What can Umno leaders do after losing?
I worry for the Umno leaders ― “what next” if they lose the coming general election? Though many claim that’s unlikely, Umno booted out, I’ll scenario it out. A one-stop career guidance counselling of sorts for Umno men under a Pakatan Rakyat government. Especially for those who win their seats and find themselves in the opposition.
Praba Ganesan, The Malaysian Insider
It’s official, the Raya season has begun.
These are not just days ― and probably weeks ― of merriment, but also deep contemplation. And for those in politics, considering all the tumult-surprise-confusion which inundates Malaysian politics, it is that brief spell to decide one’s future.
The quiet before the storm. The lull before peak-hour traffic is compounded by an eight-vehicle pile-up. Workmen sharpening the guillotine before the marketplace fills up in the aftermath of a revolution.
I worry for the Umno leaders ― “what next” if they lose the coming general election? Though many claim that’s unlikely, Umno booted out, I’ll scenario it out. A one-stop career guidance counselling of sorts for Umno men under a Pakatan Rakyat government. Especially for those who win their seats and find themselves in the opposition.
For Pakatan Rakyat folks, a guide is unnecessary. They have always faced the same day-after permutations for decades. Even when winning a state, the real power still resides in Putrajaya. Moving from a bit more to a bit less won’t scar us, we’d just have to find cheaper “mamak spots” (street eateries).
But for the Umno men, they will be wandering in the desert with little experience. So what can they do, when they lose power? Well… let me tell you, or make something up.
We shall return — real reform, real value
Plan the return back to power.
The defeated can regroup and do some soul-searching. With nobody having the living memory of general election annihilation, most might be dumbfounded for some time.
The honourable thing to do would be to accept the situation and work to improve it so that they will win the next general election. New faces have to be promoted and given more say, and those who ran the show have to step aside.
There will be money in Umno, but not as much as they are accustomed to. They might have to resort to one seemingly horrible measure — to fundraise.
A political fundraiser is when a party or candidate gathers people physically or communicates to a group in a mailing list. These people are told what the party and then the candidate stands for and then asked to contribute if they believe in the cause. This is not a horse-trading session. The party is not in a position to grant favours, it only promises good government or a type of government when it wins.
Organisers cannot give people money, burgers and free transport to the target audience. The idea is to collect from the people, not pay them for support.
I’m being repetitive but I fear that many of my colleagues in Umno will find this “fundraising” exercise incredulous and preposterous.
Many Umno reps would also have to downgrade their lifestyles. Being a division chief or Member of Parliament will not be a ticket to lucrative positions like directors of GLCs, heads of licensing boards or the likes. They might even be unlucky enough that suddenly they are no more closely related to someone holding a monopoly, fat contract or highway concessionaire.
Émile Durkheim did point out in “The Anatomy of a Suicide” that a drastic major fluctuation in wealth can have adverse effects on the psychological well-being of individuals.
A less than opulent Umno might crack more than a few veterans. Those multiple home and automobile repayments may hover like “live” power cables.
Do you have room in the inn? (Umno men head to PKR or PAS)
Defection is a strong word, let’s rebrand it as right-positioning.
If you are used to power, then gravitating to those now in power seems only natural. Swallow your pride and take the new oath.
That, a fair number of Umno leaders might just do.
They have trained a nation to have a short memory and this will come in handy. Malaysia’s “loathe to read but fed on TV majority” would probably forget these leaders’ Umno past.
And for the Umno men, the adjusting to PKR and PAS would be more fluid. Umno has no ideology, it stands for power. So those leaving don’t have to denounce any philosophy or concept.
If you choose PKR, which incidentally was the main trajectory of all their previous spew, you might have to feign innocence and say you were just playing politics — repeat this sound-bite: “Don’t blame the player, blame the game.”
If you choose PAS, then you just have to trade the songkok for a skullcap, pray in public places and look mournful when you recollect the misfortune which forced PAS to part company with Umno in 1978.
Quit politics and talk about it (The life of the political pundit)
A change of government would lead to a more open mainstream media operating with growing Internet content.
So much space, always there for the former politician to become political pundits. Look at Mahathir Mohamad, a blogger on a mission.
Don’t worry if you don’t know much, the general public will not be surprised by this nugget of a disclosure.
The money might be thin, but the politician in you wants to be remembered and current.
You can write your story. (If you can’t type, don’t worry; if you can’ tell a story, don’t worry; and if you can’t remember most of what you were supposed to remember about your years in power, don’t worry. This is why there are ghost writers. They’ll write everything and even lie about knowing you.)
There is the additional option here, but rarely utilised, you can draw your story. Use crayons, use water-colours, use oil or use all of them. Or just a steady German-made pencil.
