Umno needs to self-reflect

Umno division meetings are currently ongoing nationwide from June 21 to July 29, while the 2024 Umno General Assembly (PAU) will take place from Aug 21 to 24.

Amidst the heated Umno division meetings, accusations have resurfaced that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was the Prime Minister at the time, deliberately delayed the 15th General Election (GE15).

The allegations suggested that Ismail Sabri intentionally postponed the dissolution of Parliament until Datuk Seri Najib Razak was imprisoned, resulting in a severe defeat for Umno-BN.

Another accusation against Ismail Sabri was that he did nothing to help defend Najib from being imprisoned and even colluded to ensure Najib was jailed.

All these accusations were false. The reason Ismail Sabri did not dissolve Parliament earlier was that, as Prime Minister, he received reports from all intelligence agencies stating that Umno-BN would lose.

These intelligence agencies included the Special Branch (SB) of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the Military Intelligence Organisation (MIO), and the Research Division (RD) of the Prime Minister's Department, all predicting Umno-BN's defeat.

In an Umno Supreme Council (MKT) meeting held just before Parliament was dissolved, Ismail Sabri informed all present that if GE15 were held at that time, BN would only win 35 seats.

This was supported by findings from the Informasi Jalinan Rakyat system developed by Wanita Umno, which predicted that if GE15 were held at that time, BN would win no more than 40 seats.

However, Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi insisted that GE15 be held at that time, arguing that Umno-BN could win and return to power independently.

In a Facebook post on Aug 4, 2022, Zahid stressed that GE15 needed to be held as soon as possible because a strong and stable government was needed to focus on the people's issues and bring the country out of economic uncertainty.

In another Facebook post on August 20, 2022, Zahid used a statement by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Umno-BN would win big because the opposition was fragmented to pressure Ismail Sabri to immediately dissolve Parliament.

On Zahid's orders, the Umno Supreme Council meeting on Sept 30, 2022, decided that Parliament should be dissolved soon and the Prime Minister should present a proposed dissolution date to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The intelligence agency reports, findings from Wanita Umno and Ismail Sabri's own expectations were accurate because after Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10, 2022, and GE15 took place on Nov 19, 2022, BN only won 30 seats.

Ismail Sabri's delay in dissolving Parliament also had nothing to do with Najib's imprisonment, as his consideration at that time was the economy's recovery after Malaysia was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC) case involving Najib began during Dr Mahathir's tenure as Prime Minister.

Najib was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on July 4, 2018, and August 8, 2018, with the trial starting on April 3, 2019.

The 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million fine on Najib were handed down during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's tenure as Prime Minister.

Najib was sentenced by Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali on July 28, 2020.

It would be unreasonable for Ismail Sabri to instruct the judge to drop Najib's case at the appeal stage.

The entire world would criticise Malaysia if this were done, and global confidence in Malaysia's judiciary would be severely affected.

Umno leadership needs to self-reflect and stop using specific individuals as scapegoats.

*Muhammad Afifi Abdul Razak is a political analyst. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.