Umno in the hands of the man who welcomed its defeat

(FMT) – Ten months after losing power, followed by a shake-up at the top, a string of corruption charges and a freeze on its assets, Umno is slowly beginning to understand the realities of being in the opposition.

Its future is now in the hands of a leader who has never been in the national spotlight – Mohamad Hasan, a former state footballer who, until last May, was content with being in charge of one of the smaller states in Malaysia, Negeri Sembilan.

He makes no secret of his view that the party, which was credited for its role in securing independence and transforming Malaysia into an economic powerhouse, deserves to be brought down.

“I believe the defeat was a blessing in disguise.

“The parasites are now gone. We lost because we were arrogant and egotistical, and people were turned off. So now we have to lose these bad characteristics,” Mohamad, sometimes called Tok Mat, said during a recent interview at the FMT office.

Now, with Umno’s bank accounts sealed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, he has to reacquaint himself with the corporate life that he gave up for politics.

The former managing director of Cycle and Carriage, the main Mercedes-Benz dealer in Malaysia, said one way for Umno to survive would be to cash in some of its many assets – including properties and companies worth billions of dollars.

“Umno is a big organisation and it needs a lot of money to maintain it. Running the headquarters has substantial costs,” he said. “Even paying salaries is difficult now.”

Party assets include the Putra World Trade Centre as well as several other properties in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Tok Mat entered the picture at a time when things were starting to look good again for the Malay party.

It won two by-elections, the first in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, and then in Semenyih, Selangor, in what observers say is a sign that Umno’s traditional support base, which ensured its return to power 13 times since independence, is still solid.

Last year, 900 bank accounts linked to Umno were frozen over transactions tied to the 1MDB scandal, at a time when the party was reeling from its historic defeat in the May 9 polls.

Its MPs were deserting the party and its top leaders were being investigated and some charged. Money was just one of its many problems.

Today, with some assurance of a political lifeline following its recent electoral gains, it is in need of sustenance.

Starting from scratch also means the party will need to reevaluate its whole communication policy.

In the past, it invested in big news companies, and its control over those firms continued even as traditional media began losing money and influence.

One such company is Kumpulan Utusan, whose flagship publication Utusan Malaysia has been kept alive with Umno’s money.

Last month, Umno was relieved of its 31.6% stake in the company. That means no more money will be injected to keep it going.

Exits from other media companies will follow, including from Media Prima, the country’s biggest media conglomerate which also owns private broadcaster TV3.

“We will sell our stake in Media Prima as there is nothing much we can do with it. We can’t put out our own news, and we do not have board representation.

“At least it can cover us for another two and a half years,” he said.

Umno-PAS alliance

Umno has only two states now, but Mohamad is still optimistic about the future.

One reason for this, he said, is that the Malays are still solidly behind the party.

“Have any Umno branches been dissolved? None. In my division, I see more members attending meetings, showing they still have their fighting spirit.

“This is Umno’s strength. Not the president or the deputy president, or me, but the people.”

Although its 22,000 branches are still intact, this may not be the case with MCA and MIC, the remaining members of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

So what value are these two parties to Umno?

Mohamad said it is up to the parties to be creative in regaining their lost ground.

Umno, he said, had already found its strength by cooperating with PAS, once a staunch enemy.

“When Umno and PAS cooperate, BN will grow stronger as Umno becomes stronger. If MCA and MIC can do what Umno and PAS are doing, I think it will be a blessing. Let us forget our egos and prioritise the people.”

When probed further about the implications of an opposition that is largely made up of the country’s two largest Malay-Muslim parties, Mohamad defended the cooperation.

He is an ardent believer that Malay unity is key to national stability. This is why his party has wasted no time in forging cooperation with PAS which, like Umno, rules two predominantly Malay states.

He disagrees that Umno is succumbing to PAS’ values, while acknowledging past fears of Umno trying to out-Islamise PAS by pandering to right-wing views.

“Nobody can force their values on anybody. PAS cannot force their values on us and Umno cannot force their values on PAS,” he said.

“We are working on a strategy to cooperate for GE15, that’s all. Umno is Umno, PAS is PAS.”

He said the PAS-Umno alliance would not affect support for BN in Sabah and Sarawak, once considered “fixed deposits” for the coalition during elections.

Despite the Umno exodus in Sabah, Mohamad said the party had been injected with new life.

“In Sarawak, the move by the ruling coalition to ditch BN and form a new local alliance is understandable.

“They are going to face a state election, and the sentiments there are against peninsula parties. They want their own parties, we understand that. What is important is that we still have good, strong ties.”

When pressed about Umno’s penchant for racial and religious rhetoric to woo support, Mohamad disagreed.

He said he had urged MPs and senators to focus on issues related to the economy.

“People are worried about uncertainty in the economy, traders facing problems, everyone’s weakened buying power.

“I believe 40% of the people are not so interested in issues of race and religion, but rather bread-and-butter issues like the economy,” he said.

“It has been 10 months since GE14 and there is uncertainty. The current government did not get a strong mandate. As a result, the economy is not doing well and people are suffering.”