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Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been trying to shake things up a little in the run-up to the Umno general assembly which he hopes will set the agenda for a big win in the upcoming general election.
Dr Mahathir, more than anyone else, knows that the next general election will determine the survival of Umno. He is shrewd, intelligent and strategic, traits that made him such a dangerous man to his opponents. Part of Dr Mahathir’s longevity has been his talent for reading the ground and his reading is, to quote him, “not good”.
By JOCELINE TAN, The Star
Dr Mahathir is famous for saying it like it is but he is also an expert at throwing curve balls that have people wondering what he is aiming at. And he is a master of political timing. His remarks about Umno the last couple of weeks have been a talking point among the Umno circle.
Dr Mahathir is famous for saying it like it is but he is also an expert at throwing curve balls that have people wondering what he is aiming at. And he is a master of political timing. His remarks about Umno the last couple of weeks have been a talking point among the Umno circle.
The remarks were made with an eye on next week’s Umno general assembly. This assembly will set the agenda for the general election and what many in the party see as the mother of all battles.
Dr Mahathir, more than anyone else, knows that the next general election will determine the survival of Umno. He is shrewd, intelligent and strategic, traits that made him such a dangerous man to his opponents. Part of Dr Mahathir’s longevity has been his talent for reading the ground and his reading is, to quote him, “not good”.
Main issues
There are several issues which he is extremely concerned about in the run-up to the election and which he thinks ought to be settled at the Umno assembly.
One is the issue of winnable candidates. Although everyone in the party has been singing the winnable candidate tune, he knows there is resistance on the ground especially among many division warlords who think they are winnable even though they are not. He knows very few will make way willingly and that there will be sabotage.
“It can be done provided you lay the ground. You have to meet them, explain why it has to be a certain candidate. So far, I don’t see it (the groundwork),” he said.
He is expecting the Umno leadership to identify the problematic warlords, call them in and personally tell them about what is needed to win well.
It is in this context that he believes that if the general election is held now, the Barisan Nasional would not do well.
“But if Umno goes to the ground to explain the danger of undermining candidates, the picture will change. Certain Umno leaders and incumbent MPs and assemblymen must accept that they should not contest. They should make it clear now,” he said.
He is urging Umno members not to be afraid to criticise and tell party leaders, especially at the division and branch levels, that they have to correct themselves.
“When you don’t criticise within the party and the party goes on doing the wrong thing, the party will fail. When supporters outside the party see that Umno is not making corrections, they will reject the party. They say it is painful for them to vote for the opposition but they do it, otherwise Umno will not realise it is on the wrong path,” he said.
He is telling Umno not to be complacent, given the feedback that the Malay vote has returned.
As one Umno official pointed out, he is provoking Umno in his usual diabolical style to “prove to us that you have changed.” There has been no real test to show that Umno has really changed. The warlords are still there, their attitudes are still the same.
“You need internally generated criticism in the party. If you don’t criticise from inside, people from outside will do it and those inside will go out to criticise. That’s why you have Perkasa, formed mostly by those unhappy within the party and (who have) moved out to voice their views. Those who left with me have still not been re-admitted,” said Dr Mahathir.
This ties in with another of his concerns – Umno has moved too fast and too far to the middle ground.
Umno’s strength has always been a result of two groups. The first include the right-wingers and nationalists who hold fast to their belief in Malay rights. The hardcore among them feel disenfranchised and have drifted off into Perkasa. They feel that Najib has not done enough for the Malays and done too much for the non-Malays.
The second group comprises those who understand that concessions have to be made and they are more about the party and less about being Malay.
Dr Mahathir understands that in order for Umno to win convincingly, it has to get both groups back on the same page.
It would strengthen Najib’s position in Umno but his dilemma is how to absorb Perkasa without adopting the same ultra-Malay stance. His challenge is about striking the balance between the old and the new politics.
“Dr Mahathir is trying to inject a sense of urgency in Umno. He is reminding Najib that the bigger headache is Umno. If Umno is okay, the business of governing would be a lot easier. Najib has stopped the decline but turning it around is probably taking too long for Dr Mahathir,” said Datuk “Rocky” Ahirudin Attan, a former newspaper editor and political blogger.
One thing that Dr Mahathir makes no bones about is his adversity towards Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He has yet to forgive his successor and holds him responsible for what he calls “the destruction” of Umno and the Barisan.
The antagonism between them extends to the level of Abdullah’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and Dr Mahathir’s son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir who reportedly cannot stand the sight of each other. No one can see any closure to this unfortunate affair, and it does say a lot for Najib’s diplomatic skills in maintaining ties with his two former bosses.
The Pakatan Rakyat side has been going on about how Dr Mahathir wants to replace Najib with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The story makes good copy but does not make sense.
Most deputies
Dr Mahathir, said one senior journalist, holds the record for having the most deputy prime ministers and also for having pushed out one prime minister or maybe two, if you count Tunku Abdul Rahman.
“I don’t think he wants to set a record for changing PMs,” said the journalist.
The elder statesman’s prime concern is that Umno survives beyond the next election. Like everyone else in Umno, he wants the party to recover its lost ground and he is banking on Najib to lead the Barisan to victory.
If Najib accomplishes that, he is going to be one of the most powerful presidents Umno has ever had. But if he fails, the move to topple him will begin. Until then, Umno is with Najib.
Said Dr Mahathir: “I want Najib to win. He should win together with the party. As the PM, he has done fairly well, he has introduced new ideas but he must also see the whole picture. He thinks the Chinese are not going to give their support but he forgets that his constituents are the Malays.
“I would say I support him. I don’t expect leaders to be perfect, I was not perfect, that was why so many people challenged me. Yes, he is juggling too many balls; maybe he should concentrate on a few.”
Basically, Dr Mahathir sees Umno as a super bus with lots of people on board and he acknowledges that Najib is the best man to take the wheel. Dr Mahathir is just one of the passengers. He is not exactly a backseat driver as some people believe, but he is definitely a passenger with clear opinions about the journey ahead.
His greatest wish is that the next general election should not be Umno’s last ride in the driver’s seat.
related artichttp://engagemalaysia.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/raja-petra-kamarudin-are-you-a-frog-in-boiling-water/
related articlehttp://engagemalaysia.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/tun-mahathirs-extremely-evil-cruel-monstrous-atrocious-criminal-mind/
Since times immemorial man has been divided against the next of kin. Brothers have slayed brothers over a plethora of things, some material and some not so. Ever since God cast out Lucifer from the comforts of heaven and deep into the abyss that we know as the underworld or in a laywoman’s terms “hell”. He has been conspiring to and with his own agents to bring the complete downfall of almost every civilization of mankind. Why have dynasty reached the zenith
of their existence only to falter and self destruct? How else do you explain Greeks, romans, mughals and other great kingdoms to have fallen out of favour and existence, like a plastic deck of cards. The strength of a foundation is no match for evil that lurks not inside but around us in the world. To get more specific before the conversation with the reader reaches a spiritual plane, the world has been divided into different castes creeds religions social strata (the list is almost endless. And Satan’s appetite for the pleasure injected into him when men fail morally is bottomless.
of their existence only to falter and self destruct? How else do you explain Greeks, romans, mughals and other great kingdoms to have fallen out of favour and existence, like a plastic deck of cards. The strength of a foundation is no match for evil that lurks not inside but around us in the world. To get more specific before the conversation with the reader reaches a spiritual plane, the world has been divided into different castes creeds religions social strata (the list is almost endless. And Satan’s appetite for the pleasure injected into him when men fail morally is bottomless.
Religion has been the most effective weapon ,which if used properly can help facilitate the uniting of the world . we are meant to be one people but certain forces will never let us. The song Sadda haq from Rockstar takes you to that rebellious zone where you question all that has been taught to you over the years. Then theres money. The rich and the poor cannot connect with each other caus they live completely different lives. Even the religious books have been meddled with. Point in case is the “Satanic Verses” and the disappearance of the sheer existence of Mary Magdeline from the Bible being questioned. Please don’t think I am trying to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or insult a God or his creations. I recently read a book on the Sufi philosophy which made me realize that all religions have the same message. They are guide lines for us to become good human beings and live our lives in peace and harmony. Religious is a spiritual message which is used in a literal form to convince and confuse us. Respect all faiths. Fighting in the name of god is the biggest paradox ever. Lets fight..but fight for peace and love.
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