By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed has called on Umno to discard “Abdullah toadies” entirely from the party leadership or face the prospect of losing hold of federal government.
“If the Government of Najib is to be different from that of Abdullah, then Abdullah toadies must not be in,” the former party president said in reference to Datuk Seri Najib Razak's expected victory and appointment as prime minister after the March 2009 party polls.
Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi had promised to handover power to Najib in a mid-2010 transition plan but it has been fast-forwarded to March after intense pressure for him to step down as soon as possible.
Malaysia's longest-serving premier explained that if the wrong leadership was picked, then it would finish off Umno.
“If this were to happen then the incoming leadership of Umno will go down in history as the betrayers of this once glorious and powerful political machine.”
Mahathir, who has been criticising his successor Abdullah for years now, wrote in his blog that it was still unclear whether delegates would back those opposed to Abdullah or otherwise.
With nominations by divisions still ongoing, he reasoned that the lead in the deputy presidency and Wanita chief race by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin - who has been the most vocal in pushing for Abdullah to step down as soon as possible - and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz seemed to signal that the grassroots will back those who have been critical of Abdullah.
“This could end the ambitions of Datuk Azalina Othman Said, one of Abdullah's and Khairy Jamaluddin's most ardent supporters,” he said, referring to Abdullah's son-in-law who is running for Umno Youth chief against Mahathir's son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.
Mahathir also noted that Datuk Shafie Apdal was a strident voice urging Abdullah to step down and is likely to win enough nominations for vice-president.
He warned however, against counting chickens before they hatched as “important though the nomination by divisions to qualify” may be, the final say “lies with the delegates attending the AGM.”
He cited as an example, when his presidency was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in 1987.
“I had more than three-fourths of the division nominations. But I won by only 43 votes.”
“Lots of things can happen when the AGM is held in Kuala Lumpur. I will not be surprised to see a lot of money flow, and a lot of minds changed,” he added, claiming that in 1987, a break for Friday prayers was used to persuade delegates “by one means or another to ignore the decisions of their divisions and to vote for someone else.”
He asserted that it is important that Umno avoids money politics as “the country is watching this Umno elections with bated breath.”
“If the delegates allow their greed to overcome their better judgement then it will be the last time they are the king-makers in Malaysia.”
He explained that under Abdullah's administration, tactics such as “dishing out lucrative jobs and titles, abusing the authority conferred on them, threats of all kinds” were used to safeguard the positions of a few “pretenders.”
“But their assumption was wrong. The division and branch leaders may kowtow to them but the rank and file and the non-member supporters decided to vote for the opposition,” he claimed.
He claimed as proof, the losses suffered in the March 8 general elections and the opposition's increased majority in the Permatang Pauh by-election which allowed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim back into Parliament after a 10 year absence. -- MI
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