|
New Straits Times A MARATHON, decathlon or its distaff equivalent heptathlon -- such are the athletic analogies being drawn for the run-up to Umno's March 2009 electoral assembly.
As any long-distance athlete knows, such events need careful pacing. Like decathletes and hepthaletes, who compete in a combination of events over a period of time, candidates need to assemble a winning strategy.
In this party-political context, they must find ways to win over the principals, take care of their agents, fulfil favours expected by delegates and meet other needs of the divisions -- including the financing of activities.
Pushing too hard at the start of the campaign may only see them burning out before reaching the finish line.
Candidates have been warned against "talking too much", due to the likelihood of their statements being turned against them by their opponents. Unsolicited comments should be avoided, as past experience has shown how the wrong choice of words can be gravely damaging.
This explains why many candidates are refraining from campaigning through the media. "Wait till December," one deputy presidential candidate told reporters seeking interviews.
Such caution is one reason for the present calm on the Umno front. Another possible reason is the threat by former party president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to reveal the names of those involved in money politics if the authorities fail to act on evidence he intends to provide.
Some Umno leaders think this is a scare tactic to check the menace. If so, it appears to be working. To avoid detection, campaigners now go to cash deposit machines instead of passing envelopes of money.
But this could be the calm before the storm. The strategies being planned behind closed doors and on-going "infiltration exercises" into opponents' strongholds could soon generate nothing less than a mini tsunami.
The number of campaigners on the ground, armed with the addresses and contact numbers of delegates, is not small. There is a trend for intimate "appreciation dinners" and gatherings for "loyal supporters", where money is said to change hands.
"It's for petrol money and expenses incurred," agents reportedly told those who attended a dinner at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, while the minister they claimed to be representing was attending a conference overseas. Ironically, this same minister was among those who openly criticised vote-buying.
Candidates are taking the campaigning very seriously. Another minister, while attending an engagement overseas, allowed his residence to be used as a venue for the regular brainstorming session of his inner circle.
There are even candidates who have embarked on door-to-door campaigning, on the pretext of being in the neighbourhood and needing a place to perform their prayers.
Campaigners have also engaged in personal attacks on the shortcomings of their opponents: deriding candidates not fluent in English; calling them names such as anak bapak" (favoured son), budak nakal" (naughty boy) and suami mithali" (literally exemplary husband, but read henpecked instead).
Sembahyang hajat (special prayers of supplication) have also become a campaign tool of warring factions.
The jostling for party posts this time is especially intense because of the planned power transition from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak. While Najib will be endorsed at the March general assembly as the new Umno president, having won the post uncontested, the contest for the deputy presidency, as of now, will see a three-cornered fight. The post is being contested for the first time in 21 years.
This is also the first time the quota system, which requires those vying for the deputy presidency to get 39 nominations each to qualify as candidates, is being tested.
Front runner Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the international trade and industry minister, will compete with Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib and Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam.
All three candidates need no introduction, having served Umno and the Barisan Nasional government in various capacities, and none lacks grassroots support.
For the three vice-presidential posts, eight candidates are eligible -- possibly nine should the remaining five divisions yet to hold their meetings nominate Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Chik, who needs only four more nominations to qualify.
For the 25 seats on the Umno supreme council, 73 candidates have qualified.
Keen contests are also in store for the Youth, Wanita and Puteri wings, including for the top posts, which has been rarely seen for Youth and Wanita and never for the relatively new Puteri.
Like long-distance runners, some candidates will choose to stay in the pack and conserve their energy for a final dash down the finishing straight.
One or two may set the pace, choosing to take the lead in the campaign. There may be also those opting to be "hares": knowing they have a minimal chance of winning, they may up the pace to lure others to dissipate their energies chasing them, while those with an eye on the podium stick to their calculated pace for their eventual sprint to victory. This would require teamwork.
While the long campaign period challenges candidates to measure their stride, it is also a challenge to Umno to improve its image, tainted by allegations of money politics, corruption and abuse of power.
 |
Subscribe RSS
The Blogs 
Be attentive to the Bangkok Airport. It might happen to KLIA if someone in Malaysia decides to copy the Thais...
Goodbye UMNO !!