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When the Alliance, the forerunner of the Barisan Nasional, performed disastrously in the May 1969 general election, many in Umno blamed the MCA for not pulling its weight among the Chinese.

Hishammuddin... waving of the keris

Ong... taking the rap for polls losses

Idris... unsure of a second chance

Shahidan... long wait for reappointment

In the peninsula, the coalition of Umno-MCA-MIC won only 66 of the 103 parliamentary seats in that general election, lost Penang, nearly lost Terengganu, failed to re-capture Kelantan from PAS, and did not have a majority in either Perak (won only 19 out of 40 seats in the state assembly) and Selangor (14 out of 28).

Umno won only 51 out of the 67 seats it contested (76%), MCA 13 out of 33 and MIC two out of three. The three parties together obtained only 48.5% of the popular vote.

Bruised and hurt by Umno’s snide remarks, MCA president Tun Tan Siew Sin announced his party’s withdrawal from the government.

Three days later riots broke out, an emergency was declared and, known only to a handful, a quiet "palace revolution" took place. Prime Minister and Umno president Tunku Abdul Rahman was told to go.

The BN performed just as disastrously in the recently-concluded general election. The coalition of 14 parties lost its two-thirds majority with the dominant Umno, the leader of the pack, winning only 78 of the 117 parliamentary seats it contested (67%).

Within the BN, the question is who is to be blamed now and who is to take responsibility for the poor showing. Reformist MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, whose party won only 15 of the 40 parliamentary seats it contested, declared he is taking responsibility for the losses and would not join the new cabinet.

But it is clear who or which party the leaders of the peninsula BN component parties blame for the punishment their parties received at the hands of voters.

After all, which party leaders raised the keris, said that "we can go it alone as we are 60% of the population", spoke of the unfinished Malay agenda, shouted to non-Muslims to stay away from matters involving Islam, insisted that Allah is exclusive to Muslims, called for the extension of the NEP and rebuked a delegation of non-Malay ministers when they made representation to the prime minister to register their dissatisfaction?

In fact even before Parliament was dissolved and while Umno leaders were going around the country distributing goodies among the rural people, MCA and Gerakan leaders were complaining that they and their people were neglected.

"They seem to have forgotten that we are part of the BN too and need all the help we can get," complained one MCA minister.

Even in Umno, a number of leaders have some idea who to blame, but as Malays – who were described by British colonialists as "nature’s finest gentlemen" – they are too polite to say it. While they understand why there was a swing among Chinese and Indian voters away from BN they are still mulling over the swing of about 5% of Malay voters to the Opposition.

They know the pull and the push factors associated with such personalities as party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Khairy Jamaluddin and Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein whose unflattering caricatures waving the Malay weapon dotted the landscape in Perak.

In fact what is Umno today? Party leaders down the line say it is empty inside and the once feared election machinery is no longer functioning. They say when Umno leaders said the party was 95% ready for the general election, nothing significant had been done to prepare.

As for Anwar, he and his people did nothing else but prepare all kinds of paraphernalia and video CDs that projected entertaining anecdotes about Umno ministers and leaders on hundreds of screens during the campaign period

Was Umno a united force during the elections? Not really, said the downline leaders. In Perlis, for instance party leaders fought before the polls, and they were still fighting quite publicly a week after the last vote was counted.

And Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who led his party to such credible performance, losing only one constituency – and that too by a mere 53 votes, was reappointed mentri besar after a long wait.

Terengganu too has its "warring factions". The muted power struggle – normal in any political party – almost broke out into the open over the choice of candidates for the general election. Mentri Besar Datuk Idris Jusoh is now unsure he will get a second chance.

It is clear that the power struggles and factionalism in Kedah, Perak and Selangor caused the party to lose the states. And in Kelantan, Umno was rudely snubbed in its bid to recapture the state.

There are problems of similar nature in Malacca too just as there are similar problems in the party in Penang, home state of Abdullah.

Those in the know say the problem in Terengganu is expected to be resolved by early next week. Again everyone knows that "resolved or selesaikan" is euphemism for compensation or rewards.

And this in essence is another major problem within Umno. Members have become so greedy, so obsessed with self-enrichment that perjuangan (struggle) has taken on a new meaning.

It is no longer the party struggle for bangsa, agama dan tanahair (nation, religion and country), the party slogan of the early years – that has taken a back seat – but the narrow individual struggle to amass wealth.

Thus the by-words among many party members these days are compensation, reward, contract, commission, projects and habuan (share). And always at the end of most transactions the question that is slyly asked – no longer shyly asked – is "what is there in it for me?"

At no time is the need to be compensated or rewarded more intense than now, just a month away from party elections at branch and divisional levels which will culminate with the main party caucus towards the end of the year where the main party leaders are elected.

These days, being mere branch leaders have its rewards and clout too. Rewards for division leaders are even much bigger. He may get contracts worth millions.

This explains why even for the previously humble post of branch leader, there is intense fight for it. He also stands to gain more in this election year if he is chosen to be a delegate – and is wooed for his vote.

Thus those aspiring to be branch leaders need to have small war-chests while those aspiring to be divisional leaders need bigger ones. And those fighting to be elected members of the party supreme council need much bigger ones.

Thus, for many Umno candidates, their sights have been on party election for a long time now. Getting to be Yang Berhormat adds clout to their bid to be chosen as division leaders and members of the party supreme council.

And hence the struggle among Umno leaders to be chosen as candidates and the frustration and anger they must have felt when they were not chosen, and it is known that some vindictive ones even undermined those contesting.

No doubt some also lost because party workers refused to continue working when the allocation meant for them did not arrive. Thus, many campaign posts had to be abandoned. For Umno, volunteerism is long gone.