Opposition leaders slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak for his continuous rhetoric and warnings against any attempt to topple his government - even if was by the people themselves at the ballot boxes and in a peaceful manner.
To Najib's critics, such an "unreasonable" stance reflected his intention to turn the country
into an authoritarian regime or police state in the event that his
Umno-BN coalition lost at the 13th general election, which is expected
to be called soon.
"Malaysia
is like any other Asian country including China and India. Socially and
politically, it is in transition. Revolutions can occur on the streets
or even peacefully at the ballot boxes, so why this urge to keep warning
against revolution," PKR MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
"If Najib is sincere about a systematic change, if Najib cares about the
future of the country, he should immediately promise a peaceful
transition of power if the people vote against his government and stop
the nasty threats."
Malaysia's fate as a democracy on international watch
Ddespite
repeated calls from civil society and opposition stalwarts including
Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Hadi Awang, the Malaysian PM has
refused to calm citizens as well as investors that he would not trigger
unrest if the Umno-BN lost GE-13.
Instead Najib has stepped up his rhetoric to retain power at all costs
even at the expense of "crushed bodies" and "lost lives". Sad to say,
this has earned him a place on the global watch with a Canadian paper
being the latest to brand him a "false democrat", inducting him into the world's list of new autocrats. The dubious honour of making it into the Globe and Mail's 'A 21st-century checklist of the new autocrats' comes just months after the Washington Post called Najib a "champion of double talk."
But with polls looming, it appears Najib has decided to gamble his own political future and that of the Umno-BN's onMahathirism -
a hard line, authoritarian form of governance and political tactics
used by the corruption-tainted Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's prime
minister from 1981 to 2003.
“We are in a transition, if we do something without careful planning
like a revolution, it will be followed by chaos, and things will become
worse without a systematic transformation system,” Najib said on
Thursday at a youth leadership convention in Kuala Lumpur.
“Malaysia is now in a stable situation, and we must ensure this peace and stability remains,” he added.
No reason for Malaysia to be unstable unless Najib himself "pulled the trigger"
On that day, a historic crowd of 250,000 thronged the Dataran Merdeka
venue for the peaceful sit-in protest and all was orderly until an hour
before the rally's 4pm closing time. Suddenly the police fired tear gas
canisters directly into the crowd; LRT stations were shut down
preventing escape, while police broke up into small groups to chase and
beat up the civilian protesters.
"The brutality suggests that a segment of the police force on duty that
day had acted with vengeance against BERSIH 3.0 participants whether due
to orders given to them or because they had lost control," the Bersih
organizing committee said in a statement issued on Thursday to criticize
the government's "lip service" and refusal to take responsibility.
"There are too many reports of police officers who were wearing blue
police uniforms but without their names and police identity numbers so
as to prevent the victims of violence from identifying the perpetrators
of police violence. This cannot be taken lightly by those in power."
But what do youths think
Young
Malaysians form a key portion of the electorate and both sides of the
political divide have been spending much time trying to get into their
good books.
“This is the most ideal state we are trying to achieve. We will work
hard for your future by the power vested in us. We will not let you
down,” Najib said.
It is telling that in a recent paper prepared by the International
Islamic University of Malaysia in March that the youths surveyed listed
as their top concerns the economy, crime, social woes, illegal
immigrants and the country's leadership.
The youths also said that these were the issues that would decide how they voted in the next general election.
More politically interested than before: Rejection of mainstream media
The respondents in the study also confirmed the general perception that a
significant portion of youths today depended on the Internet instead of
the mainstream media to keep track of developments in the country.
Another notable finding was that political interest among the younger
generation is high, with 60 per cent of the respondents deliberating on
politics with friends, 52 per cent with family members and 32 per cent
with political activists. Despite their concerns, 88 per cent of the
respondents who were all voters were optimistic over a good or very good
future for the country.
Syed Arabi further revealed that for the Malays and Indians, crime and
economic woes were the major concern at present.The Chinese appeared to
be more worried over economic and leadership issues followed by crime.
Respondents from all the three races also cited influx of illegal
immigrants as another of the country's woes.
The study also revealed that increasingly fewer Malays read mainstream
newspapers daily compared with their Chinese and Indian counterparts.
Only about 30 per cent of the Malay respondents read newspapers daily
while the Chinese recorded 44 per cent in daily readership. The
mainstream mdeia including TV is controlled by the Umno-BN.
The dwindling newspaper readership is compensated by the rise in the
those seeking information through the Internet daily - Malays (29 per
cent), Chinese (27 per cent) and Indians (38 per cent).
Going for the candidate, not the party
Syed
Arabi's study also attempted to determine whether youths preferred to
vote for candidates or political parties in the next election.
Although there is a preponderance towards voting for the party, it
appeared that 40 per cent of young Chinese and 47 per cent of Indians
were gearing towards candidates, with only 33 per cent of young Malays
preferring candidates over party.
When respondents were asked which party would be their voting preference
if 'elections were to be held tomorrow', 52 per cent said Barisan
Nasional (BN) is the choice.
Given that the survey was done before the BERSIH 3.0 rally in April and
the narrow preference expressed for the BN, it is no wonder that the
Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is now rated as
having a more than even chance of snatching the federal government from
Najib's Umno-BN.
Hence the panicky mood of many government leaders, as reflected by the
increasingly threatening rhetoric from Najib and Mahathir.
'The more threatening, the more urgent the need to throw out the Umno-BN'
According to Mahathir, perceived by many to be a dictator, the Umno-BN's
loss of power after 5 decades of political hegemony would spell misery
for the "majority" who would then be ruled by the "minority".
Yet, in the 12th general election held in 2008, the Pakatan Rakyat won
more than 50% of the popular vote and swept into control of 5 of the
country's 13 states. The Umno-BN clung to the federal government only
thanks to the extensive gerrymandering put in place by Mahathir during
his rule.
"Students of history will tell you that more solid governments than the
Umno-BN have been overthrown. Gaddaffi and Mubarak were extreme in their
retaliation against their own people who challenged them in their last
days. Yet the people, and many of these were youths, triumphed. So why
should Malaysians, young or old, fear revolution? It is only violent if
the rejected government wants it to be so," said Tian.
"Given the dire state of corruption in the country, Malaysians should
welcome a change of regime and the faster the better. If the Umno-BN is
sincere, Najib should immediately promise a peaceful transition. Who
knows what's best for Malaysia are Malaysians themselves - definitely
not Najib Razak or Umno-BN."
Malaysia Chronicle
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