MUCH ado about nothing.

This phrase aptly sums up the big-time announcement by Umno president Najib Razak that former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib had rejoined the ruling party after a sojourn of a few years with the Opposition, chiefly, PAS, and then PKR.

It says much about Umno’s need for a boost that it holds a big-time press conference to announce the recruitment of a political has-been. It says much about Najib’s fragile confidence in Selangor Umno that he needs to turn every small event into a so-called big win for himself and his party.

In the sports world, this would have been akin to Real Madrid calling the world press together, only to say that they had signed a washed out footballer for their first team.

In the world of everyday life, this would have been akin to hosting a big gathering because your child passed his driving test.

When Umno announced that Najib was going to hold a special press conference and that he was going to be flanked by menteris Besar and chief ministers, there was a groundswell of expectation that some big hitters were returning to Umno.

Muhammad Muhammad Taib was a big hitter in a different era. These days, the man once known as Mat Tyson for his tough-guy good looks is just a footnote in history.

And that footnote says: secretly married sister of Selangor’s current sultan; caught transporting several million ringgit in a suitcase by Australian authorities; lost his coveted position as Selangor menteri besar under a cloud; joined the opposition because of disenchantment over his treatment by Umno leadership.

So, why did Najib make a big show of bringing back Muhammad Taib?

One, his return allows Najib to push the narrative in the mainstream media that Umno veterans are returning to the party. Expect the media to ramp up this story and talk about how Umno is being strengthened under Najib. Expect the media to talk about the unravelling of the opposition.

Two, Najib will play up any piece of good news from now till the general election, expected to be held as early as late this year. Every visit by a foreign leader or diplomatic triumph will be milked.

Three, Najib wants to snare Selangor from the opposition. The thinking in Putrajaya is that without the resources from Malaysia’s richest state, the opposition will die a sure death.

The PM believes that Muhammad Taib still has the pull to unite the fractious Selangor Umno bunch and lead the onslaught against the Azmin Ali-led state government.

Perhaps.

But this seems like believing that placing Soh Chin Aun or Santokh Singh or Shukor Salleh back in the Malaysian football team will bring back the glory years.

It won’t. Their time is in the past. Their opponents then have grown to be better and stronger and have surpassed Malaysia in the world ranks. Just as Umno’s political foes have caught up with the longest-ruling party in Malaysia.

Umno needs to do more than trot out has-beens as political coups if it wants to keep the government. It can start with the young, and with policies that resonate with the people of Malaysia. – September 17, 2017.