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 ©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
by Ooi Kee Beng, For The Straits Times
• Abdullah, Najib accused of party polls breach
SINCE the formation of the United Malays National
Organisation (Umno) in 1946, the notion of 'Malay unity' has been central to
political rhetoric in Malaysia.
It was in response to the conditions needed for the British to grant Malaya
independence in 1957 that the consociational system of race-based parties - the
Alliance solution - came into being. This system was expanded in 1974 when the
Barisan Nasional (BN) was formed, and further consolidated Umno's dominance over
its coalition partners.
Umno managed through these arrangements to secure a relatively solid voter base
for more than 60 years. The unstated bogeyman in its strategy was 'Malay
disunity'. The reasoning was that the survival of Malays depended on their
unity, and the only body that could guarantee that unity was Umno.
With the rise of a viable opposition coalition and the weakening of major BN
component parties in the March 8 general elections, this reasoning has been
challenged. Malay political sympathies are now effectively split three ways -
among Umno, the Islamist Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), and former deputy prime
minister Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). The last two are allied
against Umno
For Umno, this three-way split of Malay support has become a greater threat to
its power than even the fight between its Team A and Team B in the late 1980s.
The new threat is ontological and calls into question the connection between
Malay unity and Malay survival.
It is no surprise then that Umno quickly sent out feelers after election night
to PAS to lure it to the negotiating table: Malay unity and Muslim unity must be
redeemed. Some in PAS' leadership took the bait.
This has led to divisions within PAS, with the party's spiritual leader Nik Aziz
Nik Mat warning his followers of the 'Umno trap'. He was referring to the way
Umno played on PAS' weakness in the 1970s when the latter was part of BN.
PAS enjoyed unprecedented success at the recent polls, thanks in large part to
the anti-BN sentiments on the ground. Its leaders and members are therefore, by
and large, reluctant to bridge the divide among Malays, for both ethical and
strategic reasons.
But the party's leadership was recently taken over by reformist professionals,
and the temptation for sidelined veterans and religious leaders to seek another
path to power is strong.
In any event, Umno has with one smart move - proffering a hand to PAS - not only
staged its commitment to the old dictum about the centrality of Malay unity, it
has also injured Datuk Seri Anwar's coalition. In the process, Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi now appears stronger than he has been since before the
elections.
Umno, however, remains disunited. First, there is growing polarisation among its
followers. Some say the party should reform itself, change its style of
governance and become less ethnocentric. But there are others who, under stress,
are prone to insist, even more strongly than before, on the maxim that Malay
survival depends on Malay unity.
Second, calls for Datuk Seri Abdullah's resignation were made immediately after
the election results were known. Although these have become rarer since he
announced that he would be retiring in the middle of 2010 and that Deputy
Premier Najib Razak would be his successor, his leadership is still very much an
issue.
Third, whether Umno admits it or not, its power is dependent on the commitment
of its 13 much less powerful partners to the BN system. BN may be stronger than
its weakest links, but it remains vulnerable to attack.
Who better to launch those attacks than Mr Anwar, the man who once seemed fated
to become its leader? Indeed, his whole career since his sacking as deputy
premier has been about assailing fortress Umno. His party, PKR, was formed for
that purpose.
What is unique about that party is that it is multiracial in name and in
ambition, but its top leaders are Malays. This last detail is what makes many
Malaysians believe and hope that PKR has a bright future. Multiracialism
proposed by non-Malays cannot but fail. It is a doctrine that can succeed in
Malaysia only if members of the majority community are its most vocal
proponents.
This makes PKR an eccentricity that Umno cannot tolerate. As long as it was a
one-MP party (as was the case before March 8), it was but an irritant. It is now
a 31-MP party leading a formidable coalition bent on replacing the BN.
But PKR is a young party, having grown recently as if on steriods. It is in need
of much internal toughening. As long as it remains relatively weak, Umno's best
chance of felling such an enemy is to go for its head.
And that is precisely what it is trying to do.
The writer is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
PARADOX OF MULTIRACIALISM
Multiracialism proposed by non-Malays cannot but fail. It is a doctrine that can
succeed in Malaysia only if members of the majority community are its most vocal
proponents.
Abdullah, Najib accused of party polls breach
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief
KUALA LUMPUR - AS THE race towards the Umno elections starts,
a powerful divisional Umno leader has lodged a complaint against Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi and his deputy Najib Razak for breaching party election rules.
Datuk Zahar Hashim, who heads the Petaling Jaya South Umno division, sent a
letter to the party's top leaders and disciplinary board, calling for an
investigation.
His unprecedented move is an indication that Datuk Seri Abdullah may not get a
smooth acceptance of his plans to hand over power to Datuk Seri Najib only in
2010, and to secure his post in Umno without a contest.
The long timeframe has not gone down well with some of the grassroots leaders,
who prefer an earlier handover date. The letter, however, is the first sign that
it may not all be smooth sailing.
Over the last two weeks, several Umno branches have also showed their teeth by
passing resolutions calling for Mr Najib or Kelantan prince Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah to run for the presidency.
Mr Zahar alleged that Mr Abdullah and Mr Najib had broken party rules by openly
campaigning for nominations, in breach of the party's new code of ethics.
He also alleged in his letter that grassroots leaders who attended briefing
sessions by the Prime Minister had their hotel accommodation paid for, and
received gifts such as prayer mats and cash from government funds.
He demanded that party rules on election campaigning be abolished, or that Mr
Abdullah and Mr Najib be hauled up for breaking them.
'They are not practising what they preach,' he said.
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