IN KEDAH, UMNO MUST COME TOGETHER OR SUFFER

ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR

THE internal bickering has to end before Kedah Umno can think of unseating Pakatan Rakyat in the state, writes ZUBAIDAH ABU BAKAR.

THE name of the action plan is "Strike" and Umno will be using this strategic initiative to form the Kedah government after the next general election.

The regeneration of Kedah Umno, although a little slow, has given birth to this strategic plan to serve the party until 2013, when the next general election is expected to be held.

The plan is about Umno remaining relevant in the state which has produced several national leaders, including former prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Kedah Umno leaders figured prominently in national politics, with several of them serving as cabinet members, especially when Dr Mahathir was prime minister.

Wresting back Kedah, despite the relatively steady state administration led by popular Pas leader Datuk Seri Azizan Razak, is possible considering the long and influential role played by Umno in the state.

There is, however, one perennial problem that needs immediate attention -- disunity among the 15 divisions that hinders smooth and effective implementation of these initiatives.

Being a highly-politicised state not short of prospective warlords, Kedah's political leadership badly needs to settle problems among the various factions.

The strength of Kedah Umno has always been the division chiefs, not the chairman of the state liaison committee.

Before the present state of Kedah Umno came into being more than a decade ago, many division chiefs had become ministers, deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries.

Those were the good old days, the days of Umno's supremacy.

It may have come as a shock to Kedah Umno but the writing was on the wall before the green tide of Pas swept across the state on March 8 last year.

Pas won 16 state seats, the DAP one and Parti Keadilan Rakyat four. The PKR representative from Lunas has since become an independent.

Hence, the Kedah Umno warlords, unused to not wielding power in the state administration, were slow to adjusting to the new political balance of power. But the brooding is over. It is now time for action.

As Kedah-based political analyst Professor Mohamad Mustafa Ishak says, Kedah Umno leaders have to make it happen now that they know what they want to achieve and what action to take.

"They first have to be magnanimous to everybody because if they become election candidates, they cannot win without the support of the opposition in the party."

Mustafa, a professor of politics and international studies at Universiti Utara Malaysia, adds: "This has been proven time and again."

Division chiefs not having full control of their divisions is the main factor for Umno's defeats in electoral contests, not the strength of Pas.

Internal bickering, in varying degree of seriousness, is a problem in most divisions.

Local Umno observers say only five divisions are spared this malaise. It's not an unusual situation for a division chief not seeing eye to eye with his deputy or others holding positions in his division.

The situation now is that not only are the division chiefs facing internal opposition, but party vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who has been entrusted to head Kedah Umno, is also suffering the same problem.

In what appears to be an attempt to rally support to remove Shafie, a report containing allegations of wrongdoings of the rural and development minister found its way into the hands of divisional leaders just before the recent Umno general assembly.

There was also no sympathy for a new division chief when he was attacked in cyberspace for arriving for the launching by deputy prime minister and Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of the new tagline "BN Menang, Kedah Senang" ("BN wins, Kedah Prospers") after the event at Sekolah Agama Yan on Friday.

Kedah Umno can become strong again, drawing strength from both current and veteran leaders like Tun Daim Zainuddin, Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and Tan Sri Osman Arof, who surely are willing to contribute if their assistance is sought.

Failing to consolidate and unite may find Kedah Umno ending up like its counterpart in Kelantan.

Kelantan Umno has ended up as a weak opposition in the state assembly because it had, despite the many changes in leadership, failed to unseat Pas which took control of the state in 1990.

Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who visited Kedah in July, is aware of what is happening on the ground and had ticked off state divisional party leaders for jockeying to become election candidates rather than resolving their differences.

His message to the division chiefs and Umno's 14 state assemblymen was simple: shape up or be shipped out.

Not wanting Kedahans lagging like the Kelantanese, Muhyiddin, at the launching of the tagline, expressed concern over the incapability, particularly financial, of the current Kedah government to continue with the projects planned by the previous BN-led state government.

The people of Kedah have to bear the consequences, said Muhyiddin.

Kedah Umno leaders and members need to get together if they are to take on a re-vitalised Pas which has been strengthened after it came into power in the state.

For Kedah Umno, there is no other way than to work together and resolve outstanding contentious issues to counter Pas. Failure to do this will result in "Strike" and the "BN Menang, Kedah Senang" slogan remaining mere words.

New Sunday Times, 15 November 2009