“The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.”

- John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

COMMENT | So now we have proof that Umno members “cover” for their president. We have proof that the corruption of Umno presidents is covered up by Umno members. We have proof that Umno members will overlook any kind of malfeasances to keep their leader in power.

We have this proof because Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is now acting deputy president of the party, admitted as much when he told former prime minister and de facto opposition leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad to shut up or recite Quranic verses to Allah, whichever comes more easily.

This is what Zahid said: “He unveils the flaws of the present leaders, don’t forget we also used to cover his flaws. Don’t let it be our turn to show his shame and ‘scabs’. There is so much that we can reveal.”

Let us unpack this statement. We can discern three important facts from it.

1) Zahid does not dispute that the current Umno leader and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has “flaws” and in this case, the only flaws that the current de facto opposition leader Mahathir is unveiling are the numerous corruption scandals that are plaguing this regime. You would note that the Umno acting deputy president is not disputing those flaws, indeed he acknowledges them as human “weakness” that every Umno politician (leader) has.

2) He acknowledges that Umno members “cover” the flaws of their leaders. So, as an Umno member, he is admitting that over the years Umno has engaged in acts to cover the possibly criminal or unconstitutional acts of their leaders to safeguard the position of Umno and the position of the president of Umno and the office of prime minister of this country.

3) That by claiming “there is so much we can reveal”, Zahid is admitting that Umno members have evidence of wrongdoing and have purposely concealed these alleged criminal acts from the state security apparatus, the judiciary, the press but more importantly, the public.

So, let me be clear. What Zahid’s statements reveal is that (1) Umno members know that their leaders are corrupt (flaws); (2) that Umno members cover for their leaders; and (3) Umno members have evidence of the wrongdoings of their leaders.

How do Umno members cover for their leaders? Now, I am just spitballing here, but they would have to ensure that their leaders are insulated from the banalities of accountability. This would mean that independent institutions that are meant to investigate and prosecute the “flaws” of politicians would have to be accountable to members of Umno, whose primary goal is to cover for their leaders.

This would mean that the security apparatus, the judiciary and the press would have to answer to Umno because these would be the institutions that the Umno leader and prime minister would need “covering” from.

In other words, Umno members, like Zahid and every other Umno member who are covering for their dear leader, are collaborators and/or accomplices to the crimes committed by their president. Now I am not making an accusation, I am merely clarifying what the Umno deputy president said...