Calls for Najib to quit as Umno chief
Joceline Tan, The Star
The rumblings have started in Umno for its president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to take responsibility for Barisan Nasional’s disastrous outcome in the general election, with the first hints coming from Kelantan.
Kelantan Umno secretary and Kok Lanas assemblyman Datuk Alwi Che Ahmad said Barisan’s parliamentary defeat rests solely on the shoulders of the Umno president.
“He did his level best but he misread the terrain. He cannot go on, he must take the blame. It is time to go,” he said.
During a state Umno meeting yesterday morning, Alwi said Umno leaders should not be afraid to speak their mind during the post-mortem sessions in the weeks to come.
Alwi, the former political secretary to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said that when the latter lost four states to the Opposition in 2008, Umno led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had backed Najib to pressure Pak Lah to resign.
“Now we have lost the whole government. What shall we say to the president?” said Alwi.
One of the assemblymen took the cue and said the president has to go.
The meeting, which comprised newly-elected assemblymen as well as those who lost, was chaired by Kelantan Umno chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamad who did not add to the brewing rebellion.
Mustapa merely urged those present to understand that they are not in charge of the Federal Government, and not to give up the party’s struggle.
After the meeting, Alwi posted the following comment on Facebook: “With all due respect, I am of the opinion that the time has come for the president and deputy president to take full responsibility for what has happened.
“If the president and his deputy are truly sincere, then the time has come for both to step aside with dignity. H2O and KJ (Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin) have a role to play in restructuring what remains after the war.”
Alwi then left to perform Friday prayers but when he returned from the mosque, his Facebook administrator had taken down the posting.
Asked why he was doing this so soon after the general election, he said the feeling was quite widespread in Umno.
“I won the battle but lost the war. Others could not defend the battlefield including our own general,” he said.
Despite studies showing that PAS would lose Kelantan, Barisan’s share of state seats slipped from 12 to eight. It won five parliamentary seats like in 2013.
