Umno is being sabotaged…for the second time in three years
Whoever convinced Umno they do not need Muafakat Nasional and as Barisan Nasional it is enough to win 135 parliament seats in GE14 is doing it again. They are now convincing Umno they do not need Perikatan Nasional, or even Muafakat Nasional, and with just MCA and MIC, Barisan Nasional can win GE15.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
One thing that we must remember is that Muafakat Nasional was NOT mooted by PAS or its president, Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang. It was mooted by Anwar Ibrahim. And the plan was NOT mooted in September 2015. It was mooted in December 2013.
The first “Muafakat Nasional” meeting was held in London just before Christmas 2013 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel. At that meeting were Saifuddin Nasution, Saifuddin Abdullah, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, and a number of other party leaders.
Hadi, although he was in London at that time, did not attend the meeting because he wanted his people to just listen without having to commit to anything. PAS could walk away from that meeting without saying yes or no since Hadi was not there (they have to discuss it with the boss first).
More than two years later, by early 2016, the Special Branch and Military Intelligence came out with their report saying that the 1MDB scandal was badly affecting Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Umno and Barisan Nasional, and that it may cost them the general election.
And the later the general election was held, the worse it was going to get. Hence an early general election around late 2016 or early 2017 would be better.
As it is, GE14 was held in May 2018, against the advice of the intelligence agencies and much to the delight of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Next, said the intelligence reports, if Barisan Nasional engaged in three, four, five, or more corner fights, Barisan Nasional may not even win 100 parliament seats and Umno between only 50 to 60 seats. Hence it may be prudent to enter into an electoral pact with PAS.
Three years after the first “Muafakat Nasional” meeting in the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London in December 2013, the discussions were reopened. To save itself and not lose the general election, Umno and/or Barisan Nasional needed to enter into an electoral pact with PAS.
From 2016 to 2018, attempts were made to come to some sort of agreement. But each and every time Umno called off the meeting at the last minute. By May 2018, no deal between PAS and Umno or PAS and Barisan Nasional was reached. Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and PAS faced GE14 in three-corner fights and in some places four, five, six, seven-corner, etc.
Some hidden hands within Umno told them they do not need PAS. Umno and Barisan Nasional on their own can win 135 parliament seats. They did not believe that Barisan Nasional would win less than 100 seats and Umno only 50-60.
Who was behind this false information? Was it the Special Branch or Military Intelligence? Or was it Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s agents planted in Umno? Whoever it may have been, they successfully sabotaged Umno by making them believe they do not need Muafakat Nasional to win the general election and as Barisan Nasional it is enough.
Today, we are seeing this happen again. Certain people or their agents are telling Umno they do not need Perikatan Nasional to win the next general election. In fact, they do not even need Muafakat Nasional. As Barisan Nasional with just MCA and MIC is enough for Umno to win the general election and form not only the federal government but state governments as well — even in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak.
Whoever convinced Umno they do not need Muafakat Nasional and as Barisan Nasional it is enough to win 135 parliament seats in GE14 is doing it again. They are now convincing Umno they do not need Perikatan Nasional, or even Muafakat Nasional, and with just MCA and MIC, Barisan Nasional can win GE15.
