From Clement Stanley
At the recent Umno general assembly, it was revealed by party secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki that they received motions from 72 of 191 divisions requesting for a full pardon for former party president Najib Razak.
That means one can assume that the remaining 119 divisions didnt bother with such a motion. I wonder why?
Many Umno members brought up Bossku, as Najib is popularly known among his supporters, and his past contributions to the party.
Unfortunately, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh chose to embarrass the current crop of Umno leaders by stating that Umno will win the youth vote if Najib walks, as they see him as a leader who can truly serve.
Is Akmal implying that none of the current crop of Umno leaders is capable of doing just that? Is he admitting that the present leadership in Umno is not truly serving?
That would sound as if Bossku is indispensable while all the other party leaders are expendable.
Was Akmal insinuating that he himself is incapable of such a task? Or was he admitting that he is not truly serving the youths? Its something to think about.
Or was it nothing more than a display of hero worship? If so, this whole strategy requires a rethink on the part of Akmal and Umno Youth.
Continue to hero worship Najib and you will be doing it at the expense of others. One result of this is that a potential leader may be denied a chance to shine and his talents would go to waste.
A clear line of succession could be in jeopardy as long as, in the opinion of Akmal and others who think like him, other Umno leaders are not truly serving.
Tears were also shed for Najib at the general assembly, and theres no harm in his staunch supporters doing so.
But one wonders if Umno in general has the same sympathy for East Malaysians, who are still plagued by issues such as lack of infrastructure, and poverty, especially since the ruling coalitions in Sabah and Sarawak have kept Umno in power, through the unity government, by backing Anwar Ibrahims administration.
Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.