Umno Ready for GE13

by La’ Ziramjad
 
With the Bersih 2.0 mass rally still lingering in our minds and spirit, especially with all the coverage given to it, many must be thinking that it has dampened Barisan Nasional (BN) spirit in reaching for total dominance on the next General Election. But that is not the case for its component party Umno, at least according to Seri Gading MP, Datuk Mohamed Aziz. Mohamed actually said that the party is already benefiting from their simulation exercise that has been running from June.


“We should not take things lightly, definitely not the general election," said Umno veteran MP emphasizing the importance of the upcoming 13th General Election Umno members.

Meanwhile Umno Information Chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan, had said that, the party machinery is ready and already driven to one aim, which is to grip the two-thirds majority.

“The Barisan Nasional (BN) election machinery at all level has long been activated for the general election”, he said during a BN convention in Kuala Terengganu.

Ahmad has not been the only one who’s been busy getting the party members prepared for the highly anticipated GE13. Umno deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, too, has held a meeting with some 100 of BN Backbenchers (BNBBC) members last Monday indicating that the party is now working hard for the next election.

Although the date for GE13 has not been set yet, another Umno MP said that party members were told to work as if it is going to be held “over this weekend”. Umno leaders were also said to have given orders to its members to get in touch with communities by going down to the field into the root of the society and mingle with the public as a way to tackle voters.

It was the Prime Minister as Umno president himself who started the campaign for his party to make the necessary preparations for the highly anticipated GE13. In spite of the NGO coalition Bersih attempt to loosen Najib’s grip over Putrajaya, the party president have been doing his business as straight as a die. To counter Bersih’s salvo, Najib can always exploit his allies in the Home Ministry and PDRM. These accomplices would always be ‘friends with benefits’ to the Prime Minister in their mission to continue wooing voters as he goes out to visit all the states as part of his campaign tour.

Najib’s Successful Euro Trip

Najib’s recent Europe visit started off badly thanks to the Bersih rally which received plenty of foreign media coverage prior to his trip. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth had worn a bright yellow outfit when she was greeting Najib and his wife. During the visit there were also some fifty international-based Bersih supporters ‘escorting’ him around in the streets around the country.

However, British Prime Minister, David Cameron who perhaps was too busy with his own battle in the Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp scandal had spared Najib from further embarrassment as Cameron did not touch on the Bersih issue although several NGOs in the UK had urged him to do so during his visit to 10 Downing Street.

Overall Najib had emerged as a winner in his Eurotrip as the diplomatic ties with the Vatican had been reestablished and there was none of the un-mellow yellow treatment like what happened in Britain.

Umno All Pumped Up

Najib once said that, “We have million members. We can take over KL if we wanted to”. The statement was a strong reaction against the successful Bersih movement but at the same time it was a signal that Umno-BN aims to win big in GE13 to prove that the party under Najib is more relevant than ever and a force to be reckoned with.

In a way, the Bersih mass rally did Umno a favor by strengthening the unity among its leaders and members. With that, Najib does not have that much of a problem to secure votes from its registered members, as he knows that the three million Umno members will vote for the party.

Everyone is certain that the July 9 rally did significant damage and rattled Najib and his BN government. However, the opposition-backed Bersih gathering also provided a much needed wakeup call to Umno and created a sense of urgency to the ‘silent majority’, prompting them to be more involved in the party’s quest to increase its popularity.

Umno Struggles in Media War

Media have always played a big part in politics and with the advent of the internet revolution it’s a whole new ballgame now. As Datuk Seri Rais Yatim has said earlier this week, “Information officers should master the new media technology like Facebook, Twitter and blogs to ensure all information about government policies could be thoroughly disseminated and understood by the people.”

The opposition's tactic to twist facts into election promises seems to have worked out well. They have been using the cyberspace and new media technology to the fullest and this have helped them gain popularity. So far, they have always been ahead in the ongoing cyber war against BN. BN is well aware of this setback and have been struggling to strengthen their heraldic tools. However, Unit Media Baru (UMB) of Umno who is responsible in uniting (and disunite) right-wing bloggers have been grappling with its own share of politics lately with the ongoing feud between UMB chairman, Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz and a group of pro-Umno bloggers. It’s no secret that Tun Faisal had an altercation on Twitter with the notorious pro-Umno blogger, Papagomo.

The spat between the two who are supposedly in the same team is comes as quite an embarrassment especially when the ugly incident (Papagomo literally ‘invited’ Tun Faisal via Twitter for a punch-up) was witnessed by netizens and others. It’s also no secret that Umno and BN as whole are lacking in credible bloggers and writers compared to the Pakatan.

With Tun Faisal and Papagomo going at each other on Twitter of all places, it is a bad sign for Umno in these months leading to GE13. It shows that these two main players in Umno’s ‘cyber soldiers’ lack professionalism. After all, UMB plays a critical part in determining the outcome of the next election.

Wooing in the Fence-Sitters

Many speculate that GE13, just like the GE12, will be decided by the fence-sitter voters. It would be quite a task for Umno to be in touch with these ‘undecided yets’ not just to boost this group of voters’ confidence in the BN leadership but also to keep themselves in check to what’s going on the ground.

It would be a real test for Najib to come out of this bad patch. It’s a make or break situation for the prime minister and he has the control of time and it is time that he have to make as his ally. Najib had hinted a few months back that elections would be held as early as year-end but he obviously needs to use up a bit of time to rise above the ashes left by the Bersih amber so it’s only rational for him to use delay tactics.

The prime minister have been busy closing deals and strengthening relations with other countries and when he’s back here he goes straight into campaign mode. What’s most important is the question of whether Umno members could keep up with Najib’s pace.

All in all, there is a high confidence that BN will again regain its position as the sole party to be elected government in Malaysia. They must focus on all the areas that would help them regain lost votes, lost confidence and loss of trust while keeping level-headed. The opposition is well aware that the coming election would be their biggest chance to topple BN and the way things have been going anything can happen.


*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.