If Umno respects Dr M, they should reply to his criticisms

Perhaps the point is lost on Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did complain and criticise Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak privately.

But it didn't work, so the country's longest-serving prime minister had to take his complaints and criticisms out in the open for all to see, no matter if Umno's political foes take advantage of it.

This isn't the first time that Dr Mahathir has publicly dropped support for an Umno president. He did it to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi two years ahead of the 2008 general elections.

The Umno information chief said although he respected Dr Mahathir, he felt that the veteran politician should have been circumspect with his criticism of Najib's leadership.

"Please bear in mind that the situation and circumstances during Mahathir's times are different from Najib, both economically and politically," he said during a speech at the Seputeh Umno meeting today.

This is the thing with Umno politicians who cannot argue with Dr Mahathir, who was in power for more than 22 years. Instead of arguing with him point for point, Umno politicians insist they respect him but the circumstances are different.

How different is it? Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) still hold Putrajaya. They still control the mass media. They run the economy and under Najib, have put several transformation programmes for the country to be a high-income nation come 2020.

But they have yet to argue that Najib's policies have worked although Putrajaya's efficiency agency, Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) says that the policies are working.

Let's put in perspective what Dr Mahathir said this past week was carried only by the online media and not the mainstream electronic and print media.

“I have tried to give my views to him directly, which are also the views of many people who have met me," wrote Dr Mahathir on his popular blog, chedet.cc.

"This has not been effective so I have to criticise. I have no choice but to withdraw my support," he said, adding that Najib was no better than his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Badawi.

Dr Mahathir said he had hoped Najib learnt lessons from his poor performance in the last general election but it appeared that he had not.

“Many policies, approaches and actions taken by the government under Najib have destroyed inter-racial ties, the economy and the country’s finances,” he wrote, citing the BR1M direct cash aid and kow-towing to foreign countries.

This isn't new from Dr Mahathir. He has articulated this in the past in his blog and several forums in the past year. So why bother asking him to continue criticising in private when it has not worked?

This is the same mentality as having no-contests in Umno elections, which was the standard practice when Umno was reconstituted after being made illegal in 1988.

So times have changed, as Ahmad Maslan says. But Umno elections are still the same no-contests as in Dr Mahathir's time to ensure party unity.

If there is truly a change in situation, Umno politicians like Ahmad Maslan should take it upon themselves to reply to Dr Mahathir point by point. Respect Dr Mahathir by arguing with him, not asking him to criticise in private. – August 23, 2014.