Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

DURING the 2022 MP election, Umno’s battle cry was “No Anwar, No DAP”. Politics being dynamic, after the election Anwar needed Umno’s support in order to form the government and himself become PMX. BN had won 30 seats and that included the 10 Umno MPs who allegedly signed the SD supporting Muhyiddin. As a reward, Umno President Ahmad Zahid was made DPM, despite still facing corrupt charges. In recent months, Ahmad was given a DNAA. 

The Unity Government’s term ends next year. As the Malays say, “Bahang Api Pilihanraya Sudah Mulai Terasa” (The election mood is already felt) All seemed well or at least tolerable until recently when Umno assemblymen pulled out their support for the PKR Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan.

Among those who pulled out was Umno Deputy President and senior Cabinet Member (Foreign Affairs), Mohamad Hassan who is also a former MB. Mohamad was not present at the press conference announcing the withdrawal but the Umno N9 chief said he was one of them. With Umno’s pullout, PH/PKR had lost the majority but the N9 Ruler decided that the MB from PKR can continue as a Minority Government. Umno headquarters in KL including Ahmad Zahid did some damage control after that.

But when your own Deputy President is involved, as the Chinese say: “When you draw the picture of a person, you don’t have to draw the intestine”. And to think that both Zahid and Mohamad ane senior  Cabinet Members of  PKR President Anwar’s Unity Government.

Events in the past year have indicated that all is not well with the Unity Government. Still fresh in our memory is the declaration by the Umno Youth chairman Dr Akmal that he resigned as a Malacca Exco to fight DAP till the end (Perang Berhabis-habisan).

The Umno Youth has long been seen as a pressure group within the party. Most if not all former Umno Youth leaders had risen to higher posts in both the party and government.

Anwar himself started shinning as an Umno Youth leader when he was appointed by Dr M as Youth & Sports Minister in the early 80s. From there, he rose to become Umno Vice President, and was once the powerful Education Minister. People started noticing him when Dr M made him Finance Minister, another powerful post.

People started seeing him as Dr M’s Blue-eyed Boy. He made full use of his position as Finance Minister to secure nominations for the Umno deputy presidency. He secured so many nominations from Umno Divisions that the incumbent Tun Ghafar Baba “surrendered” and withdrew from contesting. His victory over Ghafar made him the undisputed heir apparent to Mahathir, on paper at least.

The Kota Belud Umno Division under the late Tun Mustapha was one of the very few in Malaysia which nominated Ghafar instead of Anwar. I had an opportunity to ask Tun Mustapha why. His reply was he could not do that to an old friend (Ghafar). I respect him for his loyalty to an old friend. If I am not mistaken, Kota Belud was the only Umno division in Sabah which nominated Ghafar.

So Anwar became DPM and Finance Minister at his height of power under Mahathir and nobody dared to mess with him. Soon after, it was payback time and Mustapha was replaced as Sabah Umno chief by Tun Sakaran (then still Tan Sri) of Semporna. Sakaran had long been viewed as Mustapha’s trusted lieutenant alongside the late Tun Said Keruak since their days in Usno together in the 60s/70s/80s.

This angered Mustapha and in the 1994 State election, Mustapha and family threw their weight behind PBS. In January 1995, he died as a PBS member. The history between Mustapha and Pairin I don’t have to mention here. Long enough to write a book. When Mustapha and Pairin went to court to decide who  the rightful CM was in 1985, who would have thought that the Tun would die as a PBS member? Politics. No wonder the then Borneo Bulletin weekly of Brunei once described politics as a funny thing, showing Mustapha and Pairin’s picture taken in Parliament in 1986.

Coming back to Anwar and Zahid, the duo come a long way. Zahid was Anwar’s prodigy when the latter was Umno Youth chief. Zahid eventually succeeded Anwar as Umno Youth chief. When Anwar was sacked by Dr M in 1997 and later arrested, Zahid was the Umno Youth chief. Soon after Anwar’s arrest at the height of the Reformasi protests in KL, Zahid himself was arrested while on a visit to Sabah. I am not sure what was he in Sabah for. He was having breakfast with friends at the coffee house in Jesselton Hotel and was arrested soon as he came out. Those days, the ISA was still around.

I am not sure how long Zahid was detained but when he saw Dr M after the latter became PM in 2018, he was lectured by the Old Man for two hours. He was acting Umno president then, having taken over from Bossku Najib. By his own admission, Zahid said he needed to go to the toilet to urinate but did not dare to do so as the Old Man was still lecturing him. 

It was reported that Dr M wanted Zahid to dissolve Umno and let its members to join Bersatu en bloc. Zahid asked for time just to get out of the PM’s room but he never dissolved Umno. Soon after he was charged with corruption. The Malaysian Bar has challenged his being given a DNAA in a recent move. Politics….

Coming back to Johore, the State Assembly was supposed to have met in the 3rd week of June for just one day. Speculations were rife that after the one-day sitting, the State Assembly would be dissolved to pave way for elections.

But the Johore MB dropped a bombshell on June 1 when he announced the dissolution, meaning no more one-day sitting. 

Observers say that the sudden change in timing was to strike while the iron is hot. They are referring to the taking over of the Bersama party by former PKR deputy President Rafizi and vice-president. Meaning while PKR is in chaos. Second reason might be that in case Bersama does have an influence so the best thing is to call for election before Bersama could grow in Johore. In other words. The proposed one-day sitting turned out to be a camouflage.

The last speaker at the PKR convention held in Johore was of course party president Anwar. The PM is known for his politeness and has decorum especially after his release from prison (twice) .But his speech in Johore was a no holds barred. Echoing speakers before him, I have never seen him so angry since his release from prison in 2018. The two prison terms had earlier  changed him until Umno stabbed him in the back.

In an angry tone and referring to BN’s decision to contest all 56 seats in Johore, Anwar said PH will do the same. Still angry, he went on to say that not only Johore, but also in other States like Malacca, Perak and Pahang. PH will also contest all seats.

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my