Barisan Nasional supporters are pictured at the coalition’s command centre at the Johor Umno Liaison Hall in Johor Baru March 12, 2022. — Picture by Hari Anggara
COMMENTARY, March 15 – This weekend’s Umno assembly is not expected to be a tame affair despite the party-led Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in Johor at the recently-concluded state election.
On the agenda will surely be Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad being replaced by 44-year old Machap assemblyman Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi as mentri besar.
Umno and BN are expected to put forward more young leaders in the coming general election given that young voters or Undi-18 voters are now in the political mainstream.
However, the debate may not be an intense one as Umno is in agreement with the Johor sultan when it comes to picking the state’s leader.
Nevertheless this will be brought up given that Hasni was the poster boy for BN at the state election.
The more important issue that will be hotly debated is the push for early general election as the party will want to take advantage of its winning streak in Melaka and Johor.
Calls for an early general election began after the coalition’s sweeping success in the Melaka state election last year.
To the members of BN, especially Umno, the time is right to march on at the national level given the morale of its members is high
This however might put its vice-president – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri – in a tight spot as a look at the votes breakdown shows BN would have lost the election if Perikatan Nasional (PN) joined hands with PH to take on BN.
The political battle in Melaka and Johor is the fight for Malay supremacy between three main parties – Umno, Bersatu and Pejuang – whose leaders want their individual parties to be the sole champion of Malay rights in the country.
The fight started when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad formed Bersatu in 2016 to challenge Umno’s role as the champion of Malay rights, and following his ouster from Bersatu in 2020, he set up Pejuang with the same vision and mission.
Former Umno president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who became the rallying point for BN/Umno members and supporters during the election seems to have overcome all the attacks from the other parties
PKR and DAP as well as Amanah, did not join the chorus of attacking Najib but they found no issues that could be raised to attract voters.
Umno delegates at this weekend’s assembly are not just expected to push for early general election but an end to Umno-PAS co-operation in Muafakat Nasional (MN).