Muhyiddin tells it like it is

Joceline Tan, The Star

THE selfie or, rather, wefie culture is in full bloom in Umno.

The tall, dark and happening Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was the top favourite for wefies among the ladies, whether young or not-so-young, and even among the guys.

The Youth and Sports Minister represents that youthful Malay cohort that Umno is so desperate to win over, and everyone can sense that he is on the way up.

Vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein was also a favourite although mostly among the senior ladies who were all over him at the Wanita Umno assembly.

But selfies and wefies aside, the talking point over the last few days was Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s speech at the joint-opening of Umno’s three wings earlier in the week.

It was a long speech, about 90 minutes. It took so long that the deputy president paused a few times to ask his audience to bear with him.

But good things, as they say, take time and there has been a flood of feedback from all over. His speech has sparked discussion, both for the issues that he raised as well as the fact that he had never before been this frank or hard-hitting.

“There is a real sense of urgency on the part of the top leadership. We can feel it. Time is running out and they want the change to be taken seriously,” said Datin Norsabrina Mohd Noor, Puteri Umno chief for Kulim Bandar Baru.

It is the tradition in Umno for the deputy president to address the wings before they convene for their respective assemblies. It has also been the unspoken practice for each deputy president to keep it general and play safe so as to not upstage the boss.

As a result, every deputy president’s speech before the three wings, including the time when Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was in the No. 2 seat, had often ended up beating around the bush, vague and inexact.

Muhyiddin had done the same – until last week, that is.

His speech took what Najib had said at his annual closed-door presidential briefing for the party grassroots to another level. Muhyiddin did not hold anything back.

But perhaps the most significant part of Muhyiddin’s speech was the suggestion that the next Umno election should take place, as scheduled, in 2016. Outwardly, it seemed like an innocuous statement but it was loaded with implications for the future survival of Umno.

Muhyiddin is not in favour of what has become the norm to put off the party polls till after each general election.

Muhyiddin’s stand on this can be interpreted in a number of ways.

The most exaggerated reading would be that he is eyeing the top post and wants to make a play for it. Another equally extreme reading would be that Muhyiddin is planning to hold on to his post and is ready to be challenged.

But a top political insider said that the most likely reason is probably none of the above.

Muhyiddin, said the insider, is a true-blue party man. The Johor-born genuinely wants the party to survive, to become stronger and to do better in the next general election.

“What he said has little to do about his political future and everything to do with the party’s survival,” said the political insider.

Muhyiddin’s suggestion of party polls in 2016 is all about enabling the rejuvenation process in Umno, especially at the branch and division levels.

“If change is to take place for Umno in the next general election, it has to begin within the party in 2016. The renewal has to happen in the party first. Only then can a genuine renewal take place in the general election,” said the insider.

All that talk about rejuvenation, warlord culture and leaders who have overstayed is largely centred around politics at the division level.

Political games

If the party election does not take place before the next general election, it means that the same warlords who have dominated Umno politics at the division level will still be there, playing the same political games, demanding to be election candidates even if they are no longer winnable.

That was what happened the last time and it will happen again – so-called winnable candidates who could not win.

The practice of postponing the party polls has become one of those vicious political cycles. It was supposed to prevent disgruntled warlords from sabotaging the party in the general election.

But it has degenerated in a power trap for leaders to hold on to their posts for longer than they should, extending their term of office from three to five years.

The result is voters rejecting Umno and Barisan Nasional because they are tired of characters who have done too little and been around too long.

“As the DPM said in his speech, the future will depend on how the young generation perceives Umno. They will form the dominant group of voters. They need to be convinced that we are changing, otherwise we are fighting a lost cause,” said the insider.

This, said the insider, is what Muhyiddin wants to tackle when he called for party polls to go on as scheduled.

“Having elections is the democratic way to change. Postponing elections would merely be postponing the change,” said the insider.

The division warlords are not going to embrace it, for sure. Even some of the vice-presidents are probably not keen for reasons of their own.

All the three vice-presidents have aspirations to move up and the younger ones would prefer a later date while the older ones cannot afford to wait.

But the decision lies with the supreme council. It is up to the top leadership to exercise the political will and decide on the best course of action – to do or to die, as Muhyiddin had put it.

Muhyiddin also hinted that he may be among those for whom the time has come to make way.

He is 67 this year. If party polls do happen in 2016, he will be 69. It is hard to see him or anyone else challenging Najib for the presidency in the near future, especially under the new electoral college system of election.

There have been rumblings on the ground about Najib’s leadership style; Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s attacks will probably escalate, but Najib is very strong. Make no mistake about that.

The word going around is that Muhyiddin is quite sanguine about his own political future. He is keen to continue but he is not going to cling on unnecessarily. He is quite ready to walk the talk.

But some have suggested that he is less than keen on what has now become the Umno practice of anointing the successor rather than letting the party decide.

The practice of anointment is good in that it eliminates an all-out fight. But it also centres around some degree of favouritism and is not reflective of a truly democratic party.

If there is an election for the next deputy president, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi may come up on top again. The charismatic Home Minister is still very popular in the party.

But he is playing it very cool. His supporters have been pestering him for his views on the way Hishammuddin has been moving around in the party but he refuses to be drawn into any discussion.

“Recently, he told me that he is more worried about Tun Dr Mahathir’s attacks than anything else. He takes it very seriously,” said Kassim Ismail from the Batu Gajah division, and a long-time Dr Ahmad Zahid supporter.

Some even claimed that Muhyiddin and Dr Ahmad Zahid have become rather close. Umno watchers made quite a fuss over a photo of Dr Ahmad Zahid accompanying Muhyiddin to his car after the latter’s no-holds barred speech.

They pointed out that three vice-presidents were there that night, but it was Dr Ahmad Zahid who sent the No. 2 to his car. It does sound like a case of making a mountain out of a molehill.

Anyway, the next day, Muhyiddin and Hishammuddin were seen chatting animatedly when they popped in at the Wanita Umno assembly to listen to the debates.

Muhyiddin’s bold and insightful message this year has been about outlining the survival of Umno. It is not about positioning himself for the future or about moving up as some have imagined.

The Umno man knows he has little to lose by telling it as it is.

“He felt very strongly that he had to say it now or else it will be too late. The change has to take place,” said the political insider.

Muhyiddin may not get to taste the power of being No. 1 but he could be on his way to becoming an elder statesman with a big and credible voice.