IN all his speeches at the recently concluded Umno general assembly, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has proven to be the better leader, despite playing third fiddle to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Mohamad Hasan in the party hierarchy.

Ismail looked and sounded like a statesman giving the delegates his views on the general state of affairs in the country, peppering it with the necessary statistics and announcing the new initiatives of his government.

This includes raising the minimum monthly wage from RM1,200 to RM1,500 effective May 1, thus putting money in the pockets of the vulnerable group at a time when cost of living is going up.  

Under his watch, the economy grew 3.6% in the last quarter of last year compared to a contraction of 4.5% in the previous quarter, while foreign direct investment was worth RM24.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year compared to RM12.8 billion in the third quarter.

“This is proof of foreign investors’ confidence in the Umno-led government,” he said amid applause from the delegates. 

“Today, I will like to announce a new investment of RM32 billion to develop the Automative High-Technology Valley in Proton City, Tanjong Malim Perak. 

“This investment from DRB-Hicom will generate 370,000 employment opportunities during the development phase and 161,000 employment during the operational phase,” he added to a standing ovation.

Compare this with the speeches of Zahid and Mohamad, who are all about the parochial outlook of Umno, Umno and Umno, not even BN. 

One initiative announced by Zahid is the launch of Umno’s own school of politics to boost the political education of its future members and spread its ideology. 

This is a mere intensification of the indoctrination of the rakyat, which will only benefit Umno. And what is Umno’s ideology? The so-called court and minister clusters will have different views of it.

Mohamad’s speech consisted of nothing more than a call to further hurt the enemies when they are weak by holding a general election (GE15) soon.

This sounds more like a page taken from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, but Mohamad may have missed the part where Sun Tzu said such a strategy should not be openly declared lest your weakened enemies know and make some countermoves that will leave you bleeding profusely. 

Thus, it is clear if an Umno-led government helmed by a member of the court cluster as its PM were the reality, the greatest beneficiary will be Umno and its cronies, just like what it was for some 60 years ago.

On the contrary, if an Umno-led government is helmed by a member of the minister cluster, the greatest beneficiary will immensely be the rakyat including all Umno members. 

There is now an intermission in the looming battle in Umno as the court cluster failed to push through a call for the dissolution of parliament.

The court cluster is at pains to convince the delegates that everything is all right and that there is no split in Umno when the opposite is true for all to see.

The court cluster is under the delusion the big win in the Johor election was a victory of its making when it was the work of the party as a whole, the prime minister and his cabinet, and the menteris besar and chief ministers.

Even opposition parties such as Muda, Warisan and Pejuang had played a “positive” role in contributing to the landslide win. Thus it is good that the Johor royalty knocks some sense into the head of the court cluster by appointing a different MB than the one it prefers.

This has stifled the court cluster’s clamour for elections and was also why Umno Youth delegates from Johor were not allowed to speak abut the MB issue.

The battle in Umno started on election night when Umno and BN supporters shouted “Bubar parlimen” (Dissolve parliament) at Ismail as he walked past a jubilant crowd at the Johor Umno headquarters to await the official results of the state elections.

All comments that night were like guns trained on Ismail Sabri, along with the snubbing he received from Zahid, who allowed a small group of people to shout “bubar parlimen” at the PM, and who made no mention of the PM while thanking BN leaders for the big win in Johor in his victory speech.

The battle lines were clearly drawn that night. The court cluster is no longer limited to just those with court cases but also includes those who are “sick” of Najib Razak being associated with the 1MDB issue and those who want the GE15 to be held quickly.

To his credit, Ismail took all the snubs in his stride and remained quiet throughout and responded only the next day with firmness that only BN would decide when to call an election and not a small group of people “screaming” for it.

“What is important is that the rakyat’s interests need to be taken care of, which is why I said, it is not yet time for the general election. Let us wait,” added Ismail.

The PM’s approach is also praiseworthy because it is in line with the Islamic concept of “musyawarah” (consultation), unlike the decision of the Johor Umno to dissolve the state assembly.

There has been only one real moment of unity between the court and minister clusters and it took place when they closed ranks and were united in nominating their vice-president Ismail as the new PM way back in August last year.

This unity paved the way for an Umo/BN victory in the sudden Malacca elections, in which the leader of the court cluster, Najib played a key role.

The talk then was that Najib was tipped to be appointed economic adviser to the government. But when this did not materialise, the court cluster continued to scheme, which has led to the battle presently taking shape.

MPs have even brought the matter up in Parliament as the delay in the reappointment is irregular and could raise many questions over the fate of the court cluster.

But the court cluster has an ace up their sleeves and that is the resolution to approve a motion to postpone party elections to six months after GE15.

This means that Zahid will be in an important position to decide who will be Umno/BN candidates in GE15.

And note the defiance in Mohamad’s warning to Ismail: “I also ask the PM to please pay attention to this matter. If we write (about this motion) to the RoS, no one should obstruct our party’s decision.” 

As for Zahid, he seemed to have made an awkward compromise when in his address, he implied that Ismail would be allowed to remain PM should the Umno-led BN coalition return to power after GE15. – March 21, 2022.

* Jamari Mohtar reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.