KUALA LUMPUR, DEC 11 – About one third of UMNO president Najib Razak’s policy speech at the general assembly yesterday was about healing rifts, between him and his internal critics and also between the party and its political rival, PAS. But of all these, it is the feud between him and his benefactor-turned-nemesis, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, that is perhaps the most intractable.
As Najib made another heartfelt plea to mend ties with the former prime minister and UMNO president, there were signs among the party’s grassroots that Dr Mahathir was going too far in his criticism of Najib. This is causing a dilemma among the grassroots. While they still respect Dr Mahathir, there is a sense that his campaign to oust Najib is wearing away the party’s bedrock of support among older, rural Malays.
So although they say they love and respect Dr Mahathir, those same feelings are holding them back from neutralising him as a threat to their vote bank. Meanwhile, Abdul Malik Saad, a long-time Alor Star division member also said that when he first started attacking Najib everyone paid attention.
Mr Malik, who heads the party’s Alor Melintang branch said Najib kept repeating himself and members started realising that this was strange behaviour. Nowadays, he said they are usually don’t put much stock in what Najib says. Dr Mahathir’s campaign to oust Mr Najib as president has seen him forging alliances with people who have blamed him for gutting the country’s democratic institutions.
In August, he turned up at the Bersih 4 rally, organised by a coalition working to fix the electoral system which it said was broken by Dr Mahathir while in power. Mr Malik said members have not forgotten that during Tun’s time, anyone who went against him would be quickly thrown out of the party.
