Muhyiddin Yassin, Khir Toyo & Co caught in dilemma of divided loyalties

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Wanted: Independent-minded person, personality and charisma optional but must seem able to rise above the ashes of Election 2008 and sound like a reformist on one day and a status quo lover on another. And oh yes, it would help if this person is willing to dump some mud on Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaludin just to prove his credentials.
This is not a fictitious job. Stung by the election results of 2008, troubled by the weight of opinion in the party shifting against the party president and Prime Minister and sensitive to what a political tsunami can do to political ambitions, a growing number of Umno leaders have begun hedging.
For some of them like Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, it is a question of political opportunism. He senses that in this fluid system, neither Abdullah nor his anointed successor Najib Tun Razak is safe. He knows that he is being watched and discussed by the party rank-and-file, who expect him to show “leadership’’.
So there are days when he flirts with dismantling the party quota system
and lends voice to grassroots grievances and there are days when he speaks like a statesmen.
For some of them like former Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khir Toyo, it is a question of political survival. His state was snatched from him by the Opposition and he no longer has the choice job of the Umno state liaison chief.
Craving political relevance, he has started a blog and tried to remodel himself as an independent-minded politician. To be fair to him, he made his move 24 hours after March 8, blaming Abdullah and Khairy for the huge defeats suffered by the Barisan Nasional.

Never mind that he and Khairy were close pals and had formed an informal political pact going into the party election year. He discovered early that his good friend was a major political liability, and will in the days ahead cast more aspersions on the son-in-law’s influence on decision-making in Umno.
When he was asked at a function yesterday if Khairy had any influence on BN candidates in the recent general election, he fudged his answer. He said he gave the names for Barisan candidates in Selangor and this was scrutinised by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and party secretary-general.
“But I will admit that there were some outside influences,” he noted. Hard to blame Muhyiddin, Khir Toyo, Ali Rustam and other members of the Umno Supreme Council for posturing.
They are auditioning for future employment. They understand that the Umno grassroots is in a mood to find a scapegoat for Election 2008. At the moment, it is a short list of Abdullah, Khairy, and the PM’s circle of advisors.
But the list of scapegoats could include Umno supreme council members who do not exhibit enough “independence’’ or “strong leadership”. With party elections in December, some supreme council members are worried about being punished by the ground.
Some of them are torn between allegiance to the party president and loyalty to themselves. As a compromise, their supporters and aides are speaking to reporters and sending encouraging messages to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
For Muhyiddin, even though he was given a senior Cabinet position, he still carries the wounds of not being consulted enough by Abdullah over the last four years. There have been SMSes floating around about him teaming up with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to challenge the Abdullah-Najib team for the top two positions in the party.
This SMS is likely to be the work of mischief makers but no one should write off the possibility of such a pairing. Not in this is the season of hedging and political auditioning.

tunku : speak out for the truth. If umno want to survive they should speak out and not only listen.Put the party struggle as your priority not self interest.