Najib Tun Razak - To be or not to be?

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

- Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1

Najib Tun Razak is in turmoil, no doubt with Hamlet’s immortal soliloquy occupying his mind. Then he recalls another Shakespearean play, Henry IV (Part 2, Act 3, Scene 1) and its apt words:

Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude,
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

He has inherited a dysfunctional system, a corrupt party and political system of which it must be stated, he was part of since the early age of 21. Yes, 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown' applies to him.

Not a stupid man he knows the future is gloomy for UMNO (and no doubt himself). Should he just bank on his so-called 'fixed deposit' of Sabah and Sarawak? But that would just be putting all his eggs in one basket.

UMNO by itself cannot win the next general election unless something happens.

' ... unless something happens ...'?

... unless the Chinese swing back to supporting BN as they had traditionally done?

He has tried hard to assure the Chinese they would be okay under his PM-ship but alas, he has been constantly undermined by his own party people, with Dr Mahathir being the No 1 rebel rousing spoon* - read my The Malaysian Old Man of the Sea (Perkasa is just a noisy tool).

* an implement best at stirring shit

The Chinese voters aren't his only problem. He watches his back far more often now, what with Muhyiddin Jasin suddenly becoming more optimistic that he may after all have a chance at the PM position if the younger Najib is ousted a la AAB. Somewhere in the background, Ali Rustam is hovering with sharpened teeth.

Najib knows that, despite the popular boast of Malay loyalty to the community’s leaders (and which Malay leader is better positioned than the president of UMNO?) there is no such quality in UMNO. He had witnessed how UMNO members treated the far more influential Dr Mahathir during AAB’s reign – read my Et Tu Baharom and The UMNO Interdiction of Dr Mahathir!

And AAB fared the same on his way out – read my UMNO's Hang Tuahs!

Thus he knows there are a number of hungry (cannibalistic) sharks circling around him in UMNO, who are more than keen to discredit his 1Malaysia.

Even his matey, Rais Yatim frets over the heightened Machiavellian stench within UMNO and has moved swiftly to assert (and exert) his Malay-ness, as seen in his recent attacks against Chua Soi Lek for supposedly undermining the Constitution (Article 153) on the 30% equity for Malays.

Of course Rais knows that there is no such provision for 30% equity in the Constitution but who the f* cares – he was merely establishing his ‘credentials’ as an ethnic warrior in UMNO and the heartland in readiness for a possible bloodbath in the party. Hey ho UMNO, moi numero uno.

Najib must be thinking, as a proverb goes: God defend me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself.

And it’s all about being the chief engineer and conductors on the UMNO gravy train. Thus he cannot offend the heartland in his overtures to the non-Malay Malaysians (mainly Chinese as he believes the Indians have returned to the BN fold).

He is in the classic dilemmatic position that once the Homeric warrior Odysseus found himself in, between Scylla and Charybdis (between the devil and the deep blue sea or between a rock and a hardplace).

According to Greek myth, Odysseus opted to brave the dangers of Scylla as the peril which would inflict the least loss of his men. What about Najib?

So we're back to that important survival issue, namely, re-enlisting the once-traditional but now-lost Chinese votes. Najib realizes that his allies MCA and the more compliant Gerakan are politically finished. Chua Soi Lek is now behaving like a cornered rat who knows he has to fight or die. Personally I am not convinced he has taken the Damascene road.

As for the other Chinese, Koh TK is like a zombie-rised lap dog who has virtually given up the struggle, so it’s rather puzzling that no one in Gerakan has seen fit to remove him for his uselessness … unless of course those Gerakan people don’t want to disturb the odd cookie crumbs that fall their way wakakaka.

Najib arn chnua choe ah (now, what to do)?

... unless he takes up the suggestion of well-known pro-UMNO blogger Sakmongkol AK47 that UMNO dumped MCA and woo DAP – read my Will UMNO jilt MCA and woo DAP?

Just like his dad did to the once powerful Gerakan Party.

I don't think DAP will play ball as Gerakan once was foolish enough to - look at the well-trained Gerakan now, nothing more than a submissive sycophantic subordinate slave to its UMNO master.

... unless the following frightening suspicion happens?

Being nasty suspicious Malaysians, we have heard talks of a possible Ops Lalang II where UMNO and MCA are currently suspected of tango-ing in their choreographed dance towards that.

And the purpose?

I suspect if Ops Lalang II is being contemplated (and who can say it isn’t) it’s to buy time for UMNO if not Najib. MCA has nothing to lose after all and could do with some time lifeline too.

Only the rakyat will lose.