To Muhyiddin, and in fact the majority at UMNO, Najib has and is taking the party in the wrong direction, he has not asserted his authority sufficiently to maim the opposition, to them he does not have enough, "fire in the belly" to win the elections they way his predecessors did.
Najib's
deputy has scarce respect for him, he has displayed that time and
again by deliberately contradicting so many directives of Najib's, as
one observer noticed, "the other so called "heavyweights" in UMNO -
Nazri, Rais Yatim, Khairy, and even the likes of
Sharizat seem to be leaning towards Muhyiddin almost to say that there is
this general feel in UMNO that Najib has to go." Many in UMNO see Najib today as excess baggage and they want him out, he is causing too much discontent amongst the Malays they in Johor claim, they are worried that the Pakatan Rakyat is fast gaining a foothold in some major parts of Johor and many within the inner circles have conceded that this time around they may lose Negeri Sembilan and Trengganu too.
Instead of building on UMNO's strengths, he has opted to go all out to win back Penang, Selangor and Perak which they managed to snatch back and this is being done to the detriment of Negeri and Johor says the UMNO leadership in both these states. The battle in these states are as good as lost, the UMNO grassroots will tell you this there is no way they are going to take it back especially Selangor, Penang, Perak Kelantan and kedah and to make matters worse Trengganu has been confirmed as going the other direction this time around.
One UMNO division leader in Johor is openly asking for Najib's ouster as he thinks if they wait till after the elections it may be too late and if the BN loses this elections it will never recover from it in the near future.
He says, "there is so much to reveal about the inner workings of UMNO that the next generations of Malays will not want to trust them anymore, and when Pakatan wins they will reveal all, that is how serious the situation is," notice his choice of words, "when Pakatan wins" is that an accepted fact in Johor?
Go to Parit Sulong in Johor and see what the UMNO people are saying, there is scant regard for both Najib and Mahathir, there they say - " Mahahtir must shut up and get out, and Najib must learn how to keep his house in order, if he can't how can he be the leader," now that sentiment is seems to be spreading in Muar too, if you have the opportunity talk to the Malays there.
As one Malay observer in Muar put it, "in those days the Malays never openly took sides, the listened quietly and gave their support, there was hardly a whisper, today they are not quiet anymore they are not even whispering, they are shouting on top of their voices, 'we're fed up!!!' we have been betrayed for so long and this party has not only betrayed us they have stolen from us and other Malaysians, we'd rather vote the DAP."
The Malays led by UMNO have long not trusted the DAP. UMNO successfully branded the DAP a Chinese chauvinistic Party, but the DAP went on building it's image, from the Rahim Tamby Chik case, to it's MP Ahmad Noor, and its exposure of all the UMNO corruption more and more Malays feel they have a better alternatives in the DAP than UMNO and the BN.
The general feeling down south is, those who still do not trust the DAP there are other alternatives - PKR and the PAS and the Malays are taking it and whilst this BN government is now really worried about this Malay vote many feel that they will lose more with Najib at the helm, whether this a Muhysiddin strategy or a fact is better known within UMNO as each faction will tell you.
With Sabah in shambles, with Sarawak who delivered during the last elections and on whose strength the government was formed - only to land up with a few meager inconspicuous ministerial positions the dynamics have changed, the East Malaysians want a leader from their midst, all parties this time around have to make that offering they must see one of their people capturing Putrajaya - becoming the PM of Malaysia and the demand is, " he is not to be from UMNO."
The Dayaks and the Kadazans will tell you that and this time around they mean business, but UMNO can't afford to give them that, because that will be political suicide for the UMNO leadership. To Pakatan Rakyat that is easy, it is no problem, and PAS and DAP will point to the fact that Anwar readily became their choice for a leader without any infighting.
Right in January this year this blog spoke of the rift and Muhyiddin's behind the scene strategies to wrest power from Najib. "Live by the gun die by the gun," so the saying goes, Mahahthir removed Hussein Onn that way, Najib removed Abdullah and now his deputy is doing the same, it seems to be becoming the UMNO culture, however, has Muhyiddin got the clout to do it.
Muhyiddin has made no secret about his intentions, for every major strategy that Najib has put in place he - Muhyiddin has had a spanner in the works, he is Malay first and Malaysian next. Remember?
All his acts of public sabotage was to show the whole world that he is not a deputy to Najib, he is deputy to the chair and the chair only, that is the seat of the PM, "Najib is not after all, an elected PM, he is a PM by default and that counts for nothing," that is what he confided with one of his close aides. Each time he came out defiantly not to toe the line like he did in the 1 Malaysia campaign Najib just stepped aside and did not confront him.
The youth in the Muhyiddin camp boasts of one staunch supporter who they say, thinks she is Najib's closest and dearest supporter. According to those in the Muhyiddin camp there is little they have to do, she does all the work and does it magnificently, one supporter even told this blog, "she goes for her Botox every Thursday, is she has a change her face ever so often." That is good enough to ruin Najib without ruining UMNO, but Najib they say "lacks strategy, he lacks foresight he is a poor leader and he must give up, cukup lah!!! cukup!!!! thy say and laugh wryly.
Najib has enough enemies within UMNO he does not really know his friends, what we are told is that Hishamuddin Hussein Onn the Minister of home affairs and his cousin is the only one he can trust but that too is of little use as this less intelligent minister only puts him into more trouble each time he opens his mouth.
Talking about less intelligent ministers he has Rais too in his camp, Rais the man who was supposed to have "Burnt" his bridges when he joined Semangat 46, so he has to prove now that he is faithful to the cause - but now, which cause? Najib's or Muhyiddin's?
Many in BN including Mahahtir Mohammed feel that the longer Najib waits the worse their chances of winning better, they are confident of winning after all if the elections commission seems to be in your pocket who wouldn't be?
Najb and Rosmah have the least confidence in themselves, UMNO and the BN as a whole, so the attitude seems to be whilst we've got it we best make the good use of it, and there is no doubting that.
One close Najib aide says he is doing everything in his power to win, if he does not then it is all God's will and that is what is irking the Muhyiddin camp they feel Najib is giving it up too easily and that with him at the helm that is exactly what will happen.
They the Muhyiddin camp is willing to go on an all out assault on Najib to do this, they are demanding he does it, expose Najib and the Mahathir cronies within, look like the man who will save the country and throw Najib out before he calls for the next elections. They feel that is his only way out for UMNO and them.
Muhyiddin however feels time is not ripe, "he does not have the courage to" says an UMNO man, "they are all involved neck deep, one can't take on the other, they'll all die. the only way is for some of them to take responsibility and become the fall guys, not one of them but some of them, and that some is not too little, I'll tell you."
The Najib camp has decided to leave it to fate, now the irony of the whole thing is, PAS says, "God's will is that BN loses."
When however they have not said as it is all "God's will."
Consider this Muhyiddin has the support of Johor UMNO, the Negeri Sembilan divisions are almost completely pro Muhyiddin, then you have the Trengganu, and Kelantan divisions, so why is he not taking on Najib?
