Sunday, June 09, 2013

This rubbish about no contest


An anonymous commentator here described the no contest call by several UMNO leaders for the position of President and Deputy President of UMNO as rubbish. It gives the wrong signal to UMNO members and voters.

It is as though UMNO leaders are only interested in preserving their position in the party and not it's struggle.

And, that perception have been spreading since the pathetic candidate list and later after the general election, the cabinet list that came out of the war room, UMNO headquarter and Dato Najib's office.

Do not compare to opposition parties, because the voters have a higher expectation on UMNO. BN candidates must not be just legally fine and halal, but halaalan toyyiba. Voters expect democrasy be  preached and practised in UMNO.

If the President and Deputy President had served well, everybody will support them.

Since Najib had been man enough to face the rakyat and do battle with the fiesty opposition to get a new mandate for UMNO and BN, he should be man enough to face the members to affirm his mandate as party leader.

Why the silence, Najib?

Najib's Words in 2009

Najib promised reform in 2009

Blogger Life of Annie here politely expressed her disappointment should the call of no contest turned out to be true:
Well, I'm not against DS Najib Razak to continue as Umno president and prime minister.

It's just that I remember cheering for him when he announced at the first Umno general assembly after he took over as party president about five years ago that he didn't wish not to be challenged or hold any advantage if there is to be a contest for his post.

It was just after he said that Umno will be as democratic as possible with the introduction of a new voting system for the party election which was to be anchored at the grassroots level.

 Yes, I remember cheering and sending a congratulatory text message to one of Datuk Najib's close aide when he said all that.



Below is an extract of Najib's maiden speech as UMNO President at the UMNO General Assembly at the Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre in the morning of October 19th, 2009:
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan,

69. Menuju ke arah ini, pertamanya, UMNO telah bertindak berani meminda perlembagaan parti untuk menjadikannya lebih telus, inklusif dan demokratik. Nampaknya, langkah kita telah menyebabkan pihak-pihak tertentu melatah, hingga ada yang tanpa segan silu cuba meniru dan sekonyong-konyong meminda perlembagaan parti mereka, sekalipun tanpa perincian yang rapi. Inilah tembelang, aliran dan gaya sebenar mereka, suka membuat janji umum yang tidak pula ada susulan tertentu.

70. Berbanding pindaan yang kita lakukan ini, bukan sekadar bersifat kosmetik mahu pun tempel-tempelan, sebaliknya ia merupakan perubahan secara tuntas dan signifikan. Ia akan meluaskan bilangan ahli yang terlibat sama secara langsung untuk memilih kepimpinan parti. Ia membabitkan anjakan angka daripada sejumlah 2,500 perwakilan kepada lebih 146,000 orang. Inilah petanda, bahawa semangat demokrasi hidup segar dan hidup subur dalam UMNO. Nyatanya, tidak ada mana-mana parti politik di Malaysia yang berani bertindak sedemikian rupa. Dengan itu, saya ingin mengingatkan kepada semua pihak, setelah pindaan kita lakukan, berhijrahlah meninggalkan gejala negatif seperti politik wang, supaya kita menjadi parti yang bersih dan dihormati.

71. Keduanya, berkaitan dengan cara parti memilih calon. KPI atau Petunjuk Prestasi Utama termustahak bagi sesebuah parti politik ialah untuk memenangi pilihanraya dan membentuk kerajaan yang kuat serta stabil. Dalam memenuhi maksud ini, kita perlu mencari calon yang betul. Untuk itu, kita akan mengubah kriteria menentukan calon.

72. Maknanya, dalam memilih calon, individu itu perlulah seseorang yang diterima masyarakat tempatan di samping mempunyai kualiti untuk berkhidmat kepada tiga peringkat penting, yakni, peringkat rakyat, peringkat parti dan peringkat negara. Pada analisa akhir, inilah calon yang dikehendaki rakyat dan akan memenangi pilihanraya.

73. Ketiganya, budaya berparti dalam UMNO haruslah bersifat inklusif dan bukannya insular atau, terpulau. Lebih banyak program penataran yakni harus dilaksanakan. Dalam konteks ini, seperkara yang harus diingat, ia tidak seharusnya terbatas kepada ahli UMNO semata-mata bahkan hendaklah melebarluas kepada semua orang Melayu dan bukan Melayu.
Was the candidate list in accordance to those state criterias or there still exist ad-hoc parachutes from above? Has UMNO open itself in the last 4 years to be more inclusive to non members; Malays and non-Malays?

And now, we hear of a no contest call which means less transparent, less inclusive and less democratic. 

Walk the Talk

Najib's reluctant smile on victory night
Like Annie, we are merely supporters. Our views does not matter. It is up to UMNO and their members to decide.

However, should the President and his Deputy allowed no contest to happen, we have to remind them that the public and UMNO members on the ground will view it as a cheap attempt at self preservation of power. They matter most.

PM will be seen as not walking the talk on his own agenda transformasi. UMNO and it's leadership will be seen as not true to their words and deviate from the political transformation plan that they had plan to put in place.

In the first opportunity to implement the new system, UMNO is seen as making a concerted effort to deny a more sizeable number of it's members to exercise a right that have long been denied to all it's members in the selection of the party's leadership.

UMNO will lose the plot and locus standi to criticise any undemocratic practises of the opposition, particularly DAP and PKR.

Since Dato Mohamed Hasan of Negeri Sembilan made the no contest statement, many such as Dato Mukhriz, Khairy Jamaluddin, Dato Razali Ibrahim and others have echoed the same.

But, there is no attempt by the UMNO President to stop this "rubbish." Has he not shake off that 11th hour decision making habit?

Or he is allowing the no contest call to gain momentum and reach the grassroots?

Self Preservation


Another perception that will arise from this no contest call is that the President is insecure of his position. It will be seen that he has no confidence with his adviser-generated policies that he dare not face members.

We view the contest will dispell such perception and also the perception that he was willing to sacrifice the party from a larger victory in order to preserve himself. There is a widespread view in the party that the generally unacceptable "winnable" candidate list was to preserve PM's position in the party.

While there are many parties that had prepared candidate lists, including the BN Chairman, component party Presidents, UMNO Secretary General and War Room, the decision sits with Najib.

After election, sources claimed that PM's leading advisers, Dato Alies Nor and Dato Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis of the war room fame had urged Najib to select cabinet members that would fortify his position in the party.

It is heard that war room was partly responsible to recommend the latest cabinet appointments with it's ridiculous mathematics.

It explains for the presence of tarnished, expired and overstayed names like Dato Shahidan Kassim, Dato Mahadzir Khalid, Tengku Dato Adnan Tengku Mansor, Dato Nazri, etc. There is also questionable appointments like Dato Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis as Special Adviser and Tan Sri Nor Moahamed Yakcop as Deputy Chairman of Khazanah.

Basically, there are the presence of many state political warlords and operators to preserve PM. Words are the present cabinet is temporary and the real team will be after the November party election.

Again, the cabinet membership is the prerogative of Najib.

All these talk does not make good sense because the affair of the party should be independent from the affairs of getting re-elected and governing. If true, it only provide further basis that Najib should distance himself from these advisers or else his ability to make decision is suspect.

Money politics

Part of the reason for the new system is also to eradicate money politics using the process of democrasy. 

It is our belief that money politics is intertwined with Malay feudalism. Thus, we welcome a contest because it is in the right direction to end the imbedded culture of feudalism in UMNO and Malay society. 

Sociologists have long viewed past Malay court behaviour as sadistic and it arise from the practise of blind loyalty.

The feudal chief to serf relationship of provider and benefactor still remain till today. That dependent psychology is a mental block and hindrance to Malay progress. [Read our past posting in 2008 here.] 

Maybe we are socialistic. So what? Aren't we hearing lots of bandying of the term rakyat these days?

Why worry?



From our ground analysis, Najib should not have any problem to get re-elected, thus he should not feel insecure. He has got several states in his hand and it should thwart off any attempt to dethrone him.

Those reluctant to see a contest, including those mentioned leaders, are worried that a tight race in the party will be bad for the party. Where are their senses?

If PM can be so open and receptive to the onslaught from the opposition, in which there are reasons to believe that they are backed by western powers, and won convincingly, why should he be so insecure with his own party members?

So what if there is another Sulaiman Palestin to surface and mount a challenge or a token challenge to deliver a message?

It is good feedback to the populist strategies he had adopted. At least, PM can gauge and see for himself the quantifiable KPI of acceptability with UMNO members for the policies of Omar Ong's Ethos Consulting and associate, McKenzie & Associates.


If we are Najib's Penasihat, we would advise him to contest because he will come out stronger after many baptism of fire. Tun Dr Mahathir went through many challenges. Hopefully one day, Najib will be acknowledged by historian and academics as a social liberator.

This is the new millenium and an open Malaysia could not accept undemocratic practises of the past. Like it or not, the decision today will build up towards the perception and poll results for 2018.

16 comments:

Sustainable Living Institute (SAVE) said...

Najib said stop politicking but he is the onemost culprit. NS is lost for change. Najib "pasang kaki" - KJ, Hassan Isa, Rosmah. Rais has been neutralised. He listened he said but not listening. He wants to outdo Anwar's game, your enemy is my friend. Take that Hindraf fellow being made senator. He and wife wore the largest garland (blessed by Ganesh?)at Bt Caves. Anwar got dotted on his forehead. His was Vatican first then Mekah. His eyes used to be buntal but getting sepet in many of the pictures pre-PRU13. He tries to act smart but things prove differently. Najib is a pretender.

He was given chance once to prove himself. He should not be given another chance otherwise that's the end of UMNO and the Malay's political edge.

Anonymous said...

Tuan Haji,

TKasih & Tahniah on yet another cogent posting. as an umno member i'm aghast that the no-contest idea has been floated. this really reflects poorly on the leadership and will most definitely impact the party negatively in ge14. as you rightly said this is being perceived as an attempt at selfpreservation. dont they know that the electorate which mind you is fast changing, is increasingly critical of umno? this is the other thing that is troubling me: that umno leaders dont seem to have the mental capacity to attempt a strategic intiative consistent with the sentiments on the ground. and these are the same people talking about political transformation? Sheeshhh!

Mat Adil said...

Hear! Hear! It really is a stoopid idea. If intention is to avoid disunity, why only no contest for president & deputy? Why not for ALL posts, vice presidents supreme council members, divisional chief, deputy, vice-chief and committee members right down to branches?

Ahmad Albab said...

What nonsense! I thought umno wants to be democratic & inclusive, having increased the number of party delegates to 150,000 via a constitutional amendment. Alas, at the very first opportunity these fellows pour cold water just to endear themselves to the big boss. I'm also a staunch umno member but these people are putting the final nails to the party coffin!

Anonymous said...

Sejak jadi PM banyak isu telah dibangkitkan dari NFC sampai skrg Najib tak pernah bersuara.
Najib bukan pemimpin tapi yg dipimpin olih Rosmah dan pembangkang.

Confused said...

Brick,
What you are saying about Najib and explained at length by other So Po blogs. I believe there was one called the Pirates blog who provided deep insight and called for TSMY to challenge Najib but was "boycotted" by the UMNO big blogs. I think he mentioned something about 1MDB in his posting.

But you had convinced us all to support Najib and now we have to be responsible for the decision. Najib's advisers are part of the package, and they are well paid and smart. After all, they even managed to help Goldman Sachs earn RM 1.5 billion arranging bond deals for Malaysia see here .

We must accept this fate and not be jealous. If we have to work harder for little reward we cannot merajuk but must support the PM and ask for no contest.

Anonymous said...

and soon, in the near future, some will say 'no contest' again because they need stability (or something like that) to prepare for GE14.....

and it goes on & on & on..

see where all this will lead to?

c'mon umno, bangkit la daripada tidor tu.

the very essence of any democracy is the abilty to refresh and renew itself. for the better.

and if the incumbent wins, then he wins. apa susah sangat ni?

Anonymous said...

Well Bro,

The thing is we are not Najib the Cold Heart 's advisers. We are just mere one-vote valued Malay. Me, just another ordinary Umno member perceived as no brainer to Najib the Cold Heart's advisers and Najib the Cold Heart himself. Najib the Cold Heart and his line-up of 'world class' brainers who knows it all everything under the sky and the world-revolve-around-me kind of persons aka the narsicistics, will never change, will never listen, will never follow all the laws as enshrined in the Fed. Constitution and will not respect it; and Najib the Cold Heart and his cohorts will not give an iota of respect to the Malays who had decided to put him and Umno intact in pru13 simply because, Najib the Cold Heart is too shallow to digest all these knowledge in LEADERSHIP. Hence, Najib the Cold Heart has been enormously successful in turning UMNO into an indifference party (as stated by Life of Annie). Najib and his cohorts have all turned into King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

What's his IQ level, btw? I'm dead serious Bro. Is he qualified for the job or not?

Kamal said...

Bro.

Zaid hamid just comfirm that they have agree among themself ,thebtop two post will not be contested.

Next week Tengku Razalign will announce,he will contest the top post if there is a nomination for him. For sure UMNO selangor will niminated him.

Let see.

Anonymous said...

LETS FACE UP TO THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION!

IF NAJIB REMAINS AT THE HELM OF UMNO AND BN WILL THERE BE ANY CHANCE OF BN IMPROVING ITS POSITION IN THE NEXT GE?!

Looking at his Track Record and Capability the Right Answer Would be No!

So Isn't it Obvious What Should be Done.

Maintaining the Status Quo Is Tantamount to Suicide by BN and UMNO.



AhliUmno

Anonymous said...

LETS FACE UP TO THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION!

IF NAJIB REMAINS AT THE HELM OF UMNO AND BN WILL THERE BE ANY CHANCE OF BN IMPROVING ITS POSITION IN THE NEXT GE?!

Looking at his Track Record and Capability the Right Answer Would be No!

So Isn't it Obvious What Should be Done.

Maintaining the Status Quo Is Tantamount to Suicide by BN and UMNO.



AhliUmno

IntelInside said...

Bro Brick,
Najib is a typical political animal who harbours delusions of grandeur. He is very much consumed by the desire to be popular to everybody. A typical trait of his is to avoid taking the hard decisions which may antagonise an individual or group against the other. this weakness is exploited to the hilt by many quarters around him, including officers in the PM's office. their transgressions have been reported to him but he has shied away from taking action. Certain officers are so irresponsible to the extent of issuing security passes to the PM's office to outsiders including contractors for money.

Anonymous said...

hi bro,

thanks for the post, whether you are just testing the market or you really meant to start the ball rolling, you have hit the right note of a song many like to sing.

The question is this -- since when UMNO not feudal? Tepuk dada tanya selera.

No contest, means PM Najib will continue to be the president, which i think he deserves to be there for two more terms.

but the bigger game, is to take out TSM and Zahid by slowing them down, stalling them and age them out of the race so that the younger cousin can be ready to takeover, so that the party Bangsawan will always in power.

Gone are the days where an ordinary grassroots doctor selling goreng pisang in Pekan Rabu can become the highest leader of the nation, in your dreams bro.

Feudalism sudah sebati dengan UMNO. terima hakikat, terima realiti, terima kasih.


Anonymous said...

if there is no contest for all the post in UMNO then Najib is not fulfilling his promise. Najib should lead not be lead by those who have vested interest. Come on Najib " be a man " like Russel Peters said. 'Be a man'

Anonymous said...

Not having any contest will put UMNO in a poor light, As a beacon of democracy, it must have contests for all positions to give credebce and legitimacy.

However those at the top did not seem to do their job. Despite winning 88 seats, why did they lose in places where they were expected to win?

KJ did not do his job as Ketua Pemuda and I think Ahmad Maslan failed as Info Chief.

Under the current leadership, Malays seemed to be more marginalized. And I fear for the generations that comes after. Everything that has been provided under the Constitution for the Malays and other Bumiputras has been compromised just for the sake of pro-vice, corruption and illicit business deals.

Najib should be saying his goodbyes without being forced down his throat. Malays are already beggars on their home turf and Najib is smiling with the slant eyes snakes....

Anonymous said...

To Anon who Thinks that Feudalism is the Way to go for UMNO.

Feudalism and People Power as in Voters Choice Do not Mix as in Oil in Water.

UMNO practising Feudalism is denying the fact that people outside of UMNO can decide who they want as their government and hence their leader.

To Succeed outside of UMNO means UMNO has to cheat and manipulate to garner non UMNO votes and that may not be easy as the non malays may not cooperate.

So to operate in Malaysia of the present and future the leaders of UMNO has to let its members decide and stand by the decision in thick an thin. Denying them that will be denying their right as stakeholders in the party and they have the right to deny the feudal lords their votes in the GE.


AhliUmno

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