To quit, or not to quit

By admin-s Last updated Nov 20, 2014

Said a veteran Umno watcher, Muhyiddin’s “departure” is no secret in Umno and “in fact many party members feel this Umno general assembly (November 25-29) will be his last as deputy president”.

Mohsin Abdullah, The Malaysia Insider

The buzz in Umno of late is that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin wants out.

And the man taking over as DPM is Umno VP No. 3 Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. Not Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the VP No. 1 as “many” had expected.

But first things first. Is Muhyiddin really resigning?

“He should,” said a “well-connected” Umno man going on to list out what he see as Muhyiddin’s “inefficiency, shortcoming and weaknesses”.

All of which said he, “is no good for the party”. Hence, “he should go”.

Such an “assessment” is subjective, of course, and I’ll leave it there. The thing is – he “should” (resign) and “is he” (resigning) are different matters altogether.

That would mean they expect Muhyiddin to complete his term as Umno deputy president (which is to run until 2016) and take a final bow come the next assembly. Or maybe, a bit earlier.

“Many say even if stays on he will be challenged for the number two post in the next party elections.” So said the party watcher, claiming he “dug out” the info from Umno “reliable contacts”.

Still there are Umno folk who see Muhyiddin making a quick exit i.e. before his term is up.

Against such a backdrop, comes the “talk” of Hishammuddin being groomed or already picked by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be Muhyiddin’s successor. To be Najib’s second in command in government.

All that based on how the Umno fraternity “reads the political situation and going-ons”. Politicians that they are, Umno leaders and members alike, love to “analyse” and “read between the lines”. So to speak.

And just what are their “readings”?

For one, when Najib opened the recent Selangor Umno convention, it was Hisham who officiated the closing ceremony later in the day, having to fly from Terengganu where he attended another Umno do. (Najib is head of Selangor Umno as well.)

Zahid, meanwhile, attended an official government event (a seminar on jihad v militant) while Muhyiddin’s duty was to grace the Malaysia Cup final and present the coveted trophy to the winners.

Many see that as an endorsement of Hisham. A signal from Najib.

Then there’s the committee tasked to vet resolutions for this year’s Umno assembly. Put simply, a committee which can “determine” or rather set the tone for proceedings by deciding what can be debated and what cannot. The committee as we know is headed by Hisham.

A source in Umno HQ tells me it’s normal for a VP be assigned to head the committee. But the fact remained that Najib or “ibu pejabat” picked Hisham instead of Zahid or Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, the other VP in Umno.