GHAZALI is a former Umno Youth leader in Marang, Terengganu, and self-professed Barisan Nasional fan.

But on May 9, the 33-year-old restaurant manager and his friends, also Umno supporters, voted against the party they loved and had worked for.

Ghazali is one of the thousands of active Umno members who party bosses believe cast protest votes, which then caused it to lose a record 33 seats – its worst electoral defeat in history.

“We love Umno. We love Barisan Nasional. But we can’t stand Najib Razak, we want to get rid of him,” Ghazali told Malaysia Decides about how he and his colleagues voted.

For Ghazali, Umno president Najib was a liability to the party due to his involvement in financial scandals and his unpopular policies – the most notable of which was the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Najib resigned from all his posts in Umno and BN yesterday.

Activists who actively campaigned for Umno believe that the revolt from its members and traditional supporters was a deciding factor in some of its most unexpected losses from Terengganu to the Klang valley to its fortress in Johor.

“We lost leaders who were popular and respected by the grassroots. These were hardworking leaders,” said Rizal Zulkifli of Segambut Umno.

These included ex-Felda chairman Shahrir Samad, and ex-ministers Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin and Ahmad Shabery Cheek in Lembah Pantai and Kemaman, respectively. Johor menteri besar Khaled Nordin and ex-Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam were also casualties.

Shahrir, for instance, went from having a comfortable majority of 10,100 votes in 2013 to losing by 29,000 votes in 2018.

Another surprising casualty was Raja Nong Chik, who had worked tirelessly to recapture Lembah Pantai from Pakatan Harapan.

“Fahmi was young boy who had just entered our village. Raja Nong Chik’s programmes were so well attended and he started serving the constituency non-stop for nine years,” said Lembah Pantai Umno activist Roslan Rasili.

One explanation was that Umno had even lost the vote in the low cost flats that were its traditional support base in Lembah Pantai.‎Another was that a significant portion of police personnel from Bukit Aman - traditional Umno voters- supported Fahmi.

In Terengganu, Umno’s slate of candidates were reflective of the cracks within the state between former Menteri Besar Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman and veterans in its eight divisions, said political scientist Dr Mazlan Ali.

“Umno members had trouble supporting at least eight of the new candidates. They were said to be cronies who were chosen over popular division chiefs,” said Mazlan, who did three surveys in the East Coast state before and during the election.

Party supreme council member Puad Zarkashi said the same thing occurred in Johor when local division chiefs were not invited to meetings to discuss candidates. Puad blamed Khaled and vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein for mismanaging the candidate selection process. – May 13, 2018.