Umno is again split into Team A and Team B
What Umno hopes is that this will trigger the collapse of Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional government. Then His Majesty the Agong will have to decide whether to dissolve Parliament to make way for a snap GE15 or whether to appoint a new Prime Minister to replace Muhyiddin.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Every few years Umno splits into two and in 2021 this is happening yet again. This time, however, Umno is split into the pro-Muhyiddin camp and the anti-Muhyiddin camp.
Basically, it is still Umno versus Umno because the protagonists — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, Muhyiddin Yassin, Hamzah Zainudin, Azmin Ali, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Najib Tun Razak, etc. — are all Umno; past, present and future (dulu, kini dan selama-lamanya).
The first Umno split in 1951 (that resulted in the Islamic Wing moving out of Umno to create the PMIP, now called PAS) was about ideological differences between the Secularists and the Islamists. Thereafter, the splits have always been about power struggles, this 2021 split included.
Some in Umno say Zahid and Najib have committed treason
Barisan Nasional’s recently removed Secretary-General, Annuar Musa, says Najib and Zahid sent a letter to His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong on 11th October 2020 confirming support for Anwar Ibrahim to take over as PM9 (SEE LETTER BELOW).
A check with Istana Negara has confirmed that the letter is, in fact, genuine and was, in fact, delivered to His Majesty. This places not only Najib and Zahid but also Umno in a spot because this tantamount to treason. And treason is punishable by death in times of war. (And is not Perikatan Nasional at war with Pakatan Harapan?)
For the crime of revealing the existence of this letter and for confirming that the letter is genuine, Annuar Musa was unilaterally removed as BN’s Sec-Gen — much to the displeasure of MCA and MIC. But then Umno has always done things unilaterally without consulting their comrades in the coalition anyway — just like DAP, which has the same DNA as Umno.
The plan is for Anwar Ibrahim to be PM9 by March 2021
At the end of this month, the Umno general assembly will decide whether Umno should remain in the government or resign. It seems 189 divisions have already decided to leave. Hence the 31st January assembly will be mere window-dressing since the decision is a foregone conclusion.
What Umno hopes is that this will trigger the collapse of Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional government. Then His Majesty the Agong will have to decide whether to dissolve Parliament to make way for a snap GE15 or whether to appoint a new Prime Minister to replace Muhyiddin.
If Parliament is dissolved, then GE15 will be held around March 2021. But then, around March, the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is expected to be at its peak. So how to hold GE15 without killing thousands of Malaysians?
Some in Umno, however, say the Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to not hold GE15 in March. This may not be what most Malaysians think, though, and they may actually punish Umno or boycott the elections out of protest that lives are being put to risk for the sake of a power grab.
Nevertheless, the bottom line is Umno is going to get hurt badly with this latest fiasco. No amount of spinning can change the public perception that this latest internal crisis is all about a power grab.
There are two things utmost in the minds of most Malaysians — the economy and the pandemic. But this seems to be farthest from the minds of the politicians.
DAP is pretending that they are concerned about the problem. But was it not DAP a year ago that opposed the banning of two million tourists from China? In fact, Mahathir even said the two million Chinese tourists are going to earn a lot of money for the country. And now DAP is saying the opposite.
