The UMNO 2015 AGM has just ended. Call it the Najib show.

12.12.2015.

Najib wound up today the opening speech he made on the first day. Nobody else, not the Vice Presidents, certainly not the Deputy President, were allowed to speak.  Every time he shouted into the mike, the delegates roared back their approval. And so ended the 2015 Najib show. And democracy in UMNO. 

Has it solved anything ?

Is the behaviour of the delegates  consonant with the rest of the party members not in PWTC ?

Where do party members speak about real issues ? The whole world has been talking about 1MDB and the 2.6 billion donation, and not a word of explanation, nor the demand for it, came out from either the delegates on the floor, or the Supreme Councillors on the dias. The sacred creature Najib created has been declared off-limits from the AGM. This way maybe the mess will go away ?

Having the floor to himself, in front of a captive audience, Najib sounded magnanimous. 

"Be a gentleman - I'm a gentleman"

"I'm offering the olive branch" 

"It's up to Muhyiddin, to make peace or war"

"Have a big heart"

Of course Zahid and Hishamuddin, the two loyal Vice-Presidents, echoed Najib. Zahid asked Muhyiddin, his party superior, to have a big heart, like his boss. Hishamuddin asked Muhyiddin, also his party superior, to apologise, to his first-cousin, Najib. Both must have  swallowed their prides when they were asked not to speak,  a childish cover for the Muhyiddin's ban at speaking.

Sure, be big-hearted, and carry that invisible olive branch. By all means be the true gentleman. But sack Muhyiddin first. Sack Shafie Apdal. Sack the AG. Transfer all the officers at short notice.

Some gentleman !

"I'll fight to the end !" What can he say, since he refuses to go ?

Muhyidden isn't playing to the script. He says he has nothing to apologise for. 

The 2,000 odd delegates behaved as expected, cowed by the President standing in front of them. That's UMNO politics. As the current PAC Chairman said, everybody is "cari makan".

The rest of the Malays in the country have been watching. They're not cowed by  the UMNO President. In 2008 they deserted UMNO in large numbers at the polls, because of the ineptitude of the then President. Muhyiddin became the kingmaker; the President was ousted and Najib took over. But Najib learned a lesson. Oust before being ousted ! But the rousing welcome Muhyiddin received when visiting the Youth, Wanita and Puteri AGMs whose openings he was denied,  was not been missed by Najib & co. 

Najib has won the battle.   For now. The show is over.  Now for the war.

.............................................................................................

Najib's speech at UMNO's AGM 2015.

11.12.2015.

I have to write this bit, even as the AGM is still going on, and even if this time Veteran UMNO Malaysia was given only 5 Observer's passes.  I didn't get one.

I want to say that in his opening speech, Najib did all his usual shouting and rabble-rousing, and obviously hitting out at his two most prominent critics who were present, knowing full well that they can only squirm and swallow their anger  because they can't answer back. Some guts, Najib !

You quote the UMNO constitution about the role of the Deputy President to assist the President. But you fail to mention the role of the President to allow the Deputy President to be one.  Why would you let Party members go through all the hassle of  party elections and select all these committee members if you're not going to let them do their work ? In as much as the President is owed respect for the post he's elected to, so does the Deputy President own the right to act out his position, which obviously includes speaking at party meetings like this one. 

You shout about democracy and popular vote. Denying the popularly elected Deputy President the basic right of speaking is democratic ?

Forget about tradition in UMNO, that the no. 2 man always opened the Wings' Conference. What does the Party Constitution say ? 

With today and tomorrow, there are still two days left. Let's see what happens.

........................................................................................................

....................................................................................

Datuk Wahid.

7.12.2015.

We got to know each other, Datuk Wahid and I, because from 1978 to 1995 we were together in Damansara Utama. Our wives became close friends. We sort of tag along.

This afternoon Idah and Dekna, with Wafa brought along, together with me visited Wahid at the Tawakkal Hospital on Jalan Pahang. For the last two months their children had put him in the Senior Citizen ward in the old wing. He's suffering from  early dementia.

Idah and Kak Zah cried as they embraced each other. When we moved to Seremban in 1995, No. 1 Son, and later No. 2 Son, stayed at the old house in D.U. for a short time. During the fasting month Kak Zah used to send "buka puasa" to the house. Once when she called and got no answer, she phoned Idah, who requested she called again. In fact it was already eight, and No.1 Son had fallen asleep without breaking his fast. Kak Zah did all that. We can't forget that.

Wahid couldn't recognize any of us.

He should be about 78, because he is the same age as Bang Tai, who was 76 when he died. They were old MCKK friends.

Wahid cried and kissed Idah's hands when we took leave. Some sad thoughts must have passed through his mind.

Kak Zah said the hospital stay costs 5.5 K per month, not including the medicine. Idah was thinking why not get a nurse to care for him at home. It'll be more covenient. And cheaper.

.......................................................................................................

Is UMNO defunct ?

7.12.2015.

As a party member since 1987, with 10 continuous years as a delegate to the annual General Assembly from 1987 to 1997, four-and-a-half years as a State Legislator from 1995 to 1999, and currently a Central Committee member of the UMNO Veterans Club, a State Committee member of the Ex Wakil Rakyat Society (MUBARAK), as well as an incumbent UMNO Branch Committee member, I have every right to a say in the shenanigans going on in UMNO right now, even as it's preparing for the 2015 Annual General Assembly this week. 

The Party controls the government. Not the other way round.

Muhyiddin is the no. 2 man in UMNO. He was elected by party members, not appointed by the President, like the loud General Secretary, Ku Nan. To deny Muhyiddin the right to speak in the Party's Annual General Assembly is simply wrong. If members allow this to happen, they deserve the destruction that's befalling the party. 

It was the PM's right, even if it was not right, to remove Muhyiddin, unceremoniously, from  the DPM's office. That was administrative. But to do that in the Party's affairs is flawed. 

Even as the discerning rakyat debate on the cheapness of the DPM's sacking, this constitutional manipulation demands immediate correction. Or face the dire consequences. 

Najib, and all who back him for whatever motives, cannot discard the Party's constitution and traditions just like that. All are watching, not just the 3.5 million UMNO members. 

Even if attention is given to the 2,000 odd delegates gathering at the PWTC in the next few days, their response to this public display of personal revenge  on the part of the President will decide what happens to UMNO as a political power in the Malaysian political scene.  I say "even if" because notwithstanding the General Assembly, the grass-root members will have a mind of their own, and they had voted with their hearts in 2008. They can do it again.

The question is, is Najib so scared of Muhyiddin ?

I say that if this error is not corrected, UMNO is defunct. Mark that date "7.12.2015"

..................................................................................................