The Power Of Johor
A few Johor UMNO leaders are openly blaming the Prime Minister for the country's woes - and getting away with it for a good reason.
Dec 26, 2001

Under normal circumstances, these fellows would have been in deep trouble for attacking Dr. Mahathir Mohamad the way they did. But these are unusual times.

Who are they and what did they do?

* Adam Hamid, 51, an executive councillor in Joho, who oversees the state's public utilities. He waged a personal battle to stop an attempt to extend Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's leadership tenure in UMNO from three to five years.

He personally sent letters to 2,000 delegates describing the move, which could have resulted in extending Dr. Mahathir's term from 2003 to 2005 as "very undemocratic." He won. The prime minister called off the amendment.

* Shahrir Sbdul Samad, a member of the party's Supreme Council, who openly blamed the shocking Lunas defeat to "the character of our leader Dr. Mohamad." He described him as "a sulking old man."

The next election will take place in 2004. If Linus is projected countrywide in four years' time "we are in serious trouble."

Sharir also criticised the government's purchase of Malaysian Airlines (MAS) for M$8.00 a share when it is trading in the market at M$3.25 a share.

"This is what the people are complaining about, "he said, "We will iose more votes because of this."

The two are among the few UMNO dissidents who want the prime minister to step down now before PAS can inflict nire manage on the party.

That both men are from Johor, UMNO's most loyal state and a major hope to prevent PAS, the fundamentalist Islamic party, from gaining power.

They werenonce staunch supporters of former deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, who is also from Johor.

As Chairman of Malaysia's Human Rights Commission, Musa has also been critical of the government's handling of non-violent demonstrators.

Musa said his Commission supported the rights of peaceful assembly in Malaysia, he declared, indirectly blaming the police for using force against opposition demonstrators.

His statement supporting street rallies is causing dismay among UMNO leaders, some of whom believe he is trying to rally his forces in Johor for a political comeback, an ambition he has repeatedly denied having.

Dr. Mahathir has made no effort to silence his Johor critics or if he did, it had not worked.There may be good reasons for it.

As PAS gathers strength in the north and northeast, Johor, UMNO's fortress in the south is going to be more and more important. It is the state of UMNO"s birth, where PAS has worked hard without success to penetrate.

In the 1999 general election when Malay voters abandoned UMNO in droves for the opposition, Johor won all the 40 Parliamentary and all 40 state seats.

This is giving the state more muscles than it ever had in history.

Can Musa make it back to power? Unlikely, given that he lacks any far-reaching grassroot support.

"But if he can win a sizeable Johor vote he can be a kingmaker to force (Deputy leader) Ahmad Badawi or any challenger to deal with him," said an insider.

Economically, too, Johor is a rising star because of its nearness to Singapore.

During the past five years, Singaporeans invested some M$5.7 billion (S$2.6 billion) in the state, the largest investor, followed by USA with M$4.04 billion and Japan, M$1.84 billion.

In tourism, Singaporeans last year spent M$6.28 billion (S$2.9 billion) in the state, almost double that of 1998. Mostly day-trippers, they make up 94 per cent of all visitors to Johor.

The battle against PAS is UMNO's top priority today. It explains why Dr. Mahathir has handed over the day-to-day government to Deputy Prime Minister Badawi to concentrate on re-establishing UMNO's supremacy.

In an interview with the Financial Times in September, Dr. Mahathir said he would step down "after the party has been strengthened."

It was a departure from the past when he said his exit would take place when he was convinced that major problems facing the country be solved.

The switch from nation to party as a condition for retirement stems from his view that UMNO"s survival is a bigger concern than the economy.

There was pervasive hatred for UMNO fostered by the Islamic party, he said, and this had made things difficult for his government. People were not listening and he said he would "try to sort it out before I go."

Critics say wrestling back UMNO"s domination among the Malays before he goes is a coded message to mean he will be around for a long time - unless the mood turnssour in the 2003 party election.
Seah Chiang Nee