Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak took the bull by the horns on Thursday (Dec 10) as he opened the annual assembly of his ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

In a sea of red, Mr Najib, who is also UMNO party president, delivered a keynote address, crafted to unite and strengthen his grip on a deeply fractured party.

Speaking before some 5,000 delegates, Mr Najib assured them that the challenges facing debt ridden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) have almost been resolved with the sales of power assets and planned organisation-wide rationalisation.

He also made the point once again that there was nothing wrong with the more than US$600 million political donations he took receipt of in his personal accounts from Middle East donors.

… “If he drops Muhyiddin he will be seen equally responsible for splitting UMNO,” said Yang Razali Kassim, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “Everyone will lose if UMNO splits. UMNO may not survive the next general election if it splits.”