UMNO Stage Play-Act 2

THE UMNO STAGE PLAY; DATO NAJIB TO GET THE UMNO PRESIDENT’S POST IN JUNE 2010.

That was the formula agreed upon and conveyed to all the UMNO leaders at PWTC yesterday, the 10^th of July 2008. Dato Najib was ecstatic. He said he has a very good relationship with Dato Seri Abdullah. He is deeply touched. This sounded like a thankful kitten who just got his glass of milk. Maybe a pat here and a stroke there yes Dato?

Once again he thanked Dato Seri Abdullah for having faith in him to be the next UMNO president and by extension, according to the overused term tradition, the nation’s premier. Dato Najib was quick off the mark- he unequivocally said now the UMNO tradition is once again preserved.

Once again, an UMNO special meeting with middle level UMNO leaders is turned into yet another public relations exercise to inform what has already been decided behind closed doors. That would give the UMNO leaders already besotted with the fallacy of being consulted, a feeling of being part of a momentous decision.

Hello brothers, what about UMNO itself?

This was the same answer given by Dato Najib after the first meeting Dato Seri Abdullah gave UMNO information officers a few months after the GE 2008. That was the Freudian slip on Dato Najib’s part. While our attention was riveted to the disastrous outing for UMNO and our keenness to apply introspection as to what is wrong with UMNO- Dato Najib was saying how thankful he is to Pak Lah for having chosen him to take over.

Dato Najib showed us a real glimpse to what his principal interest is- better yet, his overriding interest; to secure the president’s post en route to the premiership. Well, at that time I have already stated that the UMNO president’s post is not Pak Lah’s personal property to give away. The decision to appoint as leaders rests with UMNO delegates.

Dato Najib is least interested in saving UMNO. If he wants to save UMNO he must be brave enough to say the transfer of power should be now. What difference does it make whether the transfer is now or 2 years down the road.

Assuming Pak Lah hands over the president’s post in June 2010, Pak Lah can still remain the Prime Minister. Only if he follows the hallowed tradition that Dato Najib is so fond of repeating, Pak Lah will exit the stage.

Even then, Dato Najib’s post is not over the woods yet. He assumes the post of pemangku president and his position is still, borrowing a term that has gained infamy, susceptible to challenges.

Do you remember when the notorious RPK came up with his infamous SD? He mentioned that documents related to his allegations were passed to Dato Seri Abdullah and that Khairi Jamaludin has a copy too. Both of them denied having such information.

The denial is not relevant to me. What is relevant is the acknowledgment that a special section of the military intelligence has been working on the Altantuya murder case as they should. The important point to note is that investigations are still ongoing.

The fact that such a unit exists and investigations are not yet concluded send chilling signals. It means, no one can rule out the emergence of new facts and evidences that can be damaging to Dato Najib which can wilfully be summoned up by Dato Seri Abdullahat at his disposal. That can be applied for whatever purposes he so desire. That should be enough to force Dato Najib to behave. In that sense, Dato Najib is incapacitated. So do not hold any euphoric celebrations yet.

There are 191 UMNO divisions in the country. Yesterday’s meeting at PWTC does not prevent any division from departing from what’s agreed in PWTC. While Dato Najib says he will defend his deputy president’s post and Pak Lah his, it is still open to challenges from other aspirants. When Pak Lah and Najib are seen as likeminded, they can also be seen as being out of touch with the grassroots. Or even worse, both of them are seen as opposed to grassroots aspirations. An out of touch leadership can be justifiably ousted. To me, the message Pak Lah is sending, if he is going out, Najib is coming with him too.