Arrogance, Dr Mahathir killed BN in GE14, says ex-Umno minister

Muzliza Mustafa Nabihah Hamid Muzliza Mustafa, Nabihah Hamid Updated 5 years ago · Published on 30 May 2018 7:00AM · 7 Comments

AN arrogant Barisan Nasional went into GE14 on a flawed assumption: that Malaysians would forever feel indebted to the coalition and would return it to power, Johari Abdul Ghani said.

But people change and what might have been true at a particular time did not hold true on May 9, said the former second finance minister.

He also conceded that Dr Mahathir Mohamad was effective in getting voters to think about key integrity and corruption issues. 

Johari said BN wrongly believed that all said and done, Malaysians would still remember that it was because of BN policies that the Malaysian economy had grown from RM4 billion to RM1.3 trillion.

Instead, the voters were focused on the rising cost of living, the goods and services tax (GST) and a slew of other issues raised by Dr Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan.

Johari said Dr Mahathir was especially effective in hammering home the message on corruption and integrity. Night after night he stayed on the topic, noted the former Titiwangsa MP.

“He brought up issues that touched on the BN leadership’s integrity and it struck a chord with the youth,” said Johari.

Johari lost his Titiwangsa seat by more than 4,000 votes to Rina Harun, a political novice from Bersatu.

The racial composition of the constituency was 72% Malays, 17% Chinese, 9% Indian and 2% others. There were 61,598 registered voters in the constituency.

The fact that the Malay voters had also turned against BN was not lost on him. BN/Umno not only lost Putrajaya but control of several state legislatures, including Johor and Malacca.

So what’s next for the corporate figure turned politician?

For a start, he is eyeing one of the three vice-presidencies in Umno, believing it will give him a platform to start repairing the “broken” party.

Like other Umno politicians, Johari said he had raised many issues affecting Malaysia and Umno at Supreme Council meetings.

Asked if he, as second finance minister, had brought up the issue of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, Johari said: “let the current government handle it”.

Johari said now was the time for Umno members to reflect on what they could do for the party.

“I will defend the Titiwangsa Umno division chief’s post and at the national level, I am thinking of going for one of the three vice-presidencies.”

What change would he like to see in the party?

““The practice of stifling debate in the party in the name of consensus should end.

“We should encourage debate and encourage election of party leaders at every level.” – May 30, 2018.

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Comments

  • UMNO shows every sign of hanging on to their core ideology - Racial and Religo politics - they will not change, that is why they will merge with PAS, the difference between them and PAS is just a matter of degree and power sharing, more so the latter. IF PAS starts losing ground and UMNO gain back some ground, they will merge

    Posted 5 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • I am extremely happy when you loss in Titiwangsa. Johari Ghani you for one is the most arrogant and self centered finance minister. You come up with lots of policies that's bad for Malaysia business.

    You sacrifice the nation for your own business interests and cronies. People like you should not be a leader at all. Previously when I met you you made idiotic comments. What goes around comes around. You are the product of your party..

    Or should I say your party did badly because it is run by people with the same attitude as you are.


    Posted 5 years ago by Nelson Lingek · Reply

  • Arrogance breeds even more arrogance. For those who kept silence during the pillage of Jibby are not ethical to continue if UMNO needs a holistic change. What would prevent them from making the same mistakes again. Buckle under pressure like Tony...the unscrupulous conman. ??. The 1MDB saga has been on-going for so many years in blatant daylight with investigation being conducted around the world and yet these so called Malay rights defenders continue to ignore and play dumb. Even when Jibby uses the police to intimidate and imprison those who voice out, these cowards continue to stand by him. The only simple explanation is that they value power and wealth above all else even their faith is nothing compared to their lust....

    Posted 5 years ago by Xavier Francis · Reply

  • Arrogance breeds even more arrogance. For those who kept silence during the pillage of Jibby are not ethical to continue if UMNO needs a holistic change. What would prevent them from making the same mistakes again. Buckle under pressure like Tony...the unscrupulous conman. ??. The 1MDB saga has been on-going for so many years in blatant daylight with investigation being conducted around the world and yet these so called Malay rights defenders continue to ignore and play dumb. Even when Jibby uses the police to intimidate and imprison those who voice out, these cowards continue to stand by him. The only simple explanation is that they value power and wealth above all else even their faith is nothing compared to their lust....

    Posted 5 years ago by Xavier Francis · Reply

  • Arrogance breeds even more arrogance. For those who kept silence during the pillage of Jibby are not ethical to continue if UMNO needs a holistic change. What would prevent them from making the same mistakes again. Buckle under pressure like Tony...the unscrupulous conman. ??. The 1MDB saga has been on-going for so many years in blatant daylight with investigation being conducted around the world and yet these so called Malay rights defenders continue to ignore and play dumb. Even when Jibby uses the police to intimidate and imprison those who voice out, these cowards continue to stand by him. The only simple explanation is that they value power and wealth above all else even their faith is nothing compared to their lust....

    Posted 5 years ago by Xavier Francis · Reply

  • Arrogance, bullshits & corruptions is a sure recipe for disaster. We remembered a quek psychopath at axa affin life insurance berhad - 4 years of bullshits, sexual harassments, flip-flops, names calling (traitor, pengkhianat, jamban, penderhaka, kurang ajar, stupid, keling) - axa sank to the bottom of the Jamban. Read more at --- changenow083.blogspot.com ---- toxic leadership kills

    Posted 5 years ago by Chris Ng · Reply

  • Padan muka, this is the guy who said he does not need non-malay votes to win in titi wangsa. He bragged that he can win with malay support alone. What happen? Has he learn any lesson. This is a lesson for all politicians not to ignore voters from any group. including the minorities. This election has proved that every vote counts. A state constituency, Ajil, in Trrengganu is just won by 4 vote difference.

    Posted 5 years ago by Saham san · Reply