It was to have been a glorious start for Umno Youth as their new chief was crowned. But an ugly incident of in-fighting initiated by unhappy supporters of one candidate exposed cracks within the wing that point to a more serious illness within the party.
The drama began slightly after 11pm last night as the results for the wing was announced. It was the last of the three movements under Umno to be read out, delayed by recount after recount for the top post.
When the MC called out Khairy’s name, the crowd went wilder. The dam burst. His supporters were raucously yelling “KJ! KJ! KJ!” repeatedly while pumping their fists in the air.
All of a sudden from the sidelines, several groups started chanting “Rasuah! Rasuah! Rasuah!”
Believed to be the disenchanted cheerleaders of Mukhriz, they quickly surged from all directions towards one corner of the hall to confront the Khairy faction.
From above, the entire floor looked like a fight between two colonies of fire ants.
On the sideline, a red-eyed man in songkok, the Umno white baju Melayu and checquered sarong pelikat, was overheard exclaiming: “This is the end. We’re going to lose all three by-elections.”
No doubt the anonymous man was referring to the upcoming by-elections in the two Bukits and one Batang. Perhaps it was a spur-of-the-moment exclamation, an outburst of overwrought emotions, but such thoughts said aloud do not spell a bright future for the wing at such a vulnerable time.
A couple of hours later, as the last of the workers exited the Putra World Trade Centre, a woman campaigner remarked to her companion: “The opposition media were here. It’s so shameful!”[more]
