Disgruntled Umno members find new ways to censure Najib
(TMI) – Umno members disgruntled with Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is battling the toughest challenge to his presidency, have been trying new ways to censure him as the party’s grassroots meetings heat up.
Some members at the branch level, which is the lowest in the party hierarchy, have tried putting forth motions to reinstate party elections that had been scheduled next year but which had been postponed.
If the motions are accepted, this would allow the president to be challenged and defeated, before Umno goes to the general election in 2018.
Others have tabled motions urging stern action against Najib, hoping that the initiatives would be carried to the party’s main assembly in Kuala Lumpur at the end of the year.
However, Najib’s hold on the party’s 192 division chiefs – middle tier politicians responsible for managing the Umno grassroots – means many of these moves get blocked before they become actual threats.
In the Kota Raja division for instance, a member put forth a motion that would get the party’s elections reinstated next year, said deputy division chief Mohd Hamidi Abu Bakar.
Hamidi agreed with the proposal, but since the division’s top officials did not call for a vote so that it could either be adopted or rejected, the motion was left hanging.
For Hamidi, two years is enough for the grassroots to evaluate party leaders.
“To me, the motion is good, there has been enough time for the grassroots to evaluate division chiefs and top leaders,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
In June, Najib announced that party elections scheduled for next year would be deferred by 18 months.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin continues to be invited to official Umno meetings, even after his removal from the Cabinet, a decision which does not sit well with Johor Umno members. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 14, 2015.The announcement was made before Najib dropped party deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin from the Cabinet, a decision unpopular with the grassroots.
Similar motions were brought at divisional meetings in Batu Sapi, Sabah and Tenggara, Johor.
Jafar Mustapha, a branch chief under the Batu Sapi Umno division, said the motion to reconvene the elections was brought at the divisional meeting last weekend.
“The election of Umno Supreme Council members and division leaders need to take place next year to evaluate how strong the trust of grassroots and delegates nationwide is of their leaders,” Jafar told The Malaysian Insider.
He said the decision to postpone party elections by 18 months is no longer relevant in light of the current political situation in the party.
He said the motion was brought from the branch to the division meeting but no final decision has been made on whether it would be taken to the general assembly.
“I am the head of a branch so it is easy to bring forth a motion to chastise our leaders, but the divisional leaders might not approve it,” he said.
In Tenggara, a similar motion was brought to the division meeting but it was rejected on technical grounds, said the division’s youth committee member, Asrul Esreen Mohd Salleh.
