Umno not to blame for Perikatan’s faults: Remember collective responsibility?

(Focus Malaysia) – WHEN Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the party should not be blamed for the Government’s poor response to contain COVID-19, a political analyst gave the former deputy prime minister a reality check.

“What happened to collective responsibility? Umno is part of the Cabinet and they have more MPs compared to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in the Perikatan Nasional coalition.

“So, Umno must take responsibility for the failures of the current regime. It’s disingenuous for Zahid to claim otherwise,” University of Nottingham of Malaysia Professor Zaharom Nain told FocusM.

Yesterday, Zahid said it was unfair for anyone to blame Umno or link it to the failures of the Perikatan-led Government.

While he acknowledged the party was part of the ruling coalition and Cabinet, Zahid claimed that Umno had little say on policy-making.

“All decisions are made entirely by the Perikatan-led Government. This includes policies related to the pandemic management in the country,” the Bagan Datuk MP claimed on his Facebook page.

Zaharom said that Zahid cannot simply pick and choose what to be responsible for or otherwise, saying the public would never buy into that argument, except for his own supporters.

“Umno was complicit in the Sheraton Move which damaged our democracy. Whatever internal conflict now emerging within the regime is of their making, spearheaded by collective incompetence and their utter disregard of suffering Malaysians,” he stated.

Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) political analyst Prof Dr Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani opined that Zahid made the statement in order to distance Umno from the current crises affecting Malaysia.

“We all know about Umno’s tiff with Bersatu and it made a decision to sever ties from Perikatan in the next general election.

“However, Umno is still part of Perikatan for now. In my view, Zahid made the statement to distance the party from public anger. It’s an election strategy,” he said.

On Umno’s relationship with Bersatu, Azizuddin said the former enjoys stronger support among the populace compared to the latter, with solid network at the grassroots level.

“Umno still enjoys considerable support among voters as they have a reliable structure to reach out the masses.

“Bersatu does not have that kind of network and reach. Right now, the party is relying on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s appeal for support,” he remarked.