No chance Umno can take back Selangor, says Dr M

(Malay Mail Online) – Umno will not likely be able to claw back control of Malaysia’s richest state any time soon, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The former president of the Malay party poured scorn on Umno for failing to take advantage of the recent leadership crisis in Selangor when its political foes were caught up with internal strife, to strengthen its position in the state now under Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rule.

“I’m sad to see Umno not gaining anything during Pakatan’s political disarray.

“What has happened to Umno? It seems weak and not able to recover to rule the state again. Previously, we controlled Selangor and now we have no chance even when others are divided,” he was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying after delivering a speech at the Wadi Sofea College in Kota Baru, Kelantan.

Umno holds 12 seats in the 56-seat Selangor legislative assembly following a dismal showing at the general elections last year.

The Kedah-born, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, has long criticised his party’s direction after leaving office 11 years ago.

Dr Mahathir had recently accused Umno of self-censorship, saying the culture of silencing dissent and fear of speaking out was entrenched.

In a blog post last month, Dr Mahathir also derided the Najib administration and its policies as reflecting a culture of “yes-men”, but later added that the criticism was not a personal attack on current Umno president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Though Dr Mahathir is seen to still hold a degree of influence among some members in Umno, others have less fear in countering the veteran’s remarks now.

Several Umno supreme council members told Malay Mail Online last week that Dr Mahathir’s criticism of Najib over policy decisions made jointly by the administration and lawmakers was “unfair”.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin openly told Dr Mahathir two days ago that the 89-year-old was wrong to claim Umno needed reforms to allow for internal criticism.

It was the first time in years the Rembau MP has directly addressed his fiercest critic Dr Mahathir, who once blamed the government’s poor electoral performance in 2008 on Khairy, the son-in-law of then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.