A UMNO leader has urged his colleagues to remain strong and committed to the party’s struggles amid moves to undermine and weaken its base.
“Since 2018, there were attempts to deregister Umno when 16 former members were exploited to lie about our decision to postpone the annual general assembly, when the Registrar of Society (ROS) itself had approved it.
“In addition, several leaders were also threatened with legal action if they do not support moves to deregister Umno. We were pressured by the then Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) Government but we stood firm, albeit some have left the party to save their own skin,” said Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, in a Facebook post.
Since Umno joined the Perikatan Nasional coalition, the nationalist party has been at loggerheads with its ally, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) over several issues.
Umno leaders have accused Pribumi of leveraging on its hold on key Government positions, including the premiership, to entice the former’s members to join the latter, in a move to weaken its base.
Among key leaders from Umno who had defected to Bersatu were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.
While Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa serves as Umno secretary- general, his colleagues have scorned him for his soft-spot for Bersatu, so much so that he was removed as Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary general.
Pribumi, on other hand, have accused Umno of trying to undermine Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin out of spite and “big brother” syndrome.
Be humble, learn from past mistakes
Last week, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had announced that his party would sever ties with Perikatan once general election is called.
Hurling brickbats against defectors, Asyraf said he was aghast that those who had benefitted greatly from Umno had the cheek to badmouth the party, adding they were also “strangely” removed from any criminal proceedings.
He added that the move to weaken Umno has not ended, as “powers that be” continued to use the “knife, pen and cheque book” strategy to create division in the party.
“However, Alhamdulillah, Umno still survives until today. Unlike others, our party derives its strength from its massive and yet sincere 3.5 million grassroots members.
“So, don’t blame Umno. The fault lies with several ungrateful and selfish leaders, who deserted us during our trying times.
“But everything happens for a reason. So, let’s not be arrogant and continue to improve ourselves, instead of dancing to the tune of those who betray us,” he remarked. – March 9, 2021.
