COMMENTARY, Dec. 6 — Perak Umno seems to have stepped into political quicksand as a result of the recent “mutiny” and this blunder will have a far-reaching negative impact.
What seems to be a simple move to just “kick out” Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) MentriBesar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and replace him with whoever Umno chooses has now become complicated.
A new state government needs to be formed instead of just replacing a mentri besar. It looks like Umno had probably not thought of this when it first mooted the confidence vote which, of course, is another way of putting a no-confidence vote in motion.
Now that Faizal has accepted his fate and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) state government has collapsed, Umno which does not have enough numbers to form a state government has to change the political equation that will see it working with “enemies” to form a new state government.
The Umno Menteri Besar candidate Datuk Shaarani Mohamad is left with no option but to accept DAP, PKR and Amanah as allies. These are parties which Umno grassroots members have rejected all along.
And this will be the biggest blunder if Umno were to carry out this plan just to form a state government. It may seethe party being shunned by rural Malays and lead to a downfall worse than the 2018 general election.
Umno seems to have lost its original direction in the move to remove Faizal who is, despite being Bersatu deputy president, just a small player at the national level and in Bersatu and PAS political equation.
Now Umno has made Bersatu and PAS its enemy which will cost its chances of returning to power together with the two Malay-based parties, which is the new political equation under Perikatan Nasional (PN) for the next general election.
The success of removing Faizal strained its relationship with PAS in the one-year-old Muafakat Nasional (MN).
With the Gerik by-election next month, the party may not have the support of Bersatu and probably PAS if Umno leaders do not make amends as fast as possible.
Although the party may win the by-election, its majority of some nearly 6,000 votes may see a drastic reduction if the other two Malay parties do not support Umno in the campaign.
Umno’s move to associate itself with DAP, if it happens, will prop up Bersatu as the sole champion of the Malays and the latter’s objective to replace Umno will become a reality without much effort as Umno has “killed” itself.
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