2024 Umno General Assembly – A retrospective view
This year’s Umno General Assembly from Aug 20-24 was a sedate affair compared to when Umno was the dominant and ruling party in the government.
In the past, the assembly was a celebration where its members extolled its prowess and flaunted its power, dictating the course of national governance. The assembly was filled with a sense of invincibility, exuberance of power, and impunity, as Umno held the reins of government.
This sense of impunity bred malfeasance and misfeasance in governance, with personal and sectarian agendas bypassing accountability and transparency. Corruption became rife, as evidenced by state and federal leaders embroiled in corrupt practices, with some eventually dragged to court to face charges.
One notable case involved the defence procurement of two submarines for over a billion ringgit, a scandal that occurred during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s tenure as defence minister.
However, the pinnacle of misappropriation of public funds was the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal – the kleptocracy of the century – involving the former Umno president, who was also then, the prime minister. The 1MDB scandal revealed the horrendous abuse of power by top politicians and civil servants in squandering public funds and obstructing investigations.
The decay within Umno began long ago, but Najib delivered the final blow by squandering the nation’s wealth to further his motto that "cash is king." This philosophy suggested that anyone or anything could be bought, irrespective of ethical or moral principles, with laws circumvented to serve personal and partisan agendas. The culture of power abuse and corruption became ingrained in Umno’s DNA, giving some leaders the arrogance and audacity of invincibility.
This attitude led Umno to take Malay support for granted, creating a perception that it was the only party championing the Malay race and religion. It nurtured a culture of dependence and subservience to Umno's dictates, leading the Malays to believe that without Umno, they would lose everything – their rights, land, and religion.
Umno also positioned itself as the defender of Islam, though its behaviour and lifestyle often contradicted the tenets of the religion. However, such arrogance and a false sense of invincibility could not last forever. The watershed GE14 provided Umno – riddled with abuse, corruption, and nepotism – with a harsh reality check. The people grew tired of Umno and BN’s shenanigans and voted them out in 2018.
Now, Umno has lost its Malay support and is reduced to a minority party, with its assertions and dictates no longer carrying the weight of yesteryears. Although Umno recognises its current situation, it remains trapped in its outdated mentality of feudal patronage, subservience, and the manipulation of the rule of law, as well as ethical and moral/religious principles to serve its political agenda.
Umno has been exposed as a sham, creating a coterie of politically connected elites while leaving ordinary Malays to fend for themselves, save for a few handouts to which the gullible were grateful. However, times have changed. Umno has lost its influence, Malay support, and moral and ethical high ground. It can no longer claim to be the defender of Malays or Islam.
Unless Umno undertakes drastic changes in its political culture, with a clean leadership genuinely committed to the upliftment of the Malays beyond mere rhetoric, and a return to its pre-independence spirit and philosophy, it will fade into oblivion.
The recent Umno General Assembly unsuccessfully tried to conceal the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13. Main image: Umno Online
