MALAYSIA: THE MENTAL EVOLUTION IS ON

IS IT REALLY? Or are Malaysians just peeved: peeved at not being able to get their hands dirtied, as have the politicians and their cronies; peeved at being marginalised because in this last round there has been no need for cronies -- just the wannabe first family will do nicely, thank you (they are reputedly so closed shop that one nominee/crony was quickly christened by critics with the family name) ; and, peeved because this lot dared flaunt their power thinking that they can do it with impunity (You have to give back too mate, not just take: like kept petrol prices down and cooking oil cheap.)!

As a result, the general elections of 8 March 2008, with a definitive tug, pulled the rug from under the feet of the Barisan Nasional (BN), a coalition party that has ruled the country, in one guise or another, since independence. Ministers, deputy ministers, other self-important office-holders and unofficial official holders fell and some were alleged to have fallen but rescued by foul means. This latter only the courts can verify. We, the people, having done what we set out to do, will have to wait and see whether we truly got it right. Was the last Government genuinely so disinterested in us and absolutely corrupt or are we victims of the blogs that have no business publishing rumours passed off as "news". My bet is that the truth lies somewhere in between.

Robbing BN of its two-thirds majority and putting in alternative governments in 4 states with economies instrumental to maintaining the national economic health and restoring the overwhelming majority of the PanIslamic Malaysian Party (PAS) Government in the east coast peninsular state of Kelantan, the people have made it impossible for indifference to economic policies. Now the federal government must indeed be innovative and ingenuous to merely sustain the already lacklustre growth that even now is under threat from a global financial meltdown.

Remember the 1997 regional financial meltdown? It took spunk to keep the people happy. The good doctor kept us, the people, in work. But that we take for granted because it is indeed the function of governments TO LOOK AFTER THE PEOPLE'S WELFARE. Governing is about TRUST. Those voted into office is entrusted with the overall well-being of those who voted them into office, a necessary consequence of the social contract. If they did not, why would be allowing them to make policies that will definitely impact on our lives, for better or worse???

Unfortunately, while that bit of the bargain was then kept, there was another, equally important, that was ignored! TRUST meant that things would be kept above board. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY should have meant only that and not massaged to mean something else under the pretext of Malay special privileges. The cronies that the system spawned under the good doctor helped make the wannabe first family and create the climate that so disgusted the electorate, which culminated in the humiliation of the prime minister, especially, and the BN in general. (Why are the BN component parties silent in the face of such a debacle? Is this an admission of joint liability?)

Malaysia is peculiar in that a convention makes the New United Malay National Organisation (UMNO Baru) -- lest we forget, that is what the current UMNO is -- supremely important. Not unlike the importance of the American presidential elections is to the world, the election of the UMNO president is pivotal to the country. Whoever is the UMNO president will be the prime minister of any BN federal government. And, whoever is the deputy president will step in if anything happened to the incumbent. This is why it is imperative that the top party posts be fought for democratically to ensure that indeed, the best person will win.

With this, another of the good doctors errors was made. In transforming the party from a democracy to an oligarchy, for the simple purpose of holding on to power, UMNO was left with an anointed deputy president and, therefore, Malaysia a prime minister, whose honeymoon period with the nation is not only over but a divorce petition is most definitely already issued.

Under these circumstances, with the exception of the incumbent prime minister and his deputy, intransigence is unacceptable behaviour. UMNO must indulge in navel gazing and figure out how to restore its prestige. Naturally, the most immediate move is to find a new leader from among its MPs. One veteran politician of many decades and a former finance minister has offered himself.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is the only UMNO sitting MP with the stature to hold the country's economy together given the pressure the new Government faces. On the one hand, an impending global economic slowdown, if not recession. On the other, the need to work with the State governments of Selangor, Perak, Pulau Pinang and Kedah to ensure that economic growth is sustained. When it was just Kelantan in opposition hands the strategy of strangling its economy was of little consequence to the national equation. Now, however, the industrialised states and the country's rice bowl are in the hands of parties of the parliamentary opposition. Strangling their economy would only damage the nation.

Now, too, the BN Government has lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority. No more riding rough-shod over the opposition. Bills will have to be debated and the government benches cannot afford a split. Without access to lucrative government contracts UMNO members have to be kept in line by appealing to their better nature of national duty and ethical conduct. A leadership tainted with allegations of corruption and incompetence cannot hope to unite an unhappy party.

UMNO must give the nation a new leadership lineup comprising of able and honest men and women, a leadership that can impress the electorate the next time around. Unfortunately, a much harder task than usual because the competition now has the wherewithal to prove themselves to the public. Having been out of the political leadership lineup now for more than two decades, nobody can point a finger at Tengku Razaleigh and accuse him of corruption. His track record speaks for itself: he is the architect of the Bumiputra economy, not an easy feat because Malaysia then, when he set up Petronas and later was finance minister, was a fledgling nation. Not a stranger to opposition politics the prince from Kelantan may be well placed to appeal to the opposition on the basis of national interests. And, in the face of the mishandling of the Terengganu palace by the incumbent, he is the salve to heal that wound.

Tengku Razaleigh and his UMNO Supreme Council members will be very conscious of the need to overhaul UMNO and BN's image, both nationally and internationally. He will not resuscitate the "dead" by appointing them to his Cabinet, as has the incumbent who has left the people appalled at his sheer audacity. No one sitting UMNO MP can hope to challenge his credentials and his credibility in the face of a newly restless electorate that have drawn "blood" by asserting their democratic rights. If UMNO is not to be relegated to the pages of history its members must act to placate the public NOW!!!
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