Time for Umno to get real

With the Umno general assembly just two weeks away, the bad news is that Umno is still running on the spot in many places but the good news is the party is getting real about what it needs to do.

Joceline Tan, The Star

NOT many had ever seen the Umno president in that sort of mood. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was unusually sombre from the moment he stepped into the Selangor Umno convention.

If those gathered at Umno’s PWTC headquarters thought he was there to give another one of those political speeches, they were dead wrong. The famously diplomatic politician was about to act out of character and stun his audience with some plain talking about Umno in Selangor.

He expressed disappointment at what he saw as the slow progress in Selangor Umno since the general election. He said that he was tired of the situation and embarrassed that Umno is still the opposition in the state. The party had sunk deeper, going from 20 state seats in 2008 to only 12 in 2013.

But the chief reason for Najib’s grim speech was the fact that despite the months of chaotic infighting in Pakatan Rakyat, Barisan Nasional still had no chance of winning back the state. It was very depressing, it meant that Umno has been running on the spot and had hardly moved forward.

It was not a long speech, barely 30 minutes, and off-the-cuff, but for the Umno leaders seated on stage it was probably the longest 30 minutes ever.

Najib’s speech has been a talking point among the Umno rank and file.

“It came from the heart, that was how he felt about it. No more excuses, we are going too slowly. He is telling us that we need to change,” said Jamilah Hanim Othman, a Wanita Umno politician from PJ Selatan.

Some have said Najib’s words were spot on, and that it was time to be up-front and blunt.

“In politics, there are ups and downs. I want to be positive about the future. The message from the PM is about moving forward,” said Kuala Selangor MP Datuk Irmohizam Ibrahim.

Others were not happy, and said Najib should bear part of the blame. He had, after all, been the state Umno chairman prior to the general election. And if the people he put in charge of Selangor did not deliver, then he is also at fault.

But what Najib said was mild compared to what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had to say.

Dr Mahathir used his chedet.cc blog to tell it like it is – the current Selangor Umno leaders should prepare to withdraw and start grooming fresh and capable faces to face the next general election. Voters are more likely to give new, untested faces the benefit of the doubt.

The elder statesman had done it again – he said out loud what many in Umno talked about among themselves.

Despite two humiliating defeats, the same old faces in Selangor are still up there with little intention of making way. Selangor will remain out of reach without radical changes.

As Dr Mahathir put it: “Today, even if we wanted to choose a candidate for the position of mentri besar, there are no suitable candidates.”

Barisan parties in Selangor could not make headway despite the troubles in Pakatan. As far as Dr Mahathir was concerned, the current Selangor line-up is a recipe for another rejection.

The truth can be painful and it is entirely up to state Umno chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar and his team to face the reality and do the right thing.

Critics also questioned why the Selangor convention was held in Kuala Lumpur.

“What signal are they sending? That they are in exile? Even if it had to be held in a balai raya, Selangor is the battleground,” said a political advisor to a Cabinet minister.

But the Kuala Lumpur venue was apparently about convenience and cost-saving because Umno, being the opposition, does not have access to state facilities.

“The venue is not important, what matters is the message,” said Irmohizam.

Dr Mahathir’s call for a radical revamp and infusion of new blood also applies to states like Penang and Terengganu where tired faces are reluctant to make way for new talent. They have not been able to translate Najib’s political transformation.

The east coast state, especially, is like a ripe fruit being eyed by PAS. The state may fall in the next general election if Umno leaders continue to pander to the tactics of certain warlords.

Terengganu Umno held its state convention on the same day as Selangor. It was seen as a move by Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman to consolidate his position. Ahmad Razif is not on stable ground because his predecessor Datuk Seri Ahmad Said is still bitter and has boycotted party meetings and even the state legislative assembly sitting.

The Terengganu gathering was officiated by Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

But the straight talk came from Datuk Wan Albakri Wan Md Nor, a well-known Umno figure from Kuala Terengganu. Wan Albakri, in his working paper, did not hold anything back.

Wan Albakri said the Malays were restless because of a variety of issues to do with the economy, culture and language, jobs and cost of living, land and affordable housing. Most of all, the Malays felt that their religious and cultural rights were being challenged.

“The Malay vote is floating because of these issues. They are unsure who to trust and vote for,” he said.

He spoke of the need to “re-profile” the Umno leadership. He said Umno is strong among the rural Malays but had failed to connect with the new urban Malay middleclass.

“The middleclass Malays are important, they are the opinion shapers. This group does not expect their wakil rakyat to be welfare officers. They want quality YBs who represent their aspirations and whom they can respect. That is the urban thinking,” he said.

There was huge applause when Wan Albakri said that one of the reasons Umno did poorly in Terengganu was because of “winnable candidates who were not winnable”. The promise of winnable candidates did not materialise and in some seats, the voters felt cheated the moment the candidate was revealed.

Wan Albakri said the old style of politics where warlords treat party posts as personal belongings has to go. Umno also has to change its image as a party associated with projects, money politics, corruption and questionable morals.

Wan Albakri’s presentation made some people so uncomfortable that during the tea break, one of the delegates told him, “you speak so directly, that’s why you could not move up in Umno.”

But others told him, “we need people like you who dare to speak the truth”.

Terengganu has lessons to offer Umno. After Terengganu fell to PAS in 1999, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was the state Umno chairman, picked Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh as his deputy state chief.

Idris was then a relative unknown. He was only the Besut Umno Youth chief but he had won the Besut parliamentary seat and been appointed a deputy minister.

Idris did not disappoint and not long after, he launched the “Gelombang Biru” or blue wave campaign to recapture Terengganu in 2004 by a landslide victory and was appointed Mentri Besar.

Idris’ efforts were premised on two key things – one was his bold line-up of new faces that sent forth the message of change and renewal and the other was selling the idea that Barisan had something better to offer the people.

The technocrat in him also believed in holding retreats and under him, the state Umno conventions would take place over two days so that everyone could voice their opinions and hear what others had to say. It enabled grassroots leaders to be part of decision-making and to be committed to the policies made.

For too long, said political analyst Dr Azmi Omar, Umno has banked on the weaknesses of its opponents rather than on improving its own strengths.

Dr Azmi said Kedah and Johor should also take a long, hard look at themselves. The Kedah leadership has to take stock of how they have delivered so that they can continue to hold on to the state.

He said Johor is a “danger zone”. Barisan lost 18 out of 59 state seats to Pakatan. A few more seats and Barisan would have lost its two-thirds majority in the state.

“Johor has to start planning how to stop the tsunami,” said Dr Azmi.

Johor Umno is holding its state convention next weekend. Johor politicians are known to be a cut above and the gathering promises to be comprehensive. Hopefully, it will also be honest, meaningful and minus the sugar-coating.

The national Umno secretariat has asked all states to hold their own conventions even though it is only a fortnight more before the Umno general assembly. But conventions should not be held for the sake of being held, otherwise it would be a meaningless case of going through the motions.

Many people have noticed that Najib has lost weight and is looking slim and super-fit. He was among the slimmest persons on stage when he attended the Selangor Umno convention.

He has obviously stepped up his fitness regime and that is also what his party should do – shed the weight and step it up.