Imagine Britain being governed by the same political party, say,
Labour, for 55 successive years from 1957. Or the United States by the
Republican party for the same continuous, unbroken period. That has been
Malaysia’s fate since Merdeka.
The 13th General Election, which must be held before June 28, 2013,
gives Malaysians an opportunity to break free from the monopoly of
political power exercised by Umno, first, in the guise of the Alliance
and subsequently as Barisan Nasional.
Umno dominance
The five years between the 12th General Election in March 2008 and
the 13th have been a watershed period in post-independent Malaysia
because of the establishment of a truly functioning two-party system,
with a strong opposition capable of forming the next government.
But it took half a century for our nation to accomplish this stage of
democratic development. Like many peoples of nations emerging from
colonial rule in the Third World, Malaysians were very grateful to the
Alliance party, led by Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman, for gaining
independence from the British. The reservoir of goodwill for nationalist
independence fighters greatly assisted Umno in the early decades.
Race, which the colonial power had exploited in its divide-and-rule
policy, became the singular fundamental feature of Malaysian politics
since Merdeka, reflected at the centre by the Alliance coalition
comprising Umno, MCA and MIC, each representing a specific race, and
expected to pursue the interests of its ethnic constituency. In the
early days, Umno acted as the elder brother, with a semblance of
contribution from its junior siblings, MCA and MIC. But there was never a
question of parity.
After the National Operations Council (NOC) through its director, Tun
Razak, assumed actual power in the wake of the May 13, 1969 riots
(which itself was a coup de’ etat against the continued leadership of
Tengku), Umno’s ascendency and dominance were never questioned. Hence
the practical reality since the early 1970s is that Barisan is actually
Umno, and major decisions affecting the nation are more often than not
taken in the inner recesses of Umno, rather than the Cabinet.
Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power in the Iranian Revolution of 1979
resulted in an Islamic resurgence across the globe. It had its influence
in Malaysia by the mid-1980s, when Prime Minister Dr Mahathir decided
to outflank PAS by taking up Islam as a political ideology and weapon.
Thus, Umno added religion to race, a powerful emotive cocktail in a
plural society. Race or religion infects nearly every decision made by
Umno, and the state apparatus controlled by it. It will therefore not be
an understatement to describe race and religion as the fundamental
elements of modern Malaysian politics.
Perhaps the most unacceptable consequence of a lengthy rule by Umno
is its control over all the nation’s public institutions, like the
media, the universities, the civil service and the police. Length of
governance creates rulers who believe they have a divine right to rule,
that,there is no longer any difference between the nation state and the
ruling party – they become inseparable. Thus, Umno has behaved as if its
interests are identical with those of Malaysia’s.
When genuine support for Umno ebbed over time, a climate of fear was
developed, with the spectre of May 13 repeated time and time again to
intimidate and frighten the electorate, especially the older generation
and non-Malays.
The success of Pakatan in depriving Barisan of the much vaunted two thirds majority in Parliament, winning 10 out of 11 Parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur, and capturing power in five states in March 2008 forever demolished the myth of Umno’s invincibility.
The success of Pakatan in depriving Barisan of the much vaunted two thirds majority in Parliament, winning 10 out of 11 Parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur, and capturing power in five states in March 2008 forever demolished the myth of Umno’s invincibility.
Even if ethnic-based politics played a role in securing Merdeka and
governing an infant nation, they have long outlived their use, and
should be jettisoned. The next stage in Malaysia’s evolving democracy is
a change of national government. As night follows day, it will
inevitably happen.
Deepak
The Deepak saga currently hogging the internet media, which has for
all practical purposes became the mainstream media for millions of
Malaysians disgusted with the putrid reporting of newspapers, epitomises
the depths to which our public life has descended: only a basket nation
like Zimbabwe can provide an adequate parallel.
Here is an absolutely unknown businessman of a minority ethnic group
without any known institutional support mocking the Prime Minister and
his wife for over one month without anyone from Umno defending them.
One would have thought that such repeated public criticism of Umno’s
president constitutes a direct challenge to the entire party, which in
the past was always met with a stinging rebuttal from Umno, and
thereafter by the full might of the state. One only needs to recall
strident calls just months ago to revoke the citizenship of Ambiga
Sreenevasan, also a member of the same minority ethnic group, when she
bravely led Bersih’s legitimate struggle for electoral return.
What must be kept in mind about Deepak’s allegations is their
gravity: After all it concerns the barbarous murder of a Mongolian
mother visiting her alleged lover in Kuala Lumpur, and its cover-up. The
critical issue in her murder – who gave the instructions to the two
patsies to C4 her – has never been investigated, and the perpetrators
have never been charged.
A society that does not allow the most thorough, independent and
professional investigation leading to the arrest, prosecution and
conviction of Altantuya’s actual murderers forfeits all claim to be a
decent, law-abiding society.
It is no coincidence that such brazen conduct takes place in a
society where the political leaders have governed for half a century and
have treated the nation and its institutions like their private
property and its electorate with contempt. Accountability, integrity and
truth are lost values in our society.
Even the establishment’s response to Deepak’s blackmail has been
striking: since his private debt has to be settled, a company which
purports to look after the interest of armed forces service personnel
has been directed to bail him out.
What has been totally disregarded is the corporate governance
question: How are the interests of this company, its shareholders and
creditors served by this transaction? Because Umno controls the
management of hundreds of companies, the distinction between Umno’s
interests and the interests of such companies is blurred.
Seldom in history is Lord Acton’s acute comment “Power corrupts, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely” more apt than in contemporary
Malaysia.
Governing Malaysia
It is often argued by Umno apologists that on a relative basis, Malaysia is prosperous.
The response should be: to which country are we being compared? If we
are compared to Burma, Nigeria or Colombia, yes, we are flourishing.
But surely, any comparison should be with countries with equivalent
standing, that is, our peers. South Korea and Malaysia were victims of
the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
Indeed, South Korea received IMF assistance in 1998. But 15 years
later, by every measure, South Korea has surpassed Malaysia by leaps and
bounds. Whether in heavy industry, ship-building or technology, South
Korea is absolutely world-class: Think Samsung, LG and Hyundai.
Likewise, its democratic traditions.
Hence, the best way to describe the management of Malaysia’s economy
is that despite poor and misguided policies that have impinged on
business, Malaysia has thrived because of natural resources and the
industry, initiative and inherent business skills of its people,
especially those in the SMEs.
Corruption and nepotism have caused leakages in the billions. If Tan
Siew Sin had remained as Malaysia’s Finance Minister for these 55 years,
his prudent stewardship would have saved, I suggest, at least 1
trillion ringgit.
A nation’s greatest asset is its people: Human capital. Umno’s
brilliant policies have driven away 1.5-2.0n million Malaysians with
their skills and talents enjoyed by other nations. In return, we have
attracted 4-5 million immigrants (legal and ‘illegal’) to keep our
country “cheap” and to depress the wages of our labour.
What a great exchange! Just to cite one illustration of the loss to
Malaysia and benefit to other nations: if all Malaysian citizens were to
immediately leave Singapore and return to Malaysia, Singapore would be
seriously affected.
A Pakatan government?
It is often asked: We accept Umno’s weaknesses, but better the devil
you know; can we trust Pakatan to govern better? The short answer is
that in a proper functioning two-party system, we shall have an
opportunity in four to five years to throw them out at the 14th General
Election. A nation is always better served when governments alternate
regularly, after all, that is the raison d’etre of genuine free and fair
general elections.
But the better answer is to consider the actual track record of the
five Pakatan state governments from 2008. Even detractors accept Lim
Guan Eng has led Penang superbly and should be entrusted with national
leadership. Likewise, Selangor.
Proponents of “big development” criticise the PAS style of leadership
in Kelantan and Kedah: what is disregarded in this analysis is that
their soft, gentle and slow style receives support from their
electorate. Nizar Jamaluddin was a fantastic Menteri Besar in Perak, and
his administration was already making waves in the first year, which
resulted in the Umno orchestrated coup d’etat.
Even a cursory consideration of the Pakatan performance as
administrators of five states will establish that they are fair,
reasonable and, most importantly, not corrupt. Can the same be said of
the other state governments ruled by Umno?
When one also takes into account heavyweight politicians of the
standing and experience of Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang and
Karpal Singh being given senior Cabinet positions, the ship of state
will be in very safe and capable hands.
Anwar Ibrahim will be sworn in as Malaysia’s seventh Prime Minister
when Pakatan is elected. In a public life exceeding 30 years, Anwar had
had his detractors. But it must be remembered that he was a very
successful Finance Minister for some five years, even earning accolades
from Mrs Thatcher.
He was equally a very successful Deputy Prime Minister; indeed, so
successful that his boss had to remove him in 1998! Being in the
political wilderness for 15 years, and having suffered the humility of
prosecution, persecution, conviction and a long jail sentence can only
have humbled him. Dr Mahathir and Umno have been obsessive and have used
the might of the state to prevent Anwar from assuming power.
But the Malaysian electorate is the final arbiter. Malaysians should
therefore look forward with confidence to Anwar’s prime ministership. We
hope his government will take race-free, religion-free and colour-blind
decisions.
The one person in Malaysia who cannot accept Anwar becoming Prime
Minister is Mahathir, who can only judge people by his (Dr M’s) own
values and standards. Consequently, Mahathir expects an Anwar
administration to settle scores, particularly against him and his
family. He may be proved wrong.
What is to say that rather than wasting the time, energy and
resources of the State in investigating and prosecuting Dr Mahathir and
his cohorts in what may be perceived as political vendetta, Anwar may
appoint a “Truth and Reconciliation” Royal Commission, modelled along
Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid South Africa, with a mandate to discover
the truth (rather that punishing wrongdoers) as a means of reconciling
the nation and moving forward to meet fresh challenges.
If the majority of Malaysians accept that a change of government is
imperative and cast their ballots in the forthcoming general elections,
it will happen. Pious people should also seek divine intervention. With
God’s blessing, Malaysia should finally leave the yoke of one party rule
by the middle of this year. Millions cannot wait for it to happen soon
enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment