Zahid Hamidi and Ismail Sabri: two tigers on the same mountain
Zahid Hamidi knows that PAS and Bersatu are helping to keep Ismail Sabri in office. That is why Zahid Hamidi wants Umno to break with PAS and Bersatu. If Umno breaks with PAS and Bersatu, then Ismail Sabri would no longer have their support. It would then be easier to kill Ismail Sabri after GE15.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The Chinese say you cannot have two tigers on the same mountain. And that is what Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Ismail Sabri Yaakob are: two tigers on the same mountain.
That applies to Umno and Bersatu as well. They are also two tigers on the same mountain. And one needs to kill the other to claim lordship of the mountain.
In Zahid Hamidi’s and Ismail Sabri’s case, it would be less complicated if not for the fact that one is the party president and the other the prime minister. If Ismail Sabri was both party president and prime minister, he would have full control of the reins. But when you have two hands on the reins, and when they are pulling in opposite directions, the horse tends to get utterly confused.
In Umno’s and Bersatu’s case, Umno is already taking steps to kill off Bersatu, and Muhyiddin Yassin in the same process. In Zahid Hamidi’s and Ismail Sabri’s case, one needs to start making the move to kill off the other, or else it would be a disaster waiting to happen.
It is customary in any warlord political system that the prime minister and the party chief must be the same man. You cannot have one person the prime minister and a different person controlling the party.
Zahid Hamidi will need to kill off Ismail Sabri in GE15. And that would be done by Zahid Hamidi deciding the candidates in the general election. The candidates must be all, or the majority, Zahid Hamidi’s men and not Ismail Sabri’s men.
Then, after the general election, when Umno’s party elections are held, Ismail Sabri will not be strong enough to challenge Zahid Hamidi for the party presidency. Zahid Hamidi can then share the mountain and reduce Ismail Sabri to a lame duck prime minister. In fact, Zahid Hamidi can even decide who should be the new prime minister to replace Ismail Sabri post-GE15 if he wants to.
Ismail Sabri is at a disadvantage because Zahid Hamidi and Najib Razak have tons of money at their disposal. And Umno politics is about money, money, money, and plenty of money.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitted that he spent RM1.5 billion for the general election, and he cannot understand why Najib needed RM2.6 billion. Whether RM1.5 billion or RM2.6 billion does not matter. What matters is it is a lot of money, billions, money which Ismail Sabri does not have.
Zahid Hamidi knows that PAS and Bersatu are helping to keep Ismail Sabri in office. That is why Zahid Hamidi wants Umno to break with PAS and Bersatu. If Umno breaks with PAS and Bersatu, then Ismail Sabri would no longer have their support. It would then be easier to kill Ismail Sabri after GE15.
