by M Manogaran

In the March 2008 elections, BN lost its two-thirds majority and Umno blamed then-premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for it.

Actually the reason BN lost its two-thirds majority and for the first time opposition parties got 82 seats in Parliament, was due to the beginning of a trend towards change. People saw change was possible.

The Hindraf rally on Nov 25, 2007 made people realise that they can stand up to bullying and tyranny.

From then onwards there was no turning back and the mood for change is ever rising.

GE13 was a stock-take for BN, with the result being a worse showing than in GE12 in 2008.

Not only BN did not regain a two-thirds majority in Parliament, they lost Selangor so badly that Pakatan got a two-thirds majority, not to mention Pakatan’s sterling performance in Penang.

In GE13, Pakatan got 89 seats, nearly missing on a dozen other Parliamentary seats and Pakatan got the popular votes exceeding 51 percent.

In company law parlance, Pakatan holds the controlling stake and BN the minority interest, Thus Pakatan should form the board of directors namely the cabinet in this case.

Who should take the blame for BN’s defeat?

Obviously it is Najib who headed BN in GE13 who should take the blame.

When Badawi fared badly in GE12, Umno members especially former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, current Premier Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin pushed for the ouster of Badawi.

Now the same thing has come around.

And because Mukhriz Mahathir is not in line to take up the deputy prime minister’s post, Mahathir prefers to back Najib for the time being.

Najib must pay the same price Pak Lah paid and Najib must suffer the same fate as what he did to Pak Lah. This has now came to haunt him.

The time pressure is piling up on Najib and it is better for Najib to announce a dateline for him to step down graciously.

And with no capable leader to take over, Umno will further fester.

* M. Manogaran, DAP’s former MP for Teluk Intan, lost the Cameron Highlands Parliamentary seat in the 2013 elections to MIC’s Palanivel by a mere 462 votes.