Ku Li: Umno chiefs get RM50,000 a month plus projects

Umno veteran says money politics is why Mahathir will find it tough trying to bring down Najib.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mahathir Mohamad will have a tough time trying to bring down Najib Razak because Umno politics is all about money and is a source of income to divisional leaders and MPs, says veteran Umno politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

“These days Umno divisional leaders as well as parliamentary members earn up to RM50 000 a month, some even earn hundreds of thousands,” he was quoted as saying by political analyst and blogger Mohd Sayuti Omar.

Tengku Razaleigh, once a rival of Mahathir, said the former Umno president could not do it alone if he wanted to topple Najib as prime minister and Umno president.

He did not believe that 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the troubled government-owned investment company about which Mahathir has been a fierce critic, would be the catalyst for Najib’s downfall.

“What Mahathir cannot stand and is angry over is the attitude of (Najib’s wife) Rosmah Mansor,” Sayuti quoted Tengku Razaleigh as saying.

The only way to bring down Najib was through a confidence vote in Parliament, he said, but Umno was filled with people whose allegiance lay with Najib, who could award them projects worth millions.

Tengku Razaleigh, a former associate of Najib’s father Tun Abdul Razak, and a former finance minister, said that “When they are in that situation, it is difficult for them to turn their backs to Najib as Umno politics is their source of income.”

His remarks were made in an interview on Friday, according to Sayuti.

Tengku Razaleigh, who as MP for Gua Musang is the longest-serving member of Parliament, led a challenge to Mahathir’s leadership in the 1980s, causing a split in Umno, leading to the party being deregistered by the High Court, and its subsequent rebirth in its present form as Umno-BARU under Mahathir.

Sayuti wrote that Tengku Razaleigh was not convinced that Mahathir’s efforts would succeed “because he himself is powerless to do so”.

Tengku Razaleigh had pointed out that more than 160 Umno divisional leaders had attended an Umno meeting on March 8, proof that Najib’s position was still strong. “Those who were in attendance were not 100% Najib’s ‘people’ as Mahathir’s supporters were there too,” he was quoted as saying. “On that basis, I think it is difficult to topple Najib.”

Tengku Razaleigh did not believe that the problems of government-owned investment company 1MDB would be the catalyst for Najib’s downfall. “The people do not know what 1MDB is. They do not understand the 1MDB issue and they do not even care once they are given financial aid such as the BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) and so on.”

He pointed out that Dr Mahathir himself had spent billions of the country’s money on various mega-projects such as Proton, the Bakun dam and hydro-electric projects in Sarawak, Perwaja steel mill in Terengganu and so on.