By Datuk Zaid Ibrahim
MANY political writers are actively writing nowadays; probably the lockdown spurs them to do so. One of them is my friend Rosli Azad Khan, who recently wrote a piece in Free Malaysia Today, saying that Umno must rid itself of warlords if they are to be accepted by the people.
Cut the gangrene, he thundered. A week before that Tun Daim Zainuddin, himself a warlord of immense power, said the same thing. Who are actually the warlords? It will be helpful if we know the name of Umno leaders who should be deposed.
Are they referring to those facing criminal charges like Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak?
For starters, a warlord in the Middle Ages is someone with military power and sits high in the feudal hierarchy; just below the monarch. They were the Shoguns in Japan, followed by the Daimyos; and the Knights and Dukes in feudal Europe.
The lower strata were the peasants and serfs. Now in the world of organsied crime, we have the Godfather, who wield power and influence, without formality.
Political organisations are no different. They have a hierarchy of leaders. They have their own Shogun and the Daimyos. In Umno, they had their version of Ieyasu of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a strong leader who controlled the warring factions.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was Umno’s Ieyasu; he was the first Umno Shogun.
Tokugawa only ended when the Satsuma and Chosu combined forces to enable the ascension of a teenage Emperor Meiji 240 years later. Similarly, Umno too lost power when its own Shogun Mahathir combined forces with PKR and DAP Shoguns.
Only a strong Shogun can exercise control of the members and voters. They need to have established network within the political organisation and by their patronage, they are in control of key levers of power. Naturally, they need huge sums of money for that purpose; not to mention to fund elections.
So, please do not belittle the warlords, for they are an essential part of any political structure throughout the ages.
Mahathir (assisted by Daim) was the most powerful Shogun in Umno’s history. For over three decades, they were in complete control of the party and its resources. Why do you think he was able to dictate who succeeded him and who should be removed?
He was able to freely criticise any incumbent Prime Minister without any consequence to himself. He was that powerful. According to sources, he was behind the Sheraton Move to bring Umno and others whom were willing to submit to him, into the fold of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
He was on the road to having Umno operate under his new party. Unfortunately, he was upended by his own right-hand Daimyo; who is now the Shogun for Bersatu.
“Senior Shogun” Dr M outgunned Najib
Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is also a Shogun in Umno. When he became premier in 2009, he knew very early the control of the party and its resources were still in the hands of Mahathir and his Daimyos in Umno.
He knew that he could not be independent of the Mahathir-ness, so he built his own financial resources to be a strong Shogun in the party. He did not want the Crooked Bridge and he did not want Proton to continue bleeding the country.
A turf war began to take shape. He courted the Saudi King Abdullah who gave him generously, although the court did not believe the story. He wanted 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) to succeed so he could use the sovereign fund to develop the country and the poorer segments of society; the B40 who are actually like the peasant class of the old days.
But Najib did not expect those closest to him; and his trusted lieutenants to betray him. Fugitive businessman Jho Low was more sophisticated and devious than most people expect of a young man.
I think Jho Low was working with Najib for sure, but at the same time, he was also working with his enemies, without Najib even knowing. That is why he could not be found but that is just my hunch!
Coming back to Umno, what do the party members have to do? Remove Najib because he is facing multiple criminal charges? But it is not so simple. If I am a Umno member, I will have to ponder deeply and at least consider the probability that Najib was a victim of a political conspiracy.
Maybe he does not deserve the label “a thief and a kleptocrat” that the former Shogun had used on him. Of course, the court will decide all these issues’ but as a member of the party, one must not abandon your leader easily.
Think of the good things he has done for you. Look at the facts and wear the hat of a juror. Decide for yourself if your Shogun would take a bribe of RM42 mil (and put the money into his account) when you know that Shoguns do not take RM42 mil; but more like RM400 mil at any one time.
Your Shogun had been dragged to court many times; but he was unflappable and always looks patent, calm and relaxed displaying exemplary personal character worthy of a Shogun. And he always told friends that he will clear his name. If you believe him, then you must stand up and defend him, and not let his enemies cloud your judgement.
On the other hand, if you believe he is a kleptocrat and a thief, abandon him and join Bersatu. I am assuming you believe the leaders (Shoguns) in Bersatu do not take political donations; never offered bribes to entice support, always pay their taxes and never abused their power. That is for you to reflect and ponder.
Do I have answers on how to revive Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno? I don’t, but certainly not by removing Najib.
I am more inclined to believe Umno and BN have better chances of coming back to power if you make him stronger and let him lead the charge. But then I am not a Umno member, so what do I know. – June 5, 2021.
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was a former law minister. This post was earlier published on his Facebook page.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
