While the comical episode of the just removed Menteri Besar of Terengganu has given a lot of Malaysians a good laugh, the issue of him and his two other colleagues abandoning Umno and then returning to it has shown the entire rakyat what Umno politics is all about.
It is hoped that this episode will open the eyes of the still Umno-mesmerised Malays and in particular those in Terengganu and galvanise them to reject it in all coming polls whether by-elections or the general election.
From day one when the “clownish” MB declared that he had quit Umno after being forcibly removed by his president, we in PAS knew that this was all drama. So dramatic it all was that over social media we had — after the unceremonious return of the “hero” to the fold — a picture of him holding a placard declaring him “best actor for drama 2014” standing beside his boss, Najib.
Jokes aside, the man and his two followers just show how much a “struggle” that Umno members and leaders stand for. If just by being shoved off the Menteri Besar’s post is reason enough to abandon Umno, just where is the “struggle” that Umno prides itself in? By the way, the rakyat at large are fully aware too of what was really going on behind the scenes.
The people say that Umno leaders have a way of getting what they want. Nobody joins Umno for “struggling for the Malays” these days. If they did, they would be deemed fools. Over the past decade or so have we not witnessed how many scandals involving Umno personages have surfaced? And in all, it would be about money or position. So similarly people are talking about what the quantum would have been to “resolve” the “crisis” that unfolded on May 13th.
Of course, money does not always have to come into play. One would recall how the former autocrat brought 22 Kedah state assemblymen into line when they objected to his choice of a new MB for Kedah way back in the 1990s. A similar situation could have happened in the Ahmad Said case. The chief just has to open some files to get the belligerent to toe the line.
Whatever it was, the best part of the episode was of course PAS’ maturity in handling the situation. Deputy president Mohamad Sabu had declared at the outset that PAS would never do another Perak (the action taken by Umno in 2009 by buying over 3 independent reps and bringing down the Pakatan government there) but instead would go for a motion of no confidence in the new MB at the next Assembly sitting. But events moved so fast that this became unnecessary.
The rakyat can now judge the quality of the Umno-BN leadership following the Terengganu debacle. What is needed is boldness — to remove BN from power once and for all at all coming elections. And Terengganu provides such an opportunity with the BN’s wafer-thin majority of 2 seats in the State Assembly. — harakahdaily.net
