Shahbudin: No Umno leaders for Red Shirts’ Rally
(FMT) – Umno leaders will be indoors in air-conditioned comfort while the sweaty masses rough it out in the sun and haze at rallies which have nothing to do with Malaysia Day.
Umno leaders may be afraid to be present at the illegal anti-Chinese gathering of the Red Shirts, organised by the Coalition of Malay NGOs, which will reportedly start at Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur on September 16, Malaysia Day, before taking in Petaling Street in Chinatown and then finally moving on to Padang Merbok where the Black Shirts of the Pesaka silat movement will hold a display which has been approved, said a political analyst. “Is it that only those who are supporting need show up while those who are being supported need not show up?”
“Even Umno Secretary-General Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who has been urging the people to turn up for the rally of the Black Shirts at Padang Merbok would not be present.”
Adnan said that turning up would be a demonstration of their love for the country and the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government led by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, noted Shahbudin Husin. “There has been no other news so far on Umno leaders turning up for any rally in Kuala Lumpur on September 16. What about the 191 Umno divisional leaders?”
Najib meanwhile, it’s said, has already left for London for a function on September 16 en route to the UN General Assembly in New York. “There are no indications that Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and other Umno leaders will turn up either for the gathering of the Red Shirts which has the main objective of expressing support for Najib and the government he leads.”
“So, who among the Umno leaders will be in Bukit Bintang?’ asks Shahbudin. ““Hishammuddin Hussein Onn? Khairy Jamaluddin? Others? How many of them will show their faces?”
“What about Deputy Umno President Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal, the Umno Vice-President from Sabah, both sacked from the Cabinet in late July? Will they show any interest in the gathering by the Red Shirts?”
The consensus is that Umno leaders fear that they would be punished by non-Malay voters if they dared to show their faces at any rallies on September 16, said the analyst. “So, while the sweaty masses rough it out in the sun and brave the haze in Bukit Bintang, Petaling Street and Padang Merbok, Umno leaders will be busy attending other events indoors, in air-conditioned comfort.”
