Mukhriz, tell it to the marines

By MT Webmaster Last updated Apr 28, 2016

It is the normal career progression that those who want to attain the highest post in the party take. You do not contest the Umno vice-presidency for the sake of it. The Umno vice-presidency is not the final destination. It is the beginning of a journey where the final destination is the party leadership.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In America, they say tell it to the marines. In Terengganu, they say lebong. In some parts of Malaysia, it is called cerita dongeng or tembak. The English are a bit more polite. They will say, pull my other leg.

Basically they all mean the same thing. It is the response to someone who tells you a fairy tale. And what Mukhriz Mahathir said below would fall within that category.

“I actually don’t have ambition to become Prime Minister because I think it’s a tough job, especially now,” Mukhriz said. “If there is a change in leadership, the new person will be inheriting a mess. I don’t envy the next guy. I know what it’s like. I know how tough it is. My father was [prime minister] for 22 years. It’s the kind of job you have to throw in your all and everything into it.”

This was what Mukhriz told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in the report, ‘It’s absurd: Mukhriz Mahathir lashes Malaysian government’s claims he has plotted with his father to take top job’ (READ MORE HERE).

Mukhriz also said that only 20% of Umno members support Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. That is the same as saying that 80% do not support Najib. And if 80% do not support Najib that would mean they support the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign).

This was just like the Anti-Hadi group in PAS last year (and DAP as well) saying that 80% of the PAS members do not support PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang (and that is why he should be ousted). And then, during the party elections, 80% of the delegates voted for Hadi and his team (in fact, it was block voting) while all except one of the Anti-Hadi contestants lost the party election.

So there you are. 80% of the members are opposed to Hadi but 80% voted for Hadi and his team and everyone save one was kicked out. I have heard this ‘80% of the members are against you’ story before this and it has been proven fairy tales in the end.

So now, according to Mukhriz, 80% of the Umno members are opposed to Najib, which means 80% of the Umno members support the ANC. If 80% of the Umno members support the ANC and not Najib, then why was Mukhriz ousted as the Kedah Menteri Besar?

If the ANC has 80% of the Umno members’ support then, instead of Mukhriz getting kicked out as the Kedah Menteri Besar, Najib should have been kicked out as the Prime Minister.

Furthermore, if the ANC has 80% of the support of the Umno members, why do they need to hold hands with Lim Kit Siang, Azmin Ali, Mat Sabu, DAP, PKR and Amanah to sabotage Umno? Surely they do not need to work with Umno’s enemies to sabotage Umno and oust Najib.

Mukhriz said he is not interested in the top job. Then why did he contest the Umno vice-presidency in 2103? You do not contest the Umno vice-presidency unless you aspire to become the deputy president one day followed by the post of party president.

No one jumps into the party presidency from nowhere. You do not remain an ahli biasa and then suddenly become the party president and then the Malaysian Prime Minister thereafter. You start from the vice-presidency, which is the signal you send to the members that you want to climb the ladder, and then work your way up.

If all Mukhriz wanted to do was to become the Umno vice-president, and nothing more than that, then he must be silly or is lying. Maybe that is why he lost the contest because the Umno members did not want to waste their time with someone who just wants to become the vice president and then stop there and retire after that.

Probably Lim Kit Siang would believe this story. After all, as Kit Siang said, all the rest of us are dimwits or dunggus, which means he is the clever one and the only one capable to advising Najib on how to counter the lies regarding 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion (at least that is what he says).

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK