Can new Umno chief save ailing party from destruction by Mahathir?

Hasan is the first technocrat politician to lead Umno, and he is taking over at the lowest point in the party’s history. He is also the third party chief since the general election in May, as his predecessors fight corruption charges in court.
Hasan cited two core aims as the new No 1. The first involves restructuring, recovery and reform in the party, and the second is to prepare for the next general election.
“When we are in an accident, the first thing to do is to control the bleeding, and check for internal and external injuries before we can start to repair and recover,” he said.
The former chief of Negeri Sembilan state is no political animal, having spent a big part of his life in the corporate world.
He is an objective and moderate politician, and it is unclear whether he will be able to handle the warlords in his party or the big players in the ruling coalition.
In Umno, people have to spend millions of ringgit, push, shove and even backstab to rise in the party.
Hasan did not do any of that, instead being gifted the Umno presidency by the shock resignation of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. His friends say that he was sitting there when a musang king durian dropped onto his lap.
But the prized fruit has sharp thorns and it will be an uphill battle for him.
Political commentator Azmi Omar said this is the chance for Umno to step out of the shadows of former president Najib Razak.
“Zahid was seen as too close to Najib and it damaged him.
Hasan is not interested in joining any plot to block or support PKR president Anwar Ibrahim on the premiership issue. He thinks that should be left to the will of the people.
It is well known in Umno that Hasan and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad have a relationship built on mutual respect. But that does not mean he will have an easier time, because Mahathir really wants to kill off Umno.
Mahathir’s sharpest sword is his power to de-register Umno, and that is something that Hasan wants to avoid.
However, unlike his predecessors, he is less likely to be hauled up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The perception in Umno is that the string of corruption charges against Ahmad Zahid is politically motivated, and that the MACC is once again a tool of the ruling coalition.
“Dr Mahathir is our political opponent but I also regard him as a father figure. I hope he will see us as his children although he has disowned the party.
“Umno has more than three million members. Why punish millions of Malays because of a few bad apples?” said Hasan.
KRA strategy director Amir Fareed Rahim said Ahmad Zahid was riding high after the anti-Icerd rally, only to be confronted by the mass resignations of Umno politicians in Sabah.
“It was a slap in the face and a sign that things were closing in on him. It looks like every time Umno takes a step forward, it gets pushed back two steps,” said Amir.
Ahmad Zahid, said a former aide, reached his decision to step aside after several nights of prayer to seek divine guidance.
He was deeply hurt because some of those who stabbed him were people he had helped in the past.
But what upset him most was the hypocrisy of the “Hamzah faction” which thinks it is alright to gang up with outsiders to stop Anwar from becoming the prime minister after Mahathir, but cannot accept others who have thrown their support behind Anwar as the next premier.
In the meantime, it is back to the drawing board for Umno.
“Mat Hasan is a respected technocratic politician, but he does not have a national profile and he has never been a federal minister,” said Amir.
He did not come from the “kilang Pemuda Umno”, that is, through the ranks of Umno Youth where most of the party’s leaders cut their teeth.
Hasan, said Amir, will have to lean on his new deputy Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is a product of Umno Youth and its vast political network.
Ismail is the No 1 vice-president and a former minister, and he is from Pahang where Umno is still ruling.
Together, they can calm down those looking for stability and direction.
But Amir warned that Hasan’s greatest challenge in the coming days is not from the Umno warlords but from factional politics as the opposing factions try to seek new political alignments within the party.
One group wants Umno to recover and rebuild. Another group is leaning towards Anwar, while a third group wants to stop Anwar.
Can Mat Hasan manage these conflicting agendas in Umno?