The 2015 Umno General Assembly this week began even before it formally started. But it was not how Prime Minister and party president Najib Razak would have liked. His embattled deputy and now nemesis Muhyiddin Yassin stormed the stage on the eve of the gathering with what amounted to his own “pre-assembly curtain-raiser”. Complete with the Umno flag and song, and telecast live online, Tan Sri Muhyiddin launched a forceful address in lieu of the traditional platform that was denied him as the elected party No. 2 at the annual assembly that began yesterday.

Speaking as if it was his last stand, Mr Muhyiddin made a pitch to “save Umno”, calling on Datuk Seri Najib to step down temporarily to make way for transparent and independent investigations into the twin scandals – the 1MDB issue and the RM2.6 billion

(S$850 million) political donations that ended in his personal account. Mr Najib could resume his post, he said, once cleared of wrongdoing. Criticising Mr Najib for creating a “climate of fear” and becoming increasingly dictatorial by clamping down on those who dared take issue with his leadership, Mr Muhyiddin called for a two-term limit to the tenure of the Umno president.

… Yang Razali Kassim is Senior Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.