Muhyiddin suspension widens rift within UMNO

KUALA LUMPUR — A day after suspended deputy president of ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that the country’s former attorney-general had shown him criminal proof of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s wrongdoings, analysts warned yesterday that the party risks further damage to its credibility and image.

By suspending Mr Muhyiddin, analysts say, UMNO’s image has been further dented, especially as it seeks to shore up support for the next general elections, to be held by 2018.

ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute deputy director Ooi Kee Beng noted that the UMNO supreme council was seeking to force unity within a splintered party by taking out its second in-command and teach a lesson to the rank-and-file what awaited them if they did not toe the line.

“The considered effect is to unite UMNO’s leadership through fear of further purges and to minimise Mr Muhyiddin’s opportunities for speaking to UMNO members at the lower levels,” he told Malay Mail Online in an email interview over the weekend, adding that the suspension would result in fear and apprehension in the ranks.

Dr Ooi said Mr Najib is winning in the internal power struggle, but warned that UMNO’s recent action showed that the party that espoused moderation was drifting further to the right, which may cost it dearly in the next election.

“His allies within BN (ruling coalition Barisan Nasional) have their own constituents to think about, and UMNO moving more and more to the right will also undermine its allies’ ability to win votes,” he said.

The country’s largest political party, and the backbone of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), has been wracked by divisions after several elders and senior office-bearers criticised Mr Najib’s leadership.

Mr Muhyiddin, who had been axed from his deputy prime minister post in the middle of last year as he criticised Mr Najib’s handling of troubled state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was dealt a further blow on Friday as the UMNO Supreme Council suspended him as deputy president until the next party election, which is only due in 2018.

1MDB had suffered billions in losses, while The Wall Street Journal alleged that funds were channelled from 1MDB-linked entities into Mr Najib’s personal bank accounts. Mr Muhyiddin lashed out at Mr Najib on Saturday, saying in a statement that Malaysia is witnessing the era of a new dictatorship.

“UMNO has lost all of its value systems. Leaders can no longer tell what’s right and what’s wrong,” he said.

He also revealed that he was informed by former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail — removed by Mr Najib on the same day as Mr Muhyiddin’s sacking from Cabinet — that there was enough evidence to prove that a crime has been committed in the transfer of RM42 billion (S$14.09 billion) from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB, into Mr Najib’s accounts. This was despite subsequent findings that the funds were political donations from Saudi Arabia.

“About the money from SRC International that went into Najib’s personal bank accounts, I was personally informed by the former attorney-general together with evidence which clearly showed it to be a criminal act.”

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is now standing in as UMNO’s Deputy President. Yesterday, Mr Zahid said he saw the position not as a gift by the Supreme Council but as a new responsibility.

Mr Muhyiddin’s suspension has been felt acutely in Johor state, where he had previously served as the chief minister. Johor Chief Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin admitted on the weekend that Mr Muhyiddin’s fate has caused a rift within Johor UMNO and the state leadership will be hard put to mend party relations.

“There will be those who accept the decision and there will surely be those who are upset, and I admit that the decision poses a big challenge ahead of us,” he said.

Despite Mr Muhyiddin’s suspension, he remains the chief for Johor’s UMNO Pagoh division. His division rallied around him before and after his suspension.

In a statement on Saturday, the division rejected the Supreme Council’s decision, claiming the suspension violated the party Constitution and was a betrayal of UMNO members nationwide who had elected Mr Muhyiddin to office.

Mr Lim Teck Ghee, director of Centre for Policy Initiatives, told Malay Mail Online that Mr Muhyiddin’s suspension, on top of his removal from the federal Cabinet, has the effect of peeling off UMNO’s democratic exterior and exposing a hollow core.

He asserted the suspension has also deepened divisions within UMNO into two distinct camps, with both sides gaining traction among their supporters.

“Both sides clearly see themselves as correct and justified in the positions they are taking,” he said. AGENCIES