The post UMNO Malaysia-Part 2

 

Because Hillary Clinton had just visited Malaysia last few weeks, let me compare UMNO in an analogy with America. I was listening to the BBC program Hard Talk- in which the interviewer asked the guest speaker what he thought about America. Without hesitation, the guest answered- America will remain as the preeminent power.

That is the observation and prognosis despite America having suffered much battering at its image. This despite America suffering economic problems such as subprime debacles, increasing unemployment, gargantuan deficits as Obama thinks about all kinds of stimulus spending, its growing indebtedness to China etc. this is despite America being led by not always competent presidents.

Now why is that? Because it's basic values and motivations are still shared by the majority of nations on this earth. America stands for freedom, rule of law, good governance, democracy and such things valued by freemen all over. It stands for modernity and practical solution to life's problems. Despite many shortcomings, America remains as the primus inter pares.

Iranians and Iraqis and many of those who hate America want to send their students to study in America. The most strident of voices arguing for a return to puritanical Islam originate also in America. That's because, the American setting or to use a more fancy word, the American ecosystem allows that kind of outpouring of zany ideas however incredulous and outrageous they seemed.

Why, because America represents the dream of the majority. People subscribe easily to egalitarian ideals. People want to demolish all vestiges of privileges. If we are moving towards these ideals, UMNO cannot extend its relevance if it hinders these trends. It must adapt.

What UMNO must do is to go back to its fundamentals. The old UMNO was a tolerant UMNO cognizant of the interests and rights of others. It knew the way forward is to give sufficient space for other stakeholders. In return, it secured the understanding of the other stakeholders of the dominant presence of Malays in this country. Perhaps the mutual understanding was interpreted as the social contract although no such agreement formally exists. Mutual respect and the realization of sharing the same destiny bind people together. This lost idealism must be recovered.

Over the years, UMNO has lost it sense of balance. The reasons are many. The chief is inability to deal with success which resulted in arrogance and the trivialization of risks. When those in power think their actions are riskless, they act with wanton abandon. UMNO didn't do well in coping with success.

What do people point out as proofs that UMNO cannot and will not change? They will point out that UMNO has violated the constitution by selecting parts of the Constitution that suit them, they point out to the corruption, bad governance, lack of transparency, they point out to the violation on the justice system. They will point out to the corruption and subversion of UMNO's struggles and point out to the pervasive culture of seeking personal interests and wealth. They will point out to UMNO's clever machinations of racial sentiment and constant malicious tinkering with the fragility of inter-racial relationships.

Clearly, these are attacks from people moved by libertarian ideals. However, they do not stop there. The assaults on UMNO also come from its supporters. They point out to UMNO's negligence in uplifting the Malays. They openly censor UMNO's leadership double-faced dealings. UMNO as the vanguard of Malay interests stands accused as over compromising.

Can we say the UMNO leadership insulates itself from these afflictions? Of course they don't but it would be stupid for UMNO to advertise to the world what it is doing to address the situation. Certainly it won't broadcast the measures it's taking to the opposition parties. So, the opposition people (not necessary party people) infer UMNO hasn't change. What UMNO does to its own body politic is UMNO's business. It will carry on regardless.

How was the response from the UMNO leadership? The spokesman for the UMNO response is Najib Tun Razak. He came out with a slew of grand designs, visions if you may. The New Economic Model, the Economic Transformation Plan, Government Transformation Plan, New Political Model etc.

Obviously, these are not churned out as badges of self-glorification. Najib can't be seeking immortality through these initiatives that needed to be worked on and whose success depends on a host of other factors. They can't, because self-glorification is too quirky a justification for coming out with such elaborate plans. If Najib had wanted that, he would do a better job by erecting statues of him or producing busts of him and placing them at strategic places.

He has to reconfigure UMNO from a party that is inward looking to a party that is forward looking. He needs to recapture the original spirit of UMNO. First, he has to make UMNO people relearn its own idealism and history. He has to recast UMNO into a party willing to give space to other stakeholders. His problem? Finding a balance with demands from his own ward with those of others.

In that forward looking scenario, he finds these. People want to live in less troubling social, political and economic settings; they want to embrace modernity and practical solutions to life's problems. Not many are seeking immortality through martyrdom. Those who offer extremism either in politics or religious movements do indeed attract people, but they will be small in number, both the sponsors and their adherents.

He sees a society wanting the rule of law, better good governance, more egalitarian ideals and removal of privileges. That's where he finds being sticky on NEPish policies is not defensible.

I accept there will be large number of doubters who dismiss the idea of an UMNO willing to change. The anecdotal and personal musings will turn out to be largely wrong. The anecdotal musings are probably the result of personal rejection of the many abuses in the system, corruption, the abhorrence to the rise of puritanical groups such as Perkasa which is considered an extension of UMNO and so forth.

But what proportion di these groups represent the bad side of UMNO? Very small. The noises created by these disparate groups that may have given birth to the personal musings are just the work of gangs of misfits. The majority want modernity and stability which BN can give. The majority of UMNO people are sensible people.

Meanwhile, while America will remain as the preeminent power, others are asserting their presence on the world stage. France, Germany and even Turkey have played crucial roles in geo political crisis managements. In economics, China and India are emerging as major players. Obama is supporting India be given a seat on the Security Council. Brazil and other countries are also capable of playing center stage in business and economics. America is just ceding some of the areas which it monopolized in the past not because America is declining, but because the rest is moving up.

Something similar to that is happening to UMNO. UMNO may have lost many seats and states, but together with other BN parties retain control over the federal government. It still has 140 seats. UMNO alone still has 79 seats. But the rest have also risen. PR and non BN parties got 82 seats, less now as a result of desertions. The rest are asserting their presence. But whether that rise can be sustained is another matter which the 13 General Elections will reveal later.

Whenever I write something that places UMNO is a good light, there will commentators who will scoff at the idea. The usual flippant are just personal claims backed by mostly anecdotal and personal accounts that UMNO and BN will be kicked out. I have only one term to describe these musings- it's just a cottage industry spewing out invectives mostly personal at UMNO. Its wishful thinking, wishing UMNO will just fade away. It will if ALL its leaders are ignoramuses, an assertion that is supremely difficult to objectively defend.

UMNO still remains (in Malaysia) the political superpower. But like America it is no longer the sole voice narrating the story of Malaysia just as America is not for humankind. Most of the leaders recognized this. That is why they are making adaptation.

Consider the concept of 1 Malaysia. While I may personally not like the term 1 Malaysia, it does represent a step towards adapting to new political realities. Najib recognizes the need to give more space to other stakeholders. The Chinese for example who have so much role to play in Malaysian economics will want a bigger political role. Whether they do this through MCA or other party is irrelevant actually. I have once said that maybe one day, UMNO may have to work together with the DAP which appears to have cornered Chinese loyalties.

In Malaysia UMNO is no longer the only voice telling the Malaysian story. Like America, UMNO no longer dictates a unipolar world. It is now a Malaysia where power is diffused. No longer monopolized by UMNO.

This is the post UMNO Malaysia I am talking about. There is a term to describe this. Samuel Huntington, the person who wrote that famous Clash of civilizations called it a uni-multipolarity world. I prefer the term used by Chinese geo-political thinkers. They called it a world where there is one superpower but many powers.

In our context, UMNO remains the superpower but it lives in a world where there are other alternative power bases who are acting with greater assertiveness and with greater activism and also dynamism. Hence I entitled this article- the post UMNO Malaysia.

The title of this essay may be misleading. No, it's not a Malaysia without UMNO. It will be a Malaysia with a redesigned UMNO. UMNO is not going to be written off just yet. The Pakatan people and others may continue in their wishful thinking. UMNO is not about to wither away. Very sorry people.

It's about a Malaysia where UMNO is pragmatic enough to share the building of this nation with other stakeholders. The strident voices shrieking out narrow patriotism and master race-version of the Malaysian story are voices in the peripheries.

In order to achieve this, UMNO must provide renewed and different kind of leadership. So too must the other stakeholders. The MCA, MIC and others who share the vision of BN.

The sad thing is, the majority of UMNO people (not just the leadership) is in denial. Most are patting themselves in the back while sailing on the Titanic which is heading straight into the iceberg. In the recently concluded UMNO GA, there were hardly any restraining and realistic voices. UMNO people still talked of an old order founded along the lines of NEP, continued dominance of Malay rule, etc.

Could it be possible that only a handful of our leaders most notably Najib Tun Razak see the incompatibility of such a stance against reality?