It used to be that flying chairs were associated with MIC meetings. No longer.
The big news today should have been Mat Taib emerging as a surprise contender for the Umno deputy president’s post, joining Ali Rustam and Muhyiddin.
But flying chairs at the Seremban Umno meeting, which left two people injured, have added to the litany of serious troubles facing Umno.
It is not just one incident that suggests that Umno is going through a testing time. Serious money politics, factionalism, the return of the old guard and Mahathirism, bitter leadership struggles and protests at divisional meetings are all evidence of a party in crisis. The big question now is can the party pull through unscathed at a time of economic turbulence or will the fissures that are now evident lead to a final implosion?
Najib is reported as saying that 900 complaints of money politcs had been received by the party’s disciplinary board. 900?! We have heard top Umno politicians complaining about attempts at vote-buying and money politics.
At the Rembau meeting yesterday, a commotion broke out when a number of delegates complained that nominations were closed prematurely.