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also one of the two deputy\nprime ministers in Mr Anwar\u2019s Unity Government, even called for an early\ngeneral election, which is only due sometime in early 2028.<\/p>\n
The revival story struck an even more dramatic note when delegates\nfrom the right-wing Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) turned up at the\nassembly and were warmly greeted by UMNO leaders, signalling that the\ndoor to a new Malay-unity pact had swung open again.<\/p>\n
Then the events of September struck.<\/p>\n
First came the decision on Sep 18 by the Pardons Board, headed by\nMalaysia\u2019s king, to grant jailed former prime minister Najib Razak\nconditional house arrest. This is contingent on the full settlement of a\nRM50 million fine (US$12.2 million) for which the party immediately\nlaunched a grassroots fundraising drive.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, the state ruler and\nhead of the Negeri Sembilan royal household, sacked 10 state executive\ncouncillors of a brand-new state government headed by UMNO and BN. Among\nthe 10 who were sacked, seven were from UMNO.<\/p>\n
The sackings, gazetted in a matter of days on Sep 24, were on grounds\nthat they breached their oath of loyalty after the party\u2019s state chapter\nparticipated in a campaign to remove the state ruler.<\/p>\n
The twin developments for UMNO may appear unrelated.<\/p>\n
But they in fact reinforce each other awkwardly for the party that\nled the government for more than 60 years before being ejected from\npower in the 2018 general election.<\/p>\n
UMNO has long positioned itself as the custodian and defender of the\nmonarchy, a stance it has often leveraged to secure votes in\nMalay-majority seats. However, the pardon granted to Najib and the\nparty\u2019s actions in Negeri Sembilan - where it benefits from one royal\nprerogative while resisting another - raise questions about the\nconsistency of its position when political interests are at stake.<\/p>\n
HOW NAJIB CONDITIONAL PARDON COULD HURT<\/p>\n
UMNO\u2019s recent resurgence has been built on momentum delivered by its\ndeep-rooted party machinery - made up of branch networks, divisional\nchiefs, the women\u2019s and the youth wings - that no other political entity\ncan match.<\/p>\n
Yet its credibility and brand have been hit by graft scandals over\nthe years. It is against this backdrop, that Najib\u2019s conditional pardon\nsurfaced on Sep 18.<\/p>\n
UMNO has long fought for Najib\u2019s freedom, and the party has a storied\nhistory of standing behind troubled leaders. This time round, the party\nis discovering that his bid for house arrest has reopened the 1MDB wound\nUMNO has spent years trying to bury.<\/p>\n
UMNO\u2019s fundraising drive to settle Najib\u2019s RM50 million fine has\nattracted both support and scorn. Apart from raising over RM9.25 million\nsince it was launched, local media have reported that the drive was met\nwith one-sen protest donations - a gesture of contempt that underscored\nhow the house-arrest decision has dragged the 1MDB issue back to the top\nof the next cycle.<\/p>\n
This could cost UMNO its fence-sitters that drifted to the other\nMalay-based parties, such as Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti\nPribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). With each leniency shown to Najib,\nthe corruption scandal that kicked the party out of power in 2018 keeps\nreturning to the centre of national discourse.<\/p>\n
UMNO\u2019S NEGERI SEMBILAN STORM<\/p>\n
The Negeri Sembilan storm is not only more complicated, but it also\npresents a more immediate danger to UMNO\u2019s still wobbly political\nstanding.<\/p>\n
Malaysia\u2019s constitutional monarchy is unique, where the king is\nelected for a five-year term by the Conference of Rulers from among nine\nhereditary royal houses.<\/p>\n
All follow ordinary hereditary rules, with the exception of Negeri\nSembilan, which operates under a centuries-old West Sumatra matrilineal\nlegal tradition that was brought by Minangkabau migrants known as adat\nperpatih.<\/p>\n
Under this tradition, the ruler of the state\u2019s royal household,\nreferred to as the Yang di-Pertuan Besar (not Sultans like the other\nstates) is elected by consensus of four territorial chiefs, known as\nundangs.<\/p>\n
The crisis began in April when the four undangs proclaimed the\nremoval of Tuanku Muhriz, citing what they called as interference in\ncustomary affairs and installed a distant cousin Tunku Nadzaruddin\nTuanku Ja\u2019afar as the acting ruler.<\/p>\n
Tuanku Muhriz rebuffed the move, because the proclamation did not\nreceive the endorsement of the sitting chief minister, or Menteri Besar,\nat the time as required by the state\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n
Quickly the palace crisis became a political hot potato.<\/p>\n
UMNO\u2019s 14 assemblymen withdrew their support from the unity Negeri\nSembilan administration<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/commentary-umnos-dark-september-twin-storms-threaten-partys-blue-wave-1791413423", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }