Denying UMNO 2/3 - Opposition dream but with different objectives?

Umno indicates it is shifting into high gear for the general election, with Malaysiakini reporting that PM AAB will be conducting a fresh round of nationwide political roadshows plus meetings with all BN leaders and heads of his Umno party.

Malaysiakini also reported in Umno leaders barred from leaving country that Umno secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad has instructed all 191 Umno party divisions nationwide to stop all its party office bearers from leaving the country to prepare for the upcoming polls. Also, party leaders - at the state, division and branch levels – have been urged to ensure that all Umno members are not allowed to leave the country during this period.

... perhaps with the unique exception of Asahan in neighbouring Sumatra ;-) – please read my earlier post Religious Devotion of Malaysian Politicians.

The rumour is that it’ll be March, just one month before Anwar Ibrahim clears the legal block on his ability to contest in elections, because of his past conviction from corruption charges.

It’ll also provide the BN, especially the Chinese-based parties, enough time to soothe some ruffled feathers among their traditional supporters. Maybe the public servants may be due a salary windfall too plus all sorts of goodies for others that Father Christmas Pak Lah will be doling out. I would not even discount some Ang Pows of sorts in early February.

Everyone concedes that the BN or even Umno alone (inclusive of its Sabah branch allegedly with 1 million plus voters from the 10 lost tribes who ‘accidentally wandered off’ into Mabuhay Land and have now been safely repatriated) will win the election.

Indeed the question (or hope) is not who will win but rather how much will Umno win?

Voila, the magic 2/3, that Holy Grail of Malaysian parliamentary politics, the arcane esoteric mantra in fractional maths that holds the key to unbridled power, power thus far enjoyed by the Chosen Ones.

If Umno has the 2/3 majority it can perform double flip-back somersaults in legislation, like amending the constitution to extend the age limit of just one sole but crucial (to Umno) public servant, and various other legislative atrocities.

If Umno is denied that 2/3 it then can’t, but there have been recent rumours, reported in Malaysiakini, of party secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad allegedly directing Umno leaders to carry out a racial issue action plan - and don't we just know what racial issue ACTION plan had been.

If that allegation was indeed true, has it been one of those disingenuous Umno warnings that’s issued via the kopitiam but officially and publicly repudiated.

But let’s leave that aside for a while and imagine what Lim Kit Siang has been dreaming of all these years, that Umno will be denied the magic 2/3 majority.

Lim will then realize his dreams to prevent Umno and its compliant BN component parties from messing around with the Constitution, laws and rules to suit its nefarious purposes, taking the political system further and further away from true democracy and its inherent check and balance safeguards.

Anwar Ibrahim will then realize his dreams to prevent Umno and its compliant BN component parties from messing around with the ……..

I suspect Anwar will be even more joyful than Lim Kit Siang.

First there was GAN or Gerakan Anti Najib – with all sorts of campaign, for example:

(1) The story about a tussle going on within Umno, and rumours of a secret alliance between KJ and Anwar, or none too subtle hints for KJ to enlist Anwar to help in the young Prince’s battle against Najib when Daddy-O retires. I suspect KJ wisely declines full enlistment though I wouldn’t put it past him to 'use' AI as AI imagines he could 'use' KJ.

(2) The Altantuuyaa Shariibuu murder case being exploited to the last grit of the poor Mongolian ashes to blacken Najib’s name
etc

(3) Then, there was the court case against Anwar’s alleged wrongful dismissal from Umno and the DPM’s position by former PM Dr Mahathir. Had that case been won by Anwar Ibrtahim, Umno would have been in a tight spot, with a wrongful dismissal to be righted and an incumbent NO 2 (coincidentally Najib) still requiring to be treated correctly. A successful GAN would have solve the problem, killing two birds with one Mongolian stone.

Then some sort of reprieve from lost hope came in the form of a ‘leak from Heaven’, that marvellous Lingam videotape, miraculously appearing at a crucial juncture, perhaps indicating high powered strategy taking place at where strategy would be usually conceived, at the very top of the Top.

Was the emergence of the Lingam videotape an act of born-again conscience or a subtle warning to you-know-who not to make too much waves or suffer the return of Anwar Ibrahim via a discredited judiciary and the resurrection of his case against wrongful dismissal?

But 2/3 majority! If Umno does fail to achieve that magic figure, what is likely to happen next?

If PKR wins some parliamentary seats, which hopefully it should if DAP capitulates after the pressure of being badmouthed as an uncooperative opposition party which refuses to sacrifice to dear PKR some of its (DAP) traditionally contested seats, we then need post-election to ask:

(1) How many seats does Umno require to make up 2/3?
(2) How many seats has PKR won?
(3) How many of PKR’s seats are held by the Pure Ones*?

* Impure Ones may not take kindly to grubby post election horse trading

You work out the rest of the mathematics.

In RPK’s Trojan Horses in the opposition ranks he concluded with:

I believe the opposition leaders are smart enough to know what needs to be done. It is just that many within the ranks of the opposition leaders are Trojan Horses planted in the opposition by Barisan Nasional to ensure that the opposition remains divided and continues squabbling over petty issues so that a very weak Barisan Nasional can remain in power in spite of it being so weak.

I just hope that these Trojan Horses do not include people like Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, Husam Musa and those many others who are the main decision-makers and who will determine whether the opposition continues as a weak opposition while an even weaker Barisan and who will determine whether the opposition continues as a weak opposition while an even weaker Barisan Nasional stays on as the government.

Re-read the last sentence, the part on “I just hope that these Trojan Horses do not include people like Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, Husam Musa ...”

That is the brilliance of RPK and his intellectual gamesmanship as he thumbs his nose at his readers, challenging them to discern the Truth that he has daringly left staring out from his article.

That’s my take ;-)