Najib set to enter UMNO assembly with main hurdles behind

KUALA LUMPUR — Prime Minister Najib Razak has had a difficult year amid incessant attacks from predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but a series of unexpected political stratagems has allowed him to head confidently into the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) general assembly this week having bested his rivals, at least for now.

UMNO president Mr Najib appeared to be vulnerable earlier this year as he faced demands from Dr Mahathir — the country’s longest serving prime minister who had pushed successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi out from office after slightly more than one term — that he resign over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy.

However, Mr Najib, who initially appeared to be on the backfoot against the Dr Mahathir, surprised everyone by swiftly putting down dissent, removing critics from his administration in one day and applying security laws against other adversaries.

Although he has largely remained as tightlipped as in the emerging days of Dr Mahathir’s campaign, Mr Najib’s silence was no longer being construed as weakness, after having survived the attempts to force him from office.

“A series of decisive actions, including the Cabinet reshuffle and other senior replacements, together with more forceful applications of legal tools in hand, as well as other political maneuverings, have indeed strengthened his position tremendously, such that he could march into UMNO GA (General Assembly) with supreme confidence,” Dr Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told Malay Mail Online.

On July 28, Mr Najib dropped Muhyiddin Yassin as deputy prime minister, replacing him with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and removed UMNO vice-president Shafie Apdal from Cabinet as well; both men were and continue to be critical of Mr Najib’s handling of the controversy surrounding state investment firm 1MDB.

That same day, Abdul Gani Patail was removed as Attorney-General, purportedly for health reasons, even though his retirement was scheduled just a few months later on October 6.

Former Penang UMNO leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who had lodged reports against 1MDB with authorities in France, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Switzerland, and his lawyer Matthias Chang were detained for more than a month under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, a law meant to counter terrorism.

As Malaysia’s most powerful political party gears up for its annual assembly this week, UMNO broke tradition by dropping Mr Muhyiddin, who remains deputy president, from opening the assemblies of the UMNO Youth, Wanita and Puteri wing. It is also unlikely that he and Mr Shafie will be allowed to make their winding-up speeches at the end of the Umno general assembly.

Although Dr Mahathir has continued to blog frequently to call for Mr Najib to step down, his repetitive statements have lost their initial shock as well as traction within UMNO that, for now, appears to be solidly behind Mr Najib.

The former prime minister also appears to have lost the deference and respect once accorded to him, with Mr Najib’s supporters and even 1MDB openly deriding him for his continued attacks against the Umno president and his brainchild.

“Yes, it has been a challenging year for Najib and he seems to have weathered the storm with his position intact; he may have even consolidated his position within the party even further as the main detractors are increasingly pushed to the margins within Umno,” Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian told Malay Mail Online.

The political analyst observed that many of Mr Najib’s rivals have “underestimated his determination to remain in charge, and that he is willing to undergo a battle of attrition to outlast and outfox his opponents”.

Dr Ibrahim and Dr Oh said they expected Mr Najib to speak at the UMNO assembly about the Malay party’s commitment to Malay interests and how they could retain power in the 14th general election, due by 2018, under his leadership.

One of Dr Mahathir’s main contentions is that UMNO — and, by extension, Barisan Nasional (BN) — will lose control of Putrajaya if Mr Najib continues to head the Malay nationalist party.

“I suppose while Najib has maintained his position in the party, he still has to convince the public and electorate out there back to supporting BN,” Dr Ibrahim said.

Coming out on top within UMNO is one thing, but Mr Najib and the party will also have to face the next election amid deteriorating support, with BN having lost the popular vote in Election 2013, the ruling coalition’s worst ever electoral performance.

And the skirmishes with Dr Mahathir and his supporters have not been without cost. The exchanges were public spectacles that gained a scandalised audience not just in Malaysia but across the globe.

The wielding of laws such as the Sedition Act and SOSMA were effective in quashing dissent when Mr Najib initially appeared vulnerable, but their questionable use will have entrenched existing suspicions over their selective application.

“Najib is sitting securely in power but with a huge drop in popularity. What this signifies is that UMNO and BN will have to pay for this unhealthy condition in the coming years,” Dr Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told Malay Mail Online.

Mr Najib appears to have bested Dr Mahathir and his opponents at this point, with what will likely be an uneventful Umno general assembly capping off a turbulent year, but as Dr Ooi noted: “In the game he has now started, I doubt that he can trust those closest to him to simply continue obeying him without having an agenda of their own”. MALAY MAIL ONLINE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Boo Su-Lyn is an assistant news editor at the Malay Mail Online.