2 theSun | MONDAY MARCH 30 2009

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Can Najib widen his support?

Comment by Zainon Ahmad
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
THE closing hours of the Umno
annual general assembly on
Saturday – it was last year’s
assembly – was an emotionally
charged show of unity where the
2,600 or so delegates gave a rous-
ing endorsement to Datuk Seri
Najib Tun Razak’s leadership
and his roadmap to revive the
flagging fortunes of the party.
The dexterity with which
this was choreographed – from
his speech announcing the
jettisoning of the unpopular
so-called “quota system” to the
declaration of loyalty by Datuk
Seri Mohd Ali Rustam and to
the arrival at the Merdeka Hall
of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
– showed that the new president
is not about to leave everything
to chance.
Many delegates were eu-
phoric about Najib’s ability to
restore the party fortunes and
that of the Barisan Nasional
and its pre-eminent role in the
country just as his father, Tun
Abdul Razak Hussein, was able
to strengthen Umno and the
country following the dark days
of post-May 10, 1969 general
election.
In any case, it was easier
for Razak as Umno was united
behind him, he had a good team
– often referred to as a “new
order” team as against the “old
order” of first prime minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman – and
the whole country wanted him
to succeed because they did not
want a recurrence of the bloody
May 13 race riots.
It may not be as easy for
Najib even though his party, the
fractious elections notwithstand-
ing, seems united behind him
– hopefully what happened in
Merdeka Hall is felt and shared
by party members throughout
the country as well, and he has
his dream team to help him to
rebuild and steer Umno away
from the old ways.
Najib,Mahathir Unlike his much respected
and Abdullah raise father, Najib has an image
their hands at the problem built and exploited by
end of the Umno his opponents based on a certain
general assembly perception which he has gone
on Saturday. to great pains to explain. But as
everyone knows, perception is
king.
So, to be able to do what he
has declared he would do, he
has to work much harder than
his father did and his father,
who became prime minister at
the age of 48, died six years later
because he did not spare himself
and worked long hours.
Najib will have to work even
harder. He has to strengthen
Umno and the Barisan Nasional,
to strengthen democratic insti-
tutions, and where necessary
amend the charter, win over
non-Malay support and “bring
happiness to the greatest number
of people” so that with time the
earlier perception people had
of him would fade away or be
overshadowed by his success.
He has pleaded for Umno
members and other Malaysians
to “judge me my by actions” and
not by the rumours that others
are circulating about him just
as Umno Youth leader Khairy
Jamaluddin had begged the
delegates to judge him by his
actions and not on the “urban
legends” about him that had
caused him to be booed several
times at the assembly.
A number of delegates had
implicitly warned Najib to
avoid the path taken by former
president and outgoing Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi of announcing
great changes but doing little to
institutionalise them.
For instance, Abdullah had
announced an era of openness
but did little to make changes
to the laws that limit liberty
and press freedom and this had
allowed the government to act
with such ease to ban or suspend
publications.
When Abdullah became
prime minister at the end of 2003
with such promise as indicated
by his famous “work with me
and not for me” line, not many
people were sure that he was
the person who would act to
restore the federal constitution
to the pre-Mahathir days.
They said they would prefer
to wait until he had made
changes to the Umno constitu-
tion especially to remove the
undemocratic “quota system”
before believing he was usher-
ing in a new era. But Abdullah
did not do it.
Najib had announced on
Tuesday that he would do it as
a way of enlarging the elector-
ate from the present 2,600 or so
delegates as he preferred to be
“elected direct by members of
the party”.
Not to be outdone, Abdul-
lah, who had six years to make
the changes but did not, had
proposed the same thing in his
opening speech on Thursday
and also added a suggestion that
the changes to be made to the
constitution should also limit the
terms of the party office bearers.
Najib, when speaking as
president of the party just before
the assembly ended, spoke on
the enlargement of the electorate
and the abolishment of the quota
system at length but did not refer
to Abdullah’s suggestion to limit
the terms of office bearers.
Some cynical delegates at the
Riverside Café, just two floors
below the Merdeka Hall, said
that to limit the terms would
inconvenience Najib but would
certainly facilitate Khairy’s wish
to be the youngest prime minister
of the country – something the 33-
year-old has often said to be part
of the “urban legend”.
When it was their turn to
speak, Khairy spoke too fast,
Wanita leader Datuk Seri Shahri-
zat Jalil voiced fealty to the new
president while new Puteri leader
Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin
delivered the best speech of the
three wings.
It was unfortunate that
Mahathir should turn up at the
function and stole a lot of thunder
away from Abdullah who should
be the sole focus of attention as it
was his last time on stage with the
other members of the supreme
council.
But it should suffice Abdullah
that throughout the debates he
was addressed as “presiden kita
yang dikasihi” or “our beloved
president”.
From now on, Najib will be
“presiden kita yang dikasihi”.

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