Red also filled Dewan Merdeka to the rafters as Umno leaders filled the party’s convention hall in Kuala Lumpur for a special gathering on Saturday.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had summoned the party’s divisional leaders for a special briefing to discuss “current issues”. In response, over 3,000 leaders turned up in their finest crimson attire.

What was the purpose of this “special briefing”? Was it just an attempt by Zahid to get his ducks in a row for the next general election. Or was it something bolder, like making sure Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob knows who is truly the head honcho?

First, it was to show members that party leaders have not forgotten about Umno’s “golden boy” Najib Razak, who has been sent away to serve time after losing his appeal in the SRC International case.

The former Umno president’s children, Nizar and Nooryana Najwa, were given special slots to deliver heartfelt speeches about their father’s plight, moving the audience to tears.

“Sometimes I think he loves the rakyat more than he loves us. Mommy used to say Yana, the rakyat, the people, it’s his oxygen… But today Daddy is all alone,” said Nooryana, even clenching Najib’s silver tie tightly in her right hand during her speech.

Najib’s counsel in his 1MDB case, Shafee Abdullah, as well as Zaid Ibrahim, whose firm was discharged at the eleventh hour of the SRC International appeal, made an appearance to give their account of the proceedings to a rapturous crowd.

Deafening calls of “Bossku!” and “Lawan Tetap Lawan” reverberated within the hall in between and during speeches.

The gathering can also be seen as a response to a question posed by an Umno leader who, speaking anonymously to FMT, had questioned the silence of the party’s leaders as Najib faced an uphill battle in his SRC International appeal.

The leader told FMT that “the whole of Umno had gone quiet”.

Political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara had predicted that Umno would use the court verdict on Najib to its advantage, whatever the outcome.

“If Najib loses his appeal, Umno will use this court decision to pull together all its members, claim political persecution and pitch for sympathy votes. If he wins, then Umno will claim that Najib’s prosecution was politically motivated and thus gather support not only from its members but also from voters,” he had said.

Zahid, who is part of Umno’s “court cluster”, also used the briefing to again deny that he was pressing for an early general election so that he could save his own skin.

The “court cluster” refers to prominent Umno leaders, including Zahid and Najib, who are either on trial or have been convicted on criminal charges such as embezzlement, abuse of power and money laundering.

Zahid said in his speech at the briefing: “I still believe that our judicial system does not side with anyone. Anyone claiming that I am afraid of being convicted is actually afraid of me. These people are the ones who lack confidence and are afraid of their own shadows.”

He also said Umno’s push for snap polls was not new and that the party has been calling for elections since the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed as a result of its internal power struggle.

The crowd then responded with shouts of “bubar” (dissolve Parliament).

The crucial point of the gathering was that of a reminder to the prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is a party vice-president, that Zahid still commands the “Umno army”.

Boos were heard when Zahid mentioned Ismail while addressing party divisional leaders, showing that it did not escape party leaders that Ismail was absent at the gathering (he was away attending to official duties as prime minister).

Zahid, speaking about the government of the day, pointed out that, although led by an Umno vice-president, it was not a Barisan Nasional government.

He then delivered a reminder about the nature of party-based power.

“Remember that we are all here (in positions of power) not due to our own greatness, but because of our party’s strength. Many leaders seem great, but the fact is that they’re in power only due to the party’s support,” he said.