‘Right wing’ Umno won’t tango with Najib
By Tarani Palani, Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: The latest Christian Malaysia controversy propagated by Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, whilst merely a “wayang” involving religion brings to light the cracks in Umno’s internal politics, according to political analyst Ooi Kee Beng.
Ooi said that the Christian Malaysia ploy had appeared out of nowhere and from unsuspecting quarters.
He believed the issue further showed that the right wing section in Umno was pushing for party president Najib Abdul Razak to take a more hardliner stand.
“The whole issue came from nowhere, who would have ever imagined that the Christians (who are a minority) could stand to think of such a thing?
“It reflects more that it has something to do with Umno’s internal politics.
“I think some elements within Umno are just trying to be funny and trying to sow mistrust,” he told FMT.
Former Utusan senior journalist Hatta Wahari told FMT, earlier this week, that top Umno leaders held weekly meetings to set the agenda for the daily, which is the party’s mouthpiece.
According to Hatta, Najib and deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin also attended the meetings in which it was decided that the paper will run an issue for three days before dropping it completely.
The strategy, thought to be ‘clever’, foresaw the other media picking up teh issue and milking it leaving Utusan free to flog another issue.
More vocal
But Ooi however does not not believe that Najib per se was behind the controversial headlines that Utusan spewed, only because ‘he stands to loose’.
“But the right wingers on the other hand, stand to gain from the unsettled situation the headline creates,” he said.
Ooi, who is the co-ordinator of the Malaysia study programme at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said it was typical of political play.
“This is politics, when someone bleeds, there is always another party that stand to gain.
“An extreme position cannot stand to gain from a calm environment.
“It stands to gain an audience when there is an extreme environment,” he said.
Ooi said that over the last two to three year, a split within Umno’s support group had surfaced and the right wing was now more vocal.
“In a multiracial country you can decide if a sensitive issue is the agenda if you are loud. The agenda is being set now by the right wing section as they are becoming more loud,” he said.
Ooi declined to name the Umno leaders behind the right wing group but it is widely speculated that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin is behind them.
The right wing group is seen as more pro-Malay.
Alientated right wing
Concerns over Najib’s softline approach and inclusive policies such as the 1Malaysia initiative aimed at wooing back moderate Malays is said to have rattled and alienated the right wing section within Umno.
Ooi reminded people that Najib had inherited a much weakened Umno, following the 2008 general election, and as such the emergence of a right wing group was a natural process.
The right-wing section, he said felt that Najib was not taking a hard enough stand and this gap is filled by “lesser polished” right wing groups such as Pembela and Perkasa.
“Umno was weakened suddenly, so some would be in battle mode. These groups are taking over the traditional role of Umno Youth which usually propagates hardliner stance.
