Malaysiakini : "Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lie down! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." - William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2COMMENT
| Well yes, the political situation is fluid, but one solid outcome of
this sordid political mess is that current Prime Minister Muhyiddin
Yassin's regime is over. At best, he will remain a figurehead, held
ransom by various power groups squabbling for more feed time at the
trough.
Anwar Ibrahim, meanwhile, has to accept the fact that
political operatives far more adroit at Malay politics played him out.
Still, he can take some consolation in the fact that Dr Mahathir Mohamad
fared no better. Even now the old maverick continues his vendetta
against the PKR president by claiming that any alliance Anwar comes up
with Umno spells the doom of a party that he should have no loyalties
to.
The
old maverick could go on bended knees back to Umno to save whatever
interest he has, but who knows if the very public mea culpa he has to do
will be something he could live with. Indeed, when former prime
minister and convicted criminal Najib Abdul Razak asks you to repent in
order to be forgiven, you realise how far down the rabbit hole we have
fallen down. Even if the rumours are true that the old maverick is
teaming up with Tengku Razaliegh Hamzah, the idea that fractional
politics in Umno – many in Umno despise Mahathir – will allow for any
sort of stable government is ludicrous.
The prime minister made a
good play when he asked for an official letter stating down the demands
of Umno. This is because the letter could be used for propaganda
purposes to demonstrate how Umno are power crazy bandits making demands
and going against the institutions of power through "undemocratic"
means.
Of course, even if there were a "list of asks", please keep
in mind that this being Malaysia and the political party involved being
Umno, the authenticity of the letter would probably become a public
question, depending on how the negotiations play out. Most Umno folks
did not take the bait, with Najib's former special assistant and
Selangor BN information chief Isham Jalil articulating the voices of desperate kleptocrats succinctly:
"If
Bersatu is serious about cooperating with Umno and as the prime
minister who is in power and needs the support of political parties to
remain in power, the Bersatu president can present a fair offer to Umno
or other political parties to be considered." This way, whatever
concessions Bersatu has to make to Umno are unofficial in the sense that
nothing was asked, but everything is freely given, all in the name of
"fairness".
Umno supreme council member and Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (above)
was a tad more obvious in demanding the DPM post. This effectively
nullifies the PM and plum positions in ministries to facilitate the
demands of the rakyat, but more importantly, to neutralise institutional
threats to certain Umno personalities.
In Bridget Welsh's
excellent piece on the various tribes of Umno, she accurately defines
the agitations of the smaller die-hard tribe and their disdain for not
only the direction of the party but also Umno's alliance with PAS.
Many
of my contacts within Umno come from this group. They are what I like
to refer to as frontliners in Umno who shepherd the herd in a direction
the kleptocrats want them to go. I believe that this faction, although
small, is agitating the most when it comes to an alliance with Bersatu
and the possible return of a kleptocracy if the elites in the party get
their way.
Another point worth considering is that they really
despise the old maverick, who they believe betrayed the party and its
struggle. It was these folks who, after Harapan came into power, were
the most shaken by the shifting political ground beneath their feet
because even though the elites were poisoning the well, the masses would
still drink from it.
And this is really an important point. When
someone like Najib, for instance, says the grassroots are not happy,
this is true. But some grassroots are also not happy with the idea of
the kleptocrats returning to power and putting the whole system in
jeopardy. This, of course, has always led to internal sabotage and power
grabs at inopportune moments.
Amanah communications director Khalid Samad (above)
is correct to wonder out aloud if Anwar was played by Umno. Also
important, is that certain Umno political operatives, maybe a small
percentage and grassroots, also bought into the idea that Umno needed to
pivot away from PN and weather it down until the next election. Hence a
unity government of some sort would give them the breathing room to
realign Umno so it would be in fighting shape for the next general
election.
Young Umno members tell me that they are sick and tired
of being dragged down by the problems of their elders and look to the
younger generation of Umno leaders to mould the party. What they cannot
understand is that when these old geezers were in their prime, they were
taking power away from the older generation. So, why aren't these young
leaders doing the same now?
However, even with all the internal
bickering going on in Umno, the commonality is that everyone sees the
Muhyiddin regime as weak. Everyone wants to benefit from holding the
puppet strings of this "new terms" government.
The prime minister
knows his days are numbered, and the outcome of this is that he will
have to get comfortable with the puppet strings Umno is preparing for
him.