BY NABIHAH HAMID
Published: 19 August 2015 1:59 PM
Bersih 4 supporters taking a selfie at a
recent launch event for the upcoming rally that may see Umno members
participating for the first time. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 19,
2015.
As Datuk Seri Najib Razak escapes censure from
within Umno, some of his party members are not denying the fact that they will
quietly join the Bersih 4 rally in Kuala Lumpur at the end of this month to
vent their anger at their president.
Sources at the party’s grassroots said the
hopelessness that some members feel towards their leadership have overridden
their traditional animosity towards civil society group Bersih 2.0 and the
opposition, who are the main drivers of the rally on August 29 and 30.
Other Bersih 4 rallies will also be held in
Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, while Malaysians in New York and Melbourne have also
said they will gather to support Bersih's demands for institutional reform and
systemic change.
Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah has also
said that the rally can be seen as a vote of no-confidence against Najib, who
is also prime minister.
Other Umno grassroots personalities, however,
still refute this suggestion, saying that public demonstrations against the
president and the top leadership were “not in Umno’s culture”.
The possibility that Bersih's fourth rally
might see participation by Umno members was first mooted by political analyst
Dr Maszlee Malik, who said he based his theory on the fact that Deputy Home
Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan had said he had no problems with the rally.
This was after Bersih 2.0 had extended an
invitation to Nur Jazlan, a former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman who
has been critical of public sector wastage under Barisan Nasional governments.
If Umno members were to attend Bersih 4, they
would most likely be young ordinary members at the branch level who do not hold
any posts, said party sources.
Keliang Umno branch chief Mohamad Faizal Abdul
Raub said the possibility of members joining Bersih is real, because they have
hit a wall in trying to state their complaints against Najib, who has been hit
by several scandals.
“It is because they do not see any other way
of showing their dissatisfaction towards Najib and his men,” Mohamad told The
Malaysian Insider.
Najib is facing a low-level rebellion within
his party over his overall management of the economy but especially, his
involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Anger towards him peaked when he dropped key
Umno leaders, who had been critical of the 1MDB fiasco, in a Cabinet reshuffle
last month.
Umno veteran Tan Sri Sanusi Junid said he
would not be surprised if party members were driven by their dissatisfaction of
the leadership to join Bersih 4.
“I will not be surprised if Umno members put
aside their hate of the opposition if they lose hope in their leaders,” said
Sanusi, a former Cabinet member during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time as prime
minister.
This anger can be seen in several of the
party’s division meetings recently where members berated Umno’s national
leadership, such as at the Langkawi division meeting.
“When (Langkawi Wanita member) Anina Saadudin
used harsh language towards the leadership, it meant the respect for the
leadership has eroded,” Sanusi said, referring to Anina, whose rant against
Najib was captured on video and has gone viral.
He said there were even Umno members in Johor
who refused cash handouts under the People’s Aid Scheme (BR1M), which shows
that the national leadership can no longer buy support.
Sanusi, however, does not think that any of
the party’s office holders will turn up at the rally for fear of losing their
posts after seeing what happened to former deputy prime minister Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin and former Rural and Regional Development minister Datuk Seri
Shafie Apdal.
Both had been dropped from the Cabinet because
they disagreed with how Najib handled the 1MDB scandal.
Former Puteri Umno leader Haziqah Nasirah Zol
Bahari said she has not decided whether to join the rally but said she
respected Bersih 2.0’s right to hold the gathering.
“I respect the right to assemble peacefully as
it is in the Constitution and is a democratic practice. Even if I do not go, I
respect those who are going,” said Haziqah Nasirah.
Other grassroots leaders, such as Anina, ruled
out the possibility of them attending the rally despite being disgusted with
their leaders.
“I will not go to Bersih because that is not
my way. The rally is to overthrow the government. I do not want to overthrow
the government,” said Anina, who had also accused Najib of lying to three
million Umno members, during her speech at the Langkawi meeting.
Cheras Umno division chief Datuk Seri Syed Ali
Alhabshee also refuted suggestions that Umno members will be at the Bersih 4
rally.
“(The idea) is only opposition provocation to
draw the public into supporting Bersih 4. I am confident that no Umno leaders
will be involved to give moral support to the opposition or the organisers.”
Syed Ali said Umno leaders were mature enough
in facing political crises and that street demonstrations were not their way of
showing their discontent towards their party bosses.
“If there is any protest against the president
and prime minister, it is done through proper channels. Umno leaders will never
get caught up in Bersih’s crazy political games,” Syed Ali added. – August 19,
2015
-See-more-at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bersih-4-may-see-umno-grassroots-joining-protest-against-najib#sthash.Ug77wW8V.dpuf
1 comment:
Demonstrasi tidak akan menyelesaikan masalah pemimpin bugis. Hanya pahlawan aceh boleh.
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