Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said such attempts could ruin Umno’s reputation among its own supporters.
“Let the courts decide whether they are guilty or not. The rule of law must be upheld whether they’re in the government or the opposition. The PN government and civil society need to ensure that there are no interventions in any court cases,” Awang Azman told FMT.
The cases against certain party leaders and members was said to be among the reasons for Umno’s discontent with the PN government, as stated by Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Ahmad Maslan.
But Awang Azman said the high-profile cases were not the only reason for Umno’s threats to withdraw support for PN, a move that would cause the current government to collapse.
He said every party leader probably had their own narrative.
However, Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Ahmad’s remarks were unlikely to deter Umno supporters, whom he said would probably consider these cases as a matter of political persecution.
He said there was a disconnect between the conservative Malay crowd and the more progressive urban folk about the charges, with the latter viewing the cases as necessary to restore the government’s integrity.
“But because Umno derives its primary electoral strength from the former group, so Ahmad Maslan was just playing to the tune of most Umno supporters, in addition to trying to save his own skin.
“Perversely speaking, if PPBM is serious about retaining Umno in the ruling coalition, it has scarcely any practical choice but to accede to Umno’s wishes, including dropping the charges against major Umno leaders,” he told FMT.
He said PPBM would not suffer any negative political effects in doing so as the party was already not in favour among more progressive-minded voters after the Sheraton Move early last year.
“PPBM and the whole ruling coalition would now have to focus on appealing to conservative-minded voters who are actually much larger in numbers, and who would actually applaud the dropping of these charges which they see as politically-motivated,” he said.
Ahmad’s comments had been highlighted by the recently-removed BN secretary-general Annuar Musa, with the latter saying this confirmed that Umno’s potential split from PPBM was not due to a question of policies or services to the people.
But Annuar had been under fire in the days leading up to his removal, with the Ketereh MP seen to be friendly with PN.
Former prime minister Najib Razak yesterday clarified Ahmad’s remarks on “cruel” court cases against Umno leaders being continued by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
According to Najib, Ahmad’s statement had specifically referred to the forfeiture cases and compound fines imposed on various people, including those in the party.
He said many, including “certain Umno leaders”, had also intentionally taken Ahmad’s comments out of context on the cases that were being referred to.
The fate of the PN government remains in the balance after most of Umno’s 191 divisions had called for the party to withdraw its cooperation with PPBM.
The Umno Supreme Council, which met on Wednesday night, deferred its decision on its support for PPBM to its annual general assembly which is scheduled to be held on Jan 31.