The UMNO wanita leader, Datin Rafidah Aziz, did what every victorious UMNO leader does: replace her defeated predecessor's supporters with her own. She believes, like victorious rulers after a fractious fight for succession, the losers must be destroyed, before calling for closing of ranks. With widespread rumours that her election involved a little of Bolehland's vaunted skullduggery, she sits upon an uneasy throne. Which is why four days after the UMNO convention, the Prime Minister is convinced Rafidah's new line-up is not dictated by revenge but party unity. Datin Rafidah, on the other hand, pleads to back her personnel changes that sidelined her predecessor must be respected. That revenge is on her mind -- she has not recovered her shock defeat in 1996 by Dr Siti Zahrah Sulaiman -- is in no doubt. But to justify her action by pointing to what her predecessor did does not exculpate her. And her arrogance shines through: she insists she had her own reasons for what she did, and it had to be quickly since "I will be going to the United States on Thursday and I do not want party work to be delayed". Don't you know, you irresponsible idiots, "if the appointment is not done, none will know who is in charge and this will slow down preparations for the Teluk Kemang byelection next month." Ah, now we know. Teluk Kemang is so important that she is prepared to act hastily and revengefully that "it would be irresponsible for me to go (to the US) without naming the State heads."

This arrogance is what brought Datin Rafidah to her knees. She accuses the movement of running into debt, which her predecessor found she did as well. She has no clear ideas on where the movement heads, her focus to destroye her enemies, and pride in her predecessor's backers paying homage to her. The booing she got from the General Assembly convention last week, after her election as wanita leader, is more than meets the eye. Her concluding remarks about the need for capable people for government largesse was badly received. One senior UMNO leader said her definition of "capable leaders" begins and ends with her son-in-law, the recipient of largesse so huge especially after he married her daughter, remains a blot. Him given 150 APs a month, ensured a monthly sinecure of RM1.5 million (he sold them for RM10,000 each, according to those in the motor trade, and became a partner in the two motor companies who bought the APs)), besides other investment goodies from his mother-in-law. Her petty remarks about the movement's finances pales into significance the larger investment decision which forced General Motors to cite its regional motor plant in Thailand instead of here. Market sources say she insisted upon a local firm her son-in-law had dealings with be its local partner. But this arrogance is not limited to her. Ford Motors, despite the denials, having failed in obtaining a strategic stake in Proton, makes the Philippines its regional manufacturing centre.

It is this more than her competence or fairplay that brings her and the Prime Minister into confrontation with the UMNO ground. The UMNO culture allows for losers to be sidelined, their backers harassed. No better current example exists than the treatment meted out to He Who Must Be Destroyed At All Cost and his UMNO and Malay supporters. This man, when he became deputy prime minister in 1993, true to form did what Datin Rafidah now does. But Datin Rafidah's nervousness after her victory underscores a shift amongst the delegates away from the Prime Minister. That is so ingrained they gave him a slap in the face. While he recognised that for what it was, his coterie did not. This is what makes Datin Rafidah so edgy. Much as she claims the new wanita committee reflects the love and affection the movement has for her, the hard fact of life, despite superficial expressions of support, is that many still back her predecessor and prefer the VIP prisoner in Sungei Buloh to the VIP prisoner in the Istana Rakyat. Similarly, the UMNO youth leader, Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, find two-thirds of his youth committee back his predecessor, Dato' Ahmad Zaid Hamidi. This upsets Datin Rafidah's equanimity more than the Teluk Kemang byelection ever could. The last word on this is yet to be written.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my