A DO or die general election, race and religion, and a better track record as prime minister than Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s formed the key points in Umno president Najib Razak’s speech yesterday as he used the party’s annual assembly to gear the rank and file to face what he termed “the father of all general elections”.

But it was more than just a motivational speech to the party faithful.

As Umno leaders from Hishammuddin Hussein to Khairy Jamaluddin to Shahrizat Jalil put it, the speech was also targeted at the nation’s 14.3 million voters and spelled out what the ruling Malay party offers them.

Political analysts said Najib was essentially sounding a war cry for Umno going into the 14th general election next year.

Najib covered everything that he wanted the party to employ in GE14, from strategy to Umno’s message to win voters.

But the speech also showed what his main worries are and what he perceives to be the biggest threats to the party ambition to stay in power.

“This was no ordinary party speech. This was basically an election speech, signalling the start of the campaign for GE14,” said political scientist Prof James Chin.

The “GE torch has been lit” said another analyst Hisommudin Bakar of Ilham Centre.

“He instilled in his members the fear that if they lose this election, the Malays will lose power and their children will blame them for ruining the future.”

‘Better achievements than Dr Mahathir’

Najib dedicated about one third of the speech to the technical methods of campaigning. This included his five clarion calls to members to focus on teamwork, confidence, speed, social campaigns, and being thorough.

Another one-third was spent on his track record as prime minister, which included policy and economic milestones, during his two-term administration which began in 2009.

These vaunted accomplishments ranged from mega projects such as the Klang Valley MRT system and the Pan-Borneo highway to socio-economic programmes like the Malaysian Indian Blueprint.

He also spoke about his achievements of having made the country a top emerging economy according to the World Economic Forum and increasing the country’s international reserves to RM429 billion.

These big macro numbers, said Ilham Centre’s Hisommudin, are the success stories that Najib wants Umno members to take to the public.

“It’s also his way of distinguishing how he has achieved more than (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir, because he kept comparing them to those of a ‘former statesman’,” said Hisommudin.

For instance, Najib contrasted the RM429 billion international reserves the country accumulated during his term, with the RM59.1 billion during Dr Mahathir’s term.

Najib crowed about his economic achievements, said Hisommudin, but said nothing at all about 1Malaysia Development Bhd, nor did he broach solutions to cost of living issues plaguing Malaysians.

“Much of the achievement is in macro economic numbers. But he did not offer any solutions to the real economic problems voters are facing,” he said.

Race and religion

Najib also pushed another big-picture idea aimed at the Malay Muslim vote – that Umno was the protector of the Malay community and the Islamic faith.

This was Najib’s pitch to Malay Muslims and East Malaysia Bumiputera, which constituted 69% of the population, said Chin of the University of Tasmania.

“Although he did not attack the Chinese or the Indians, by emphasising the privileges given to the Bumiputera, he was indirectly telling the Malays and the indigenous people that only Umno would maintain institutional racism for their benefit.

“In other words, Umno does not really need the votes of the Chinese or Indians,” said Chin.

Umno is the lynchpin of the ruling Barisan Nasional and contributes 86 of the 132 seats the coalition holds in Parliament. Umno’s allies include parties that represent East Malaysian ethnic groups as well as Chinese and Indian Malaysians.

But despite the wish to project an Umno that was tolerant of diversity, Chin said at the end of the day, Najib’s speech confirmed that Umno would play the race and Islamic card in GE14.

Main worries

The obsession with Dr Mahathir and his party, Bersatu, shows that Najib sees his former mentor as the number one threat to Umno rule. 

Dr Mahathir fell out with Najib over the 1MDB scandal and has pledged to defeat both Umno president and Umno in GE14. Dr Mahathir now chairs Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan.

“Dr Mahathir is a nightmare for him as a leader and is a big factor for Umno in GE14,” said Hisommudin.

So much so that where PAS used to be the target of attacks, it received only a brief mention in Najib’s speech this time.

“There is only line on PAS (in Najib’s speech) and that is about how Umno will continue to work with it on Muslim issues. Yet, in every election, PAS is the main rival to Umno for the Malay-Muslim vote,” Hisommudin added.

Najib’s silence on the PAS threat has led observers to speculate that he does not want to antagonise the Islamist party and push it towards joining PH.

PAS has said it will lead another opposition coalition, called Gagasan Sejahtera, in GE14, thus paving the way for multi-party contests between BN, PH and the PAS-led coalition. 

Analysts have argued that such contests almost always benefits BN by splitting the anti-BN vote. 

Still, Umno’s concern about Dr Mahathir’s influence and ability to garner votes has seen members turn on the leader they once respected, while the timing of a royal commission of inquiry into forex trading losses sustained Malaysia’s central bank during Dr Mahathir’s administration 30 years ago has raised questions about Putrajaya’s motives in regard to the PH chairman. – December 8, 2017.