THE internal bickering in Umno following the naming of candidates for the November 19 general election is only a storm in a teacup, observers said.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight, they opined that there would be minimal retaliation from grassroots members and it would not cause the party too much damage in the polls.

On Tuesday night, Umno president and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dropped several veteran Umno lawmakers as election candidates.

They include Shahidan Kassim, Annuar Musa, Zahidi Zainul Abidin, Adham Baba, Halimah Mohamed Sadique and Tajuddin Abdul Rahman.

Following that, there had been cases of Umno/BN service centres in these affected areas being closed.

There had also been cases of local Umno divisions protesting “parachute” candidates in their areas, prompting fears of internal sabotage.

Dr Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the “angry reaction” from Umno members was confined to only a small number of places.

He described it as a small-scale response to Zahid and would not impact Umno as a whole.

“There is an impact, but it will only be in the affected areas such as in Arau or Kangar, not the entire Umno,” he said.

“But how bad will it be… that depends on how Umno’s top leaders handle it.

“They will know what to do because Umno is an old party. Retaliation like this is normal and this is not the first time.”

He said Zahid did the right thing by replacing MPs who are not on the same page as the president.

He said Umno could still win the seats where the incumbents were replaced as Umno members would still vote for the party regardless of the candidates.

“If the incumbents who were replaced enter the election as an independent, they will not win. Joining the election with another party is also not a guarantee for them to win because Umno members or supporters will not vote for the candidate; they vote for the party,” he said.

“Zahid did the right thing because he wants Umno to look solid and is led by one man.”

Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, on the other hand, said the internal conflict in Umno can be resolved before nomination day.

He mirrored Mazlan’s sentiment that the conflict was not as bad as it looked.

“Things will be okay before nomination day. The unsatisfied party members will go back to the party and there will be some who are going to be sacked or taken action against,” he said.

“This affair is not as big as it seems. Not 100% of Umno members disagree with Zahid. Only 10% of them are not happy with the decision on the candidates.

“The impact will be small on Umno. It is like a storm in a teacup.”

Agreeing with Mazlan and Awang Azman is Dr Oh Ei Sun from the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

He said the infighting among Umno leaders would not enough to cause much trouble to the party as Umno is still seen as the last bastion for Malay supremacy.

“These dissatisfied non-candidates will affect Umno’s votes a bit, but perhaps not enough to significantly influence its winning chances,” he said.

“This is because Umno’s name recognition, regardless of its candidates, as the defender of Malay supremacy is unmatched, except perhaps in those northeastern states where religious extremism plays a more important role.” – November 3, 2022.