Written by Wong Choon Mei, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - The 'Free Najib now or else...' threats are now hardening and taking on more concrete form with a senior Umno supreme council member openly threatening Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's unity government with "failure".
It also did not escape notice that Isham Jalil conspicuously called disgraced ex-premier Najib Razak "my boss", rather than Umno president Zahid Hamidi, with whom he recently had a very public and noisy falling-out with.
More interestingly, it pushes another senior Umno leader Hishammuddin Hussein Onn into the spotlight - is he the compromise PM candidate chosen by powerful forces joining together to oust Anwar as PM and displace Zahid as Umno president?
"It is not only Najib's staunch supporters who are demanding justice for him, but also many Malaysians who are neutral such as some former judges and lawyers voicing the opinion that my boss did not receive a fair trial," Isham, who had accused Zahid of plotting to oust him from Umno's highest decision-making body, was reported as telling Sinar Daily.
"Thus, if the government or Umno did not show any seriousness in defending Najib's fate, then this matter will further complicate the relationship between Umno and the unity government and will likely face failure."
WITHOUT NAJIB, CAN ZAHID'S HOLD ONTO UMNO?
Yet for "failure" to occur, it is Zahid who must withdraw Umno from Anwar's 'Madani' government or face an internal revolt that leads to his impeachment or early retirement - which would then pave the way for Umno's new leader to effect the change.
The burning question already on the lips of many is how strong is Zahid's grip on the factionalized Umno?
Can he still stand if Najib's camp switches side and throw their support behind Hishammuddin, who is believed to have a group of between 10 to 15 MPs loyal to him and ready to exit Umno for the opposition PN coalition.
It does look like the politically-savvy Zahid, who recently hinted he is "nearing the end of my service", knows his number is coming up - and a critical decision that will surely lead to a change in government will have to be made soon.
BLOOD TIES & THE ROSMAH FACTOR
Zahid too has to contend with the blood ties between Najib and Hishammuddin. If there are no permanent enemies or friends in politics, what more between 2 cousins whose mothers were sisters!
While Najib has so far opted to support Zahid, his former political secretary, and side with Anwar, he is obviously getting impatient to get out of jail despite serving only 14 months of his 12-year jail sentence.
The corruption trial against Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor, once touted as the most powerful woman in Malaysia, is also approaching an end and few see how it is possible for her to win her case without damaging backlash on Malaysia's long-tainted judiciary.
RECONCILIATION, HISHAM'S GREEN LIGHT TO GO?
With pressure building in the high-stakes game reaching a crescendo, Malaysians last week witnessed a rather bizarre reconciliation between Najib and the man he sacked as his deputy prime minister and deputy Umno president in 2015.
After years of bitterness, Muhyiddin Yassin who later became prime minister and is now the head of the PN opposition coalition, had 'out of the blue' sent get-well wishes to a Covid-hit Najib. The move triggered immediate calls from Najib supporters for a Najib-Muhyiddin alliance and for Umno to realign with PN and dump Anwar's Pakatan Harapan pact.
"This reconciliation is seen as Hisham's green light to go. Obviously Najib can never be PM again however much he thinks he can, while Muhyiddin is too unpopular and stepped on too many royal toes when he was PM," a well-known political commentator told Politics Now!
"There needs to be a compromise between all the players. It's not just Najib and Muhyiddin but in the background are very powerful elites. Anwar was given a chance but he disappointed everyone including his own Harapan allies and voter base. They will be the biggest losers - again!"
Indeed, so confident are Najib's supporters they have even assured that East Malaysian allies GPS and GRS were also ready to realign with PN and defeat the ineffective Anwar.
Meanwhile, the rumor mills are already working overtime that Hishammuddin, who hails from Johor and whose father was one of Umno's 4 founders, has even won the support of the powerful Johor palace.
Johor's Sultan Ibrahim is set to become Malaysia's next King in January and as the monarch, His Majesty will have enormous discretion in picking who will be the PM in the event there is no clear political majority, such as the situation is now.
Written by Wong Choon Mei, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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