IN all his speeches at the recently concluded UMNO General Assembly, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has proven to be the better leader, despite playing third fiddle to UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (Tok Mat) in the party leadership hierarchy.
Ismail Sabri looked and sounded like a statesman giving the delegates his views on the general state of affairs in the country, peppering it with the necessary statistics ala a state of union address of a US president and announced several new initiatives of his Government.
This includes increasing the minimum monthly wage from RM1,200 to RM1,500 nationwide effective May 1, thus putting monies in the pockets of the vulnerable group at a time when cost of living is going up.
Under his watch, the economy has grown to 3.6% in the last quarter of last year compared to a contraction of 4.5% in the previous quarter, while foreign direct investment was worth RM24.7 bil in the fourth quarter of last year as compared to RM12.8 bil in the third quarter.
“This is proof of foreign investors’ confidence in the UMNO-led Government,” he said amid applause from the delegates.
“Today, I will like to announce a new investment of RM32 bil for developing the Automative High-Technology Valley at Proton City, Tanjong Malim Perak.
“This investment from DRB-Hicom will generate 370,000 employment opportunities throughout the development phase and 161,000 employments throughout the operational phase,” he added amid a standing ovation from the delegates.
Compare this with the speeches of Zahid and Mohamad Hasan, and they are all about the parochial outlook of UMNO all the way, not even Barisan Nasional (BN).
One initiative announced by Zahid is the launch of UMNO’s own school of politics to boost the political education of its future members and spread its ideology.
This is mere intensification of the indoctrination of the rakyat with UMNO’s ideology, which will only benefit the party and not the rakyat at large.
And what is UMNO’s ideology? Well, the “court cluster” will have a different view of this ideology compared to the “Cabinet cluster”.
While Mohamad Hasan’s speech consisted of nothing more than hurting the enemies more when they are so weak, by holding the 15th General Election (GE15) soon.
Melaka, Johor win made UMNO cocky
This sounds more like a page taken from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War but Mohamad Hasan may have missed the part where Sun Tzu said such strategy should not be said openly, lest your weakened enemies know and make some countermoves that will leave you bleeding profusely.
Thus, it is clear if an UMNO-led Government helmed by a member of the “court cluster” as its PM were the reality, the greatest beneficiary will be UMNO and its cronies, just like what it was for some 60 years.
On the contrary, if an UMNO-led Government is helmed by a member of the “Cabinet cluster”, the greatest beneficiary will immensely be the rakyat, including all UMNO members.
There is now an interregnum in the looming battle in UMNO at the end of the recently concluded general assembly, when the “court cluster” failed to push for the dissolution of Parliament to make way for GE15.
It is now the “court cluster,” which is at pain in convincing the delegates that everything is all right and there is no cluster in UMNO.
The problem with politicians is when negative thing such as disunity is obviously taking place in the party, they will go into a denial mode by putting on an act of unity claiming that there is no disunity when disunity is there for all to see.
The court cluster is under the delusion the BIG win in the Johor election is a victory of its own making when many contributed as well to the victory – UMNO leadership, the prime minister, ministers, deputy ministers, chief ministers and division heads nationwide.
Even Opposition parties like the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), Parti Warisan Sabah and Parti Pejuang Tanah air had played a “positive” role in contributing to this BIG win.
Thus, it was good that the Johor royalty knocked some sense on the head of the “court cluster” by appointing a menteri besar who is different from their confident expectation.
This has blunted the “court cluster’s” attempt to go all out clamouring for GE15 to be held soon, and is also the reason why UMNO Youth delegates from Johor were not allowed to speak due to the sensitivity of the MB issue. – March 21, 2022
Jamari Mohtar is the Editor of Let’s Talk!, an e-newsletter on current affairs.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Pic credit: Amir Khalid / Media Mulia Sdn Bhd
