THE CHOICE: Muhyiddin’s barua or Anwar’s barua
In the end, this Umno-PKR backroom deal may be a blessing in disguise after all. It may make the Umno grassroots rise up in revolt to take control of Umno’s destiny. Finally, Umno may transform into a bottom-up party and not drift rudderless as a top-down party to serve the personal interests of the warlords, like how it has always been for 75 years…insyaAllah.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
It appears like the two choices being offered to Umno are: stay as Muhyiddin’s barua or leave and become Anwar’s barua.
No, this is not what I am saying. This is what they are saying, the anti-Muhyiddin Yassin and pro-Anwar Ibrahim people.
From the talk and announcements over the last couple of days, I gather that there are secret talks going on between Anwar and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and with the sanction of Najib Tun Razak, to form an Umno-Pakatan Harapan alliance or electoral pact to contest GE15.
However, the snag is, both Anwar and Umno want the same thing, which is the post of prime minister or PM9. And herein lies the problem.
THE CHOICE: Muhyiddin’s barua or Anwar’s barua
If Umno works with Anwar merely to kick out a Bersatu prime minister to replace him with a PKR prime minister, then Umno would just be moving from becoming Muhyiddin’s barua to becoming Anwar’s barua. So, what’s the difference, because a barua will still be a barua, never mind whose barua you are.
Furthermore, the deal must include dropping the court cases of all those Umno leaders facing trial. And this would be a major problem for PKR because the main justification for kicking out Umno in GE14 in 2018 was because the Umno leaders are all kleptocrats.
Pakatan Harapan also promised that if they ever came to power, they would arrest all those Umno kleptocrats and send them to jail. So, how does Pakatan Harapan explain to the voters they are now dropping the cases for all those Umno leaders on trial? Very hard to explain!
But if Umno does a deal with Anwar and the trials will continue and the Umno leaders are still going to be sent to jail, then what’s the point? It defeats the purpose of leaving Muhyiddin to go to bed with Anwar.
This may make the Umno grassroots rise up in revolt to take control of Umno’s destiny
Umno will not compromise on this issue. The prime minister’s post must go to Umno and the court cases against the Umno leaders must be dropped. If not, then no alliance or electoral pact.
Some of the Umno grassroots are getting restless and are feeling uncomfortable. Zahid, Najib and a couple of other Umno leaders are said to be engaged in a backroom deal with Anwar without the approval of the party or the supreme council. That is being seen as a betrayal.
The Umno grassroots are beginning to grumble and are saying pemimpin yang bermasalah should make way for Mohamad Hassan or Tok Mat to take over. If Tok Mat takes over, this will help boost Umno’s image and create the impression that Umno is really on the road to reforms. If not, then Umno would be perceived as the same old rotten party that got wiped out in GE14 in May 2018.
In the end, this Umno-PKR backroom deal may be a blessing in disguise after all. It may make the Umno grassroots rise up in revolt to take control of Umno’s destiny. Finally, Umno may transform into a bottom-up party and not drift rudderless as a top-down party to serve the personal interests of the warlords, like how it has always been for 75 years…insyaAllah.
