COMMENT | In a statement in an official Umno blog – who else would publish their pieces these days? – vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin argued that the party will be nourished and nursed back to health.
In turn, he criticised Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as being "disloyal," "deceitful" and "duplicitous" in describing Umno's present state.
Khaled, using an argument familiar to all sportsmen, said that Umno is down but not out. Thus, he claims, there is no reason to believe, as Muhyiddin does, that Umno has "folded (tapau)." In other words, he is saying that Umno is not dead, and will not die.
Clearly, Khaled misunderstand the prophecy of Hang Tuah: "Takkan Melayu hilang dari dunia" (Malays will not disappear from this earth). This is because he does not appreciate the fact that Malays, in general, will rise up against any authorities when they have been diaibkan (disgraced).
To begin with, Umno stands for United Malays National Organisation. It seems to be a Malay party that it proud of its Anglo-Saxon roots. Bersatu, on the other hand, is called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. Bersatu means unity, and there is a constant need for it.
Positive asabiyyah
There is a hadith that forbids a Muslim from not talking to a fellow Muslim for more than three days, especially within the family. The key is to foster a sense of ukhuwah (brotherhood) that can strengthen the cohesion of khalakah (family), not parochial ties in some qabilah (tribes).
According to Ibn Khaldun, asabiyyah (social solidarity) can ensure the perpetual need to rejuvenate one versus the other. In other words, to unite as a group in order to be on par or better than the others, purely for reasons of collectiveness or self-defence.
History is marked by the constant rise and fall of civilisations, due to the glueing and unglueing of asabiyyah, which makes history cyclical, rather than unilinear. Bersatu was able to defeat Umno because of this 'positive' asabiyyah.
But if Bersatu runs afoul of this maxim of solidarity, and begins mixing business and politics – the private and the public, as if the two are the same – in some confused brew, then Bersatu will fall.
But thus far, the weaknesses of Bersatu have not emerged. By going hard on, and against, the kleptocratic excesses of Umno and former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, whose corruption and financial debauchery are almost unparalleled, Bersatu has built up its immunity and aversion to corruption almost from the start.
When the Kuomintang in Taiwan, LDP in Japan, CDU in Germany and PDI in Mexico all fell, one by one between 1989 and 2001, those that agreed to live up to the pledge of anti-corruption enjoyed a resurgence.
This was true, with the exception of PDI in Mexico, which fell into disrepute again in 2018. PDI reformed itself briefly after losing power in 2001 only to see the return of corruption again. Thus, Mexican voters sent them packing.
PAP in Singapore is strongly anti-corruption as well. To the degree this is true, the party has maintained its relevance. But when family members of the late Lee Kuan Yew begin to fight over the manner by which one should destroy or preserve the late leader's first house, the family's internal bickering has cast a pall over the entire nation. While PAP is strong, the allegations of nepotism and other chicanery have made it weak.
Umno is dead
The point is simple: Umno is dead. It died with Najib and Rosmah Mansor, and their pile of bullions and cash. As long as Najib's trial drags on – although he will do his best to delay it indefinitely – Umno will be permanently toxic.
Even if Rosmah cannot be arrested, since she was probably not the signatory of any legal documents in 1MDB and other 'mini 1MDBs', Umno is still dead. Any association with Umno will only be seen as a stain, through their billions in wang haram (illegitimate money).
In the Philippines, the Marcos family is alive and well. Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Romualdez Marcos Jr did not win the vice-presidency despite the protection and support given to him by President Rodrigo Duterte. His sister, Aimee Marcos, may be a senator in the House of Senate, but neither she nor Bongbong can stand the chance of becoming anyone significant in Malacañang again.
Their father was deposed in 1986, with the consent of President Ronald Reagan. Even his cousin Fidel Ramos did not support him. They all fell, and failed.
Umno has taken money from the state and potentially seedy companies in China ranging in the billions. Such things will not be hidden under the Pakatan Harapan administration.
A campaign of dribs and drabs, which Umno specialises in, will ensure a cannibalistic culture thrives within the party's food chain, with supreme council members finishing each other off – until just a few are left standing – in order to lay their hands on the hidden war chest.
Umno is dead, precisely because whatever sins they committed, Bersatu plans to stay well away from.
RAIS HUSSIN is a supreme council member of Bersatu and heads its policy and strategy bureau.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
