AS PANIC RISES, KU LI TELLS UMNO TO GO BACK TO BASICS – ‘GO BACK TO TUNKU’S WAY: TO BE FAIR TO EVERYBODY, TO ADOPT EVERYBODY. IT IS NOT JUST RULING UMNO BUT RULING THE COUNTRY’ – INDEED, OF WHAT USE IS IT TO TRY TO OUT-MALAY PN-PAS? – IT IS MALAY RADICALISM BY THE LIKES OF MAHATHIR THAT PUSHED UMNO & MALAYSIA DOWN THE SLIPPERY SLOPE TO FAILURE

A veteran’s view

UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has surely seen it all in the decades he has been a politician – he’s been in the arena since the 1960s! – so getting his views on what has happened over the last few months was an interesting experience.

The following are excerpts from that long talk with the 86-year-old.

> What do you think about the results of the six state polls?

Based on the total votes counted, there is a complete division of voters. Which, to me, causes heavy polarisation – the Muslims on one side and the non-Muslims on the other. It is not healthy.

It is not a good endorsement of [Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s] leadership or policies under his administration. We are going to have a rough ride.

> What’s your take on Umno’s performance in the recent elections?

From the beginning, I opposed the participation of Umno in the coalition government under [then prime minister Tan Sri] Muhyiddin [Yassin] after the so-called Sheraton Move [in 2020].

That decision caused Umno’s slide and unhappiness among the grassroots because you’re supporting a government that lacked legitimacy. And your [Umno] ministers are not picked by you [Umno] but picked by somebody [Muhyiddin] who you had sacked from Umno, who formed a party to oppose and destroy you. Then you participate in that government to support him.

It’s ridiculous.

Those [in Umno] appointed ministers jumped with joy. I knew that was the end of any reorganisation of Umno after its defeat in the 14th General Election in 2018 [GE14].

It [Muhyiddin’s government] was a government completely opposed to our way of thinking. I told the leadership of the time that I could not support this kind of government.

Outspoken: Tengku Razaleigh was vocal with his disapproval of Umno supporting Muhyiddin after the Sheraton Move in February 2020. — Bernama

> What’s the problem with Umno, is it the president or the party itself?

It’s the party. And it is the leadership.

The country is also facing a leadership crisis. Although you have Anwar as Prime Minister, he is not everything. The people feel that there’s a void, there’s no direction. Anwar keeps giving direction practically every day in his speeches.

But the poor chap is unable to gain the people’s confidence. You get the confidence in Parliament [the unity government has148 MPs out of 222] but not the confidence of the masses. And this is the problem. Tunku [Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj] did not make many speeches, but people admired, liked and trusted him.

> Why were the elections so disastrous for Umno?

We’ve been in power too long … since 1955.

And, as I mentioned, we were very happy to become members of the [Muhyiddin] Cabinet. And we are also still in a state of denial.

Many of the Umno chaps strut the floor and stage [at Umno headquarters] and behave as though they’re still in power. They must accept that we have been defeated. And not only defeated, there’s a serious erosion of support. When I say severe erosion, not just support from the masses but from our own members.

> There are calls for the Umno president to be removed. Is Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to be blamed for Umno’s disastrous performance?

It is a collective responsibility, you cannot blame one person. I’m not defending Zahid or anybody. We’re just talking about winning and losing. And the leadership as a whole has to bear responsibility for this loss. And if we’re not careful, it may spell the demise of the party.

So I put the whole blame on the leadership of the party. If you want somebody to go, the entire leadership has to go, and we must overhaul the party.

We must have a new [party] election. That’s genuine renewal. Otherwise, don’t talk about it. It is just doing like “tikus membaiki labu” [trying to fix something that one does not know anything about and causing more damage]. You amend here and change here [he shakes his head].

> If there’s a fresh party election, will you join the fray?

I am not important. But for sure, we need people who would fit the bill as the voters or the populace demand. We must get people who are suitably qualified to meet the specs demanded by the people in the country after 1MDB and the debacle in GE15 and the six state polls.

My feeling is you go back to Tunku’s way: to be fair to everybody, to adopt everybody. Like at the start of independence, you embrace everybody. And it’s not just about winning Malay votes; you must win the country. That’s leadership.

The biggest problem in the country today – with the economic and social problems – is leadership.

Then Finance minister Tengku Razaleigh (left) with then deputy prime minister and Trade and Industry minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at a National Finance Council meeting in February 1980. Tengku Razaleigh is the country’s longest serving MP, having been in Parliament for 48 years.

> Who could lead Umno to regain its old glory?

I don’t have a name. The members have to hoist a name.

He must not be an avid nationalist, but he must at least know what a Malay is. And he must know the Constitutional makeup of the country, which is very important. And he must not be hating black or green or yellow.

He must be a universal fellow who is fair like Tunku, or even his successors like Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and Tun Hussein Onn. They were aware of the responsibility. It is not just ruling Umno but ruling the country.

Many Malays I came across when I campaigned told me we must recapture the old ways. I said, “What is it?”

They told me they did not like seeing Zahid following Anwar. “Why must we play second fiddle? We are supposed to represent the Malays. Anwar doesn’t represent the Malays,” they told me.

“We must stop this, that every time Anwar comes in, you have to stand up. And when he goes away, you have to stand up. Umno doesn’t behave like that. The Malays don’t behave like that. Adat [custom],” they told me.

It is a very strong point.

We need to think of a clean person with no interest in things other than the people and the country. Tunku did not have anything when he died. Tun Razak, too, had nothing. Tun Hussein also the same. [Deputy prime minister, 1970-1973] Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman too.

> What’s next?

Suppose Umno is reorganised with new leadership serious about wanting to look after the welfare of all the people and not just Malays. Using [a reorganised] Umno as a vehicle to serve, things can change for the better.

But if the bulk of the Malays do not support any movement that will take power, then all is doomed because the Malays are the majority in this country. If you don’t heed their interests or concerns, you’re already out.

You can have hodgepodge votes like what PAS or Perikatan Nasional have today. But that’s not enough to marshal the country together. All this while, from 1955, we were “stable” in the sense of inverted commas because the Malays were always there.

Many people worry about Anwar. Can Anwar marshal all these Malay voters? If the Malays are not with you, you don’t have a stable government.

He can get a two-thirds majority or whatever in Parliament. But does he have a big body of Malays behind him? Also, with a big body of Chinese, Indians and the rest in Sabah and Sarawak behind you, you have stability.

My solution is Umno must regain its position through reorganisation or overhauling.

> How stable is Anwar’s position as Prime Minister?

Perikatan is not fighting for fun. They are going for power. The minute the elections were over, they began building blocks to strengthen their position. But Anwar will fight tooth and nail to remain in power.

ANN

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