Umno in self-destruction mode. Will it become history?

Umno which was established in 1946, came into being to safeguard the interests of Malay aristocracy. In order to attract the support of the Malay masses it portrayed itself as the savior of the Malays in the face of British colonial administration’s attempt to implement the Malayan Union. It used that issue as the rallying factor in getting all classes of Malays to support Umno.

It was successful but not for long. There would always be contradictions in any society as there were various social classes with various economic and political interests. Each class would want to get the best from the struggle.

But as Malay society was completely feudal in character and content, the aristocracy was able to hold on to power and was able to manufacture traditionalism to buttress their hold on Malay society.

Umno, the original and the one established later known as Umno Baru would eventually face dissentions from within. The party was never threatened from the outside. It was always the threat from within which would eventually destroy Umno.

The original Umno faced its first challenge in 1951 when members of its cleric wing were dissatisfied with the leadership. It broke away and formed a new political party that would rival the dominance of Umno among the Malays.

This breakaway created a new religious party called the Pan Malayan Islamic Party or PMIP and with its Malay acronym of PAS.

These two would be opposing one another in trying to get the support of the Malays.

Umno was not able to overcome dissensions in the party. In 1963, one of its influential leaders, Aziz Ishak resigned as a minister in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Cabinet. He refused to be transferred to the Health Ministry from his Fisheries and Rural Development Ministry. He was getting very influential among the Malays while administering his ministry. Other Umno leaders who aspired to take over the leadership were worried about the influence and support Aziz Ishak was getting.

He resigned from Umno and started his own political party with some of his followers from Umno.

Then came the time when the young Turks or ultras in the party wanted to get rid of Tunku as the president.  Tunku managed to overcome this challenge and some of those in the group were expelled.

But the greatest threat that the original Umno faced was when Tunku Razaleigh and Musa Hitam challenged Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Ghafar Baba for the presidency and the deputy presidency.

It ended in the court of law and Harun Hashim, the judge hearing the case on Feb 4 1988 declared that Umno was unlawful.

A new Umno helmed by Mahathir was quickly registered to take over from the old Umno. The members of the original Umno were automatically made as members of this new party.

If the original Umno had practised some form of democracy, the new party had become completely autocratic. It created a structure whereby, it was most difficult for members to challenge the leadership.

Thus whoever became the president, his tenure would be eternal in nature. It was up to him to either continue as its president for as long as he liked or he could opt out.

But the situation was not that calm. The deputy president at that time was Anwar Ibrahim who was a powerful speaker and a charismatic leader. He was trying to introduce new elements in the party and wanted to ease restrictions on civil liberties and was a very popular figure and also had a lot of influence in the party.

He had become a threat to the president and it was not surprising when on Sept 2 1998, he was dismissed as the deputy prime minister and later on Sept 20 arrested and placed in detention under the ISA.

With that episode gone, the incumbent continued in office and opted out in 2003 after 15 years as president of Umno and 22 years as prime minister. He was succeeded by the then deputy who became acting president of the party and prime minister of the country.

His successor Abdullah Badawi who was made deputy after the dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim took office and lasted only till 2009. His deputy Najib Razak took over the premiership.

In all these developments, members had very little say. They just acted as bystanders.

Democracy was always alien and never a part of Umno.

Being unshakeable as president of the party had caused the current holder to act recklessly and to surround himself with scandals. Members are helpless to act to get rid of him. The party’s image is at its lowest ebb.

The party is in the process of self-destruction and unless members act fast to restore its image, Umno will be history.

Ahmad Mustapha Hassan is a former press secretary to second Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein and the writer of the book, “The Unmaking of Malaysia”.