Meeting against chaotic backdrop

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is under pressure to come up with a roadmap for Umno’s recovery and explain his clandestine ‘unity government’ adventure at the party’s general assembly.

Some think the unity government idea is to distract delegates from the bigger issue of reviving and reforming Umno, as well as the troubles weighing down on them.

THE Umno general assembly, which opens this evening, has no parallels in the history of the party.

It has been likened to a post-apocalypse gathering, given the way the party lost power after six decades as the ruling party.

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is barely three months into his duties as Umno president, will be facing the delegates against a political backdrop that is chaotic, ironic and bizarre.

Every former Umno president has also been prime minister, but he is the first to be opposition leader.

But he has been unable to play his role and yesterday, many Umno members finally learnt why – their new president has been busy trying to strike an alliance to enable his party to return to power.

Dr Ahmad Zahid admitted in an interview with an English daily that Umno wants to form a unity government with any party within Pakatan Harapan.

He had also met Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – twice and not seven times as reported – to discuss issues and seek his advice.

The meetings, which took place with a view towards political cooperation, have drawn criticism and ridicule because who on earth meets with the enemy for advice?

It is possible that Dr Ahmad Zahid is testing the wind ahead of the Umno assembly.

He is probably seeking a mandate from the Umno delegates this weekend to proceed with the plan and, if all goes well, to execute it.

How and when that will happen, nobody can predict because of the complexities and personalities involved.

However, Dr Ahmad Zahid hinted that it may happen before or after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim becomes the Prime Minister, adding heat to the rumour that “something big” may happen in November.

Dr Ahmad Zahid denied that he had met or contacted Anwar. But Umno’s decision to give the PKR leader a free pass in the Port Dickson by-election seems to suggest some sort of secret understanding happening behind the scenes.

Some think the unity government idea is to distract delegates from the bigger issue of reviving and reforming Umno, as well as the troubles weighing down on them.

The party is almost paralysed because its finances and accounts have been frozen by the Pakatan government.

The assembly is also taking place in the shadow of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Ex-Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is claiming trial to 25 charges of corruption and money laundering in court while a book on the 1MDB debacle, Billion Dollar Whale, has shot to the top of the bestsellers list.

Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor is being investigated in connection with the scandal. The controversial former first lady arrived at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters a few days ago amid a media frenzy.

The sight of Baling MP and former Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Rahim in the dreaded orange prison outfit also sent ripples through the party.

It was a signal that MACC is spreading its tentacles beyond Najib in its 1MDB probe.

To add to all this, a number of senior party leaders have resigned, while a few more seem to be getting ready to jump ship.

Meanwhile, far away in New York, Dr Mahathir predicted that Umno has no future and will collapse soon.

It was a cruel indictment on the eve of the party’s general assembly.

The Prime Minister’s sense of revenge runs deep and it is known that he had spent almost 30 minutes complaining about Umno and nagging the Umno delegation that met him two weeks ago.

Umno is not exactly a sinking ship. It is far too big to go under just yet, but it is going nowhere for now.

In fact, Dr Mahathir’s Parti Pribumi is having its own problems. His party in Negri Sembilan, which has been problematic from day one, has “gone under receivership”, so to speak – it has been dissolved and put under the command of former Umno leader Tan Sri Rais Yatim.

To add salt to the Umno wound, RTM and TV3 may not be providing a live telecast of the party’s presidential speech, unlike in previous years.

Dr Ahmad Zahid may not have an easy time this weekend, going by how some Umno members and even leaders have taken to social media to criticise the party and his attempts to form an alliance with Pakatan parties.

Not everyone in Umno approves of what Kepala Batas politician Azizi Safar calls a “backdoor government”.

“The rakyat has spoken. The reality is that they kicked us out because they don’t like us. A backdoor government is not the way. Regain the people’s support and return the proper way,” said Azizi.

Meanwhile, deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is confident that Dr Ahmad Zahid will outline the roadmap for Umno to move on.

He stressed that Umno cannot go down the ultra road and that the roadmap to recovery must be in the context of a multiracial Malaysia.

He said Umno will continue to defend Malay concerns like Islam, the Malay language and the Malay Rulers, but he stressed that this is the new century and no party can progress by continuing to chant “Bangkit Melayu” (Malay supremacy).

“Morale is low and there will be delegates waiting to let out their frustrations. But our members are tired of talking about what happened.

“They want to know how to move ahead and the assembly is the best opportunity for us to spell it out,” said Mohamad.

DATUK Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic) has been under the radar since winning the Umno presidency in June.

“We are the opposition now and we shouldn’t share our strategies,” he said when asked why he has been quiet.

However, he opened up to us in an interview with MAZWIN NIK ANIS and RAHIMY RAHIM as the party holds its annual general meeting. Dr Ahmad Zahid spoke candidly – on him becoming the number one when the party is no longer in power; on criticisms about lack of leadership and plans to rebrand Barisan Nasional.

How has it been being No.1?

For the first time in Umno’s 71-year history, we are the opposition. I am the opposition leader, not the prime minister. Challenging in the sense that Umno is no longer in power and is also grappling with problems. Our accounts have been frozen and disgruntled members want to see me guiding the party in a new direction.

Expectation from members is still high. I take bashing and criticisms from some party leaders but I take it constructively. Some couldn’t wait for my first major move.

In the present situation, it will need a lot of guts and patience to manoeuvre our march. Some things don’t come easy. It takes time.

Your low-key approach has invited speculation. Some even say there are no clear signs of your leadership.

When the assembly proper takes place on Sept 30, it will mark my 90 days in office. Do you know that when I came in, there was no office for the president in the Umno headquarters? You can say that I have become wiser. Yes, I was very vocal when I was the Umno Youth chief; that is my DNA. But that was 20 years ago. Now, as president, I have to change my style, my method of stewardship.

I think the majority of Umno members would like to see the real Zahid. While I think that my style of leadership should change, if they want to see the “old” me again, I have no problems going back to my DNA. I also have to empower my deputy, vice-presidents, secretary-general, information chief and the wings’ heads. Empowering them is a way for me to portray my democratic approach. Some quarters see it as my weakness in managing the party, because they fail to see that the party should be together and any statement should be done with collective responsibility.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad predicted that Umno will collapse.

Well, that is his opinion. But we, in Umno, will work and work to strengthen the party from within.

People are questioning Umno’s relevance post-GE14.

There are calls for the party to be dissolved. There are even suggestions for us to merge with a minority party in the government pact. There are those who want to see the demise of Umno. But there are still many loyalists in the party and we will not allow this to happen. Umno is still strong. Losing the general election has not dampened our spirit nor changed our philosphy to serve the multiracial society.

Our rival has definitely potrayed Umno as irrelevant.

But from our standpoint, Umno still is. Since we are no longer the ruling party and to continue to be relevant, we have to change our style from service to issue- oriented. There are many issues that we must fight for the people. Promises made by the government have not been fulfilled, so now it is our job to express the people’s dissastisfaction to the government.

Some key leaders such as Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed have left the party and there is talk that more will leave.

Those who left the party, there is no resilience in them, not because there is no clear direction or that the party is weak.

They left because they cannot stand being the opposition. Some were comfortable when they were in the government but now, they can’t stand the pressure. Especially those with “issues”.

Ideally, I would like them to stay on but I cannot force them to be with us. I’m not disappointed that some have left because then we will see only the real loyalists remain.

The opportunist will leave, those scared to be in the opposition will leave, those who have no resilience to threats will leave. Let them go, this is indirectly a cleansing process for Umno.

As for Tok Pa (Mustapa) leaving, I respect his decision. He has his reasons not to be with us anymore. But (bear in mind) what he gained before is because of Umno so when the party is in trouble, he should have remained.

Anyway, that is his decision; can’t stop him from moving on. But I believe he will regret if the political scenario changes later.

Are you suggesting there will be some political manoeuvring?

There is, but I can’t reveal how we will do it. What I can say is, we are not just the opposition but we are also the government-in-waiting. We are working towards this. I can’t share our strategy but definitely we are going to translate this into action when the time comes.

MCA is uncomfortable with the idea of Umno working with PAS. How do you plan to do this without losing MCA in Barisan Nasional?

People are getting us wrong on this. Umno is now an opposition party, so is MCA, MIC and PAS. We are working with PAS based on the spirit of the opposition.

MCA understands this. I have talked to Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai (MCA president) and Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (deputy president). I have also spoken to Tan Sri S.A. Vigneswaran (MIC president) and Datuk S.K. Devamany (deputy president).

Our working together is purely because we are opposition parties. And our cooperation is not just about Islamic issues and the Malay agenda but also on other national issues and interests.

Our coalition partners should not worry about this relationship with PAS. As I mentioned repeatedly, it is just a cooperation among opposition parties.

I am in constant communication with them – the other Barisan party presidents (MCA, MIC, PBRS and MyPP). We have our meetings but I don’t call the media. Our relationship is intact.

For instance, our decision not to contest in the Port Dickson by-election is a consensus. It is not entirely mine. It is a call we made after discussing with other component leaders. They all agreed to that.

The issue of Barisan being disbanded does not arise, at least not at the moment.

Has Barisan already started gearing up for GE15?

I can tell you this. Barisan will be rebranded. I will lay down the plan during my policy speech tomorrow night. I will explain it in detail then. I have discussed it informally with our coalition partners and they have agreed in principle.

How soon this can materialise depends on how soon we can meet and agree on things. We make our decision based on consensus, that is the Barisan spirit.

You will be taking the stage for the first time as Umno president and as opposition leader and members are expecting you to present the way forward for the party.

My focus will be on the party’s direction. Our direction is that we want to be the government or part of the government. There will also be new approaches that we must undertake to strengthen Umno and unify our members. They too need to understand our new status.

And we must get back to work, and it’s even harder than before. With no funds to offer and the fact that we are faced with many issues, challenges and possibilities, we need to be strong and patient. But I believe we can weather the tough days.