‘Umno can lose in the next GE’

By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz - Free Malaysia Today

Malaysia, it appears is finally gripped with ‘a loosening of controls and inhibitions.’ And this is not good for Umno which chooses to remain archaic, clinging on to the old ways.

Umno it seems thrives very well in a culture of subservience, inhibitions and in a controlled environment.

In an undefined setting, Umno is lost.

The seizure of power in Perak for example is generally viewed as having been made possible by the involvement of the Perak Sultan.

Despite the court’s ruling, the people’s court regards Zambry Abd Kadir as a political usurper. He is an illegitimate and illegal MB.

It follows then, that whatever policies that Zambry formulated from the time he assumed power are illegal.

The monies appropriated and set aside from the consolidated fund and applied for a variety of purposes were also illegal.

Just recently, the appointment of the Selangor state secretary was also seen as being made possible by the intervention and involvement of the Selangor Sultan.

The two events resulted in a loosening of people’s inhibitions.

People are becoming emboldened to question the proper role of the constitutional monarchy.

Let us be clear as to what is happening here.

No vote for Umno, BN

People are pointing to the fact that ours is a constitutional monarchy.

It’s not a call for the overthrow of the institution or a call for rebellion.

It is suggestive of a larger desire by an increasing number of the population, to see that the proper rule of law and the sovereignty of the rule of law need to and should be observed.

The majority of Malays who did not vote for Umno are now centered mostly in cities and towns.

They are more mobile in their thinking and are less inhibitory in speech and actions. The younger generation of Malays in towns and cities hardly read newspapers.

The younger generation surfs the internet and those who are about to enter voting age are openly critical.

These are the people who will never vote for Umno and the Barisan Nasional.

Writing on the Industrial Revolution of the 1860s, Arnold Toynbee in his lectures on the Industrial Revolution observed:

“The success of Britain in pioneering industrial change and ushering in a new world history was not the result of mere mechanical inventiveness. The essential ingredient was a political culture which was receptive to change and improvement. Old working practices had to be abandoned, old rights had to be torn up, and the whole social and economic fabric of a country had to be loosened up if innovations were to take effect.”

Umno doesn’t seem to have what it takes to manage the loosening of the social and cultural milieu. Nor does it seem to have the presence of mind, the verve so to speak, to manage the change.

Since it doesn’t understand and lacked the tools to manage the new social milieu, it can lose in the next GE.

This is an excerpt of an original version which first appeared on the writer’s blog sakmongkolak47