Shazwan Mustafa Kamal whacks Umno, Najib and Zahid

Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, Assistant News Editor, Malay Mail Online

It’s funny how Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s decision to hand over his duties as Umno president to deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is being construed as the “start of reforms” by some within the Malay nationalist party.

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin described Zahid’s move as “generous”, and called on Umno members to be thankful to the Bagan Datuk MP.

I would describe it as the only course of action left for Zahid, whose sole achievement so far as Umno president has been to co-organise a rally with PAS to oppose an international convention which Putrajaya had already said it would not be ratifying.

Calls to reform Umno have fallen on deaf ears, despite the fact that it has been almost half a year since Zahid beat Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin to win the Umno presidency.

Last week, six Umno MPs quit the party to become independent lawmakers, joining three high-profile names who earlier left to join Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. There are only 37 Umno MPs left now, down from the 54 after the May 9 polls.

Understandably, there are Umno members (the ones who haven’t quit) who are angry with the party leadership for not taking heed of the GE14 loss, and instead carried on like it was still business as usual.

But here’s the thing. Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was never Umno president to begin with. The sooner Umno members accept this, the sooner they can move forward.

Zahid took over as acting deputy president from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in 2015, and (at the time) it was only natural that he would be a shoo-in candidate for the party’s top post once Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s time was over.

It seemed straightforward enough. Be patient, take over once Najib steps down and in the process become prime minister.

Except that GE14 happened which meant that this scenario was no longer tenable, and Zahid was left with a party devoid of resources, control or power.

Bear in mind that Zahid had the opportunity to take heed of the GE14 results, and address Umno’s main challenge ― how to operate as an Opposition party free from money politics and a warlord culture.

But he failed to do this. In truth, Zahid was Umno president only in name, but never in action.

In his time as president, Zahid had ample opportunity to showcase leadership in Parliament, to challenge the Pakatan Harapan government’s policies, like his colleagues Khairy Jamaluddin and even (yes!) Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, who seems to be more comfortable as an Opposition MP than he ever was as a deputy minister.

Even Najib, with all the court cases against him, managed to find some renewed purpose as an Umno keyboard warrior, making full use of his presence on social media to criticise the PH government.

Oh, there were some misses but the Pekan MP seems to be getting more hits each day as voters begin to shake off their romantic idea of the PH government.

But alas, Zahid did nothing, has said little, and has not committed to anything closely resembling the word “reform.”

Instead of fixing Umno, what he has done is to aggressively campaign for closer ties with Islamist party PAS, effectively making both parties more right wing than they’ve been in years.

Zahid’s exit from Umno will be no loss for the party, because there never was anything to gain from his leadership to begin with.

Who, then, can stop the bleeding? Perhaps Umno needs to get off its high horse, and take a long, hard look at the dusty mirror in front of it to see what it’s become, and what it needs to be in the future to survive.

It should hold fresh elections, and decide on a leader whose vision and plan for the party is clear. The two immediate choices that come to mind are either Khairy, or Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

Khairy can be difficult to read at times but from the way he’s been fashioning himself (as of late), he seems to be genuinely interested in addressing Umno’s weaknesses and to push for fresh faces to lead the party.

And the Rembau MP would be a president who can hold his own in Parliament, and envision a future for the Malay party that goes beyond becoming a jaguh kampung.

If Umno chooses Asyraf, then it is most likely set on a path towards conservatism and closer ties with PAS. Asyraf seems like a decent leader, and is able to command grassroots support but Umno must remember that the road to Putrajaya will not be won via the Malay heartland alone.

PAS’ dalliance with Umno will only leave it confined to the rural states as governing a diverse Malaysia will require the support of all communities. Therefore, whoever is president will need to figure out who to court as allies, and how to attain non-Malay support.

The clock is definitely ticking for Umno. Already, there are “suitors” on both sides of the game, waiting to pick off the remaining Umno lawmakers to add to their own party rolls. On the right, we have PPBM, and on the left, we have PAS.

So, Umno, whatcha’ gonna do when they come for you?