Since the last general election on Mar 8 last year, politics in Malaysia had descended into theatres of dramas and circus. Every days the news are inundated with scandals, defamations,sedition charges, threats, protest, ugly demonstrations,sex videos, dead mongolian model,nudes photo, sodomy, bullets and the lists go on. There were defection of party members, parliament meeting held under rain tree, parliament members barred. Many cases were brought to the high court. Subsequently the judiciary were involved and even the sultans are embroiled in many of these domestic issues. For ordinary citizens, they must be very frustrating and confusing at a time when the country heads toward economic recession.
Today, UMNO completed its internal election. Khairy will now head UMNO Youth; Shahrizat will head the Wanita UMNO. The new deputy president will be Muhyiddin and Najib will be the president of UMNO. Effectively, this election heralded a change of guards.
The job ahead for Najib will be a very arduous one. First he needs to unify the party and clean up corruption within UMNO. Next he has to bring the component parties within BN to work together, a job that requires tremendous skill to balance the interests of the various races. The ultimate job will be to lead the country out of this recession. But with opposition headed by Anwar at his heels, it will be a herculean task to fully focus his attention on the deteriorating economy.
But how can he lead the country when many citizen has lost faith in UMNO and BN. The public see it as corrupted and disconnected with its citizenry. Najib is fully aware of this situation and for months, the top leadership has been crying out for change and reform. They know that have to or the next election will be lost.
The questions are WHAT and WHO must change? For 50 years since independence, Malaysian politics are racially-based in nature. UMNO being the major component party, rallies on the platform of Malays Special Rights and Malay supremacy. After 1969 racial riots, the Bumiputra policy came into effect. It is basically an affirmative action to help the Malays overcome the economic weakness vis-a-vis the other races. This policy was noble when first mooted but has now become a monster in that many well connected Bumiputras have abused it for personal gains. UMNO members are handed out lucrative contracts without tenders, land for development, licences and many special permits. Many UMNO members become rich this way. Many non UMNO members including Malays are left out and continue to live life of hardship. Special quotas are reserved for Bumiputra in Universities, plentiful of scholarships for overseas studies are made available to Bumiputra.
Can all the above be changed or reformed. The answer is a no brainer. It have to be NO. The reason is UMNO will dissipate if all the perks and benefits are removed.
Who dare to make the change? No smart or wise politician will. It is political suicide.
No comments:
Post a Comment