The first salvo from N to M

I find that this article from the Malaysia Chronicle a very good read. It is informative and analytical…click here. i will quote part of the article here.

Many Umno watchers believe that the only way for Najib to restore public confidence in his administration and more importantly reclaim his mandate to lead the nation, via his 1Malaysia plan, is to neutralize Mahathir and the ultra-Malay groups that Mahathir patronizes such as Perkasa and MPM.

“I think it no secret at all the Chinese in the PKFZ scandal are the small fry. Even Ling, with all due respect, he was just an order taker. But how does one go after a man the stature of Mahathir without causing an irreversible split in Umno. If Umno is shaken, the rest of nation will also be shaken. This is a fact and the non-Malays must be sensitive and patient,” the Umno watcher said.

“It is very hard to fight off accusations you are betraying your own race, especially hot-head groups like Perkasa and MPM – they politicize and racialise everything you say. Can Najib remain president of Umno if he is seen to be anti-Malay? Does it make sense? To nit-pick and argue at this point in time is wasteful.”

The big picture

According to the Umno source, if Najib were to openly challenge Mahathir and Perkasa, too much effort would be spent on unnecessary racial and political bickering and the economy would plunge to zero.

The better way out was to get the big picture right and then gradually fill in the new power equation. And getting the big picture right meant the first order of the day for Najib must be to reclaim his power. And finally get his 1Malaysia off the ground.

Right now, Najib is unable to move because of Mahathir, who after 22 years of ruling with a fist of iron, does not like the system of governance he set up to be changed. Also, his legacy of vested interests and his bevy of cronies needs to be protected, hence the enormous resistance to let go and let Najib rule as he sees fit.

“This is what the PKFZ is about – to show Mahathir who’s the boss at Umno and to tell Malaysians that he will keep his promises to reform and unify the races. But first of all, he has got to solve this huge problem called Dr M and his legacy from the past,” the watcher said.

Indeed, this opinion piece corresponds to what i said in my post “bring in the other Big Fish too!” a few days ago, after a meeting with N. He did mention that he was facing stiff  resistance over his reform, and he has to move cautiously to bring change.  Indeed i have warned of this in my other article: The ascendancy of the right wing politics.