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Does Malaysia’s ruling party under under Prime Minister Najib Razak have a death wish? Posted: 11 Jul 2011 07:23 PM PDT By Dr. Bibhu Prasad Routray, Al Arabiya News What amazes analysts of Malaysian politics is the sheer detestation the government demonstrates towards the opposition. In this politically polarized island nation of 28 million people, Prime Minister Najib Razak has made no attempt whatsoever to reach out to the opposition to evolve a consensus politics and erect an electoral system that provides fair ground for competition to both the ruling party and the opposition. Presiding over the longest continuing ruling party of the world, it is natural for Prime Minister Najib Razak to develop some false sense of invincibility and resultant arrogance. However, political events since 2008 have demonstrated that the grip of United Malays National Organization (UMNO) on the country's politics might be waning. The 9 July rally by Bersih, a conglomeration of about 63 political parties and NGOs, was indeed significant for several reasons. Centered on the issue of corruption free politics and a range of measures to ensure free and fair elections, it was Bersih's second rally since 2008. The rally made a lot people exposed to the genuine electoral reform demands of the opposition and evoked passions of direct participants as well as non-participants to be a part of the vision the opposition has for the country. It also left a lot many people unhappy with the way the government imposed confrontational shutdown measures to ensure that the rally was not a success. Observers of Malaysian politics indicate that electoral reform as per Bersih's demands will invariably lead to the ruling party's defeat. This provides ample reason to UMNO to be skeptical of Bersih. In the last election in 2008, UMNO received only one-third of the country's votes. It, however, managed to bring together other political parties under a coalition that claimed power. This is becoming increasingly clear to many of the country's voters, who are now aided by the social media as well as foreign media channels. This is precisely why the government wants to control the functioning of the foreign media in the country. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on 11 July threatened to take legal action against "irresponsible foreign media," which he says sensationalized the coverage of the 9 July Bersih rally. Unlike the largely state controlled media in the country, footages provided by the foreign media showed the police beating rally participants, firing tear gas canisters and even directing water canons on a retreating crowd. It made quite clear to the people that the government was afraid of the opposition's demands and wanted to sabotage it at any cost. The reaction of the government to the 9 July rally is indeed indicative of its threatened mindset. Prime Minister Najib Razak referred to a "lust to become prime minister" in opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, forgetting that aspiration to become prime minister by an opposition leader is not such a horrifying thing. Prime Minister Razak's popularity increased to 72 per cent according to an independent survey, results of which were published in June 2010. Notwithstanding the results of this one-year-old survey, experts indicate that racial politics has since undermined UMNO's acceptability among the country's voters. The opposition parties have been buoyed by the results of the 9 July rally and now want to continue with similar program in the provinces. Malaysia's Economic Transformation Program (ETP), an ambitious project to convert the country into a fully developed nation by 2020 remains critically linked to foreign investment. The ETP requires annual foreign investment in the range of $11 billion to fund a quarter of the proposed projects. However, average annual investment since 1997 has only been $3.1 billion. A March 2011 report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch ranked Malaysia the second least popular market after Colombia among global emerging market fund managers. Malaysia, thus, is in no position to project a picture of chaos and disruption to the investors from outside. But UMNO under Najib Razak appears to have a death wish. It appears to have no hesitation to sacrifice its own goal of bringing economic development for the sake of staying on in power. For how long it manages to do so, is a mere question of time. (Dr. Bibhu Prasad Routray is an independent analyst based in Singapore and has previously been Deputy Director, India's National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).

A case of two opposing sides Posted: 11 Jul 2011 03:51 PM PDT   By Karim Raslan, The Star We've reached a point where it doesn't matter who brings the change – BN or PR, conservative or liberal, socialist or right-wing. Malaysians will get behind whoever is the most sincere in taking us out of this mess. LAST weekend's thwarted march wasn't an ordinary incident – it reveals two radically different world views. While the march was nominally non-political, the chasm between the two forces – the Government and the demonstrators – clearly mirrors the increasingly acrimonious split between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Of course, a deeply divided political terrain is always troubling, however, it is at least proof of a dynamic and thriving public discourse. Ironically, the opposition, despite being excluded from the mainstream media, is clearly setting the terms of this debate. It also shows that Malaysia remains a democracy – albeit a flawed one. Indeed, I'd argue that the intensity of the discourse over the past few weeks highlights quite how much we Malaysians care about the state of our nation. We can see and feel that the state is becoming more polarised – and in such a situation, we are being forced to choose sides. Sitting on the fence is no longer a viable option – especially when the fence is been shaken so hard by the two opposing sides. However, there are some positives. Most notably the fact that the divide is not racial despite what some politicians are alleging. In fact there are Malays, Indians, Chinese, Iban, Kadazan, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Hindu on both sides of the debate. Indeed, the struggle has gone way beyond racial and religious lines. Instead we are tussling over political philosophies and principles. While the differences are certainly stark, their mere existence indicates a certain maturing of our political system presenting us with the alluring prospect of a two-party system. I must stress that the racial diversity on both sides represents a steadying force – anchoring us together as a nation. And yes, you could say, it underlines the fact that we are debating a truly Malaysian set of issues. So what are these substantive political differences? Well, for a start, they transcend mere personality. On one hand, we have a strident Umno-led Government demanding the continuation of the status quo. In this respect, Umno is very definitely a conservative (small "c") force – defending and promoting the interests of the influence-bearing classes. It's arguable that Umno's small businessmen/contractors have adopted the mindset and behaviour of the many minor aristocrats and noblemen that once surrounded Malaysia's many istana (or palaces) jockeying for favours and/or contracts. The current Umno vision is retrogressive – it looks back to the party's heyday under Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It is not a dynamic, expansive vision – witness the primordial and unavoidable cry for Malay unity interspersed with Malay rights. As with those enamoured and indeed obsessed by the past there is a paranoia and fear of change. Understandably then, any concession or reform is seen of as an affront to Umno's domination, dignity and integrity. On the other, you have what is essentially a socialist front in Pakatan Rakyat. They claim to represent the interest of the rakyat – the ordinary people, taking a moral high-ground on issues such as corruption, mismanagement and civil liberties. They know the language of the people – focusing on day-to-day issues from rising food prices to the quality of education. Obviously my formulation ignores the inconsistencies, but there's no denying the socio-economic and "class" basis to this struggle. At the same time the respective leaders play up these associations because politics – let's face it – is also theatre and understatement doesn't play to the gallery. Returning to Pakatan, I must point out that the coalition's very new-ness means they are much more flexible, less rigid and accepting. Indeed, Hadi Awang's courageous stance on Negara Kebajikan is an indication of the extent to which Pakatan is exploring new paradigms. Of course, PAS carry a certain baggage themselves. For example, will the gentle and considerate PAS of today be replaced by a morally sanctimonious force once in power? At a time when technology is changing so rapidly, (iPad succeeded by iPad2, just when you've begun to understand it), we've got to accept political systems have to change as well. But will the face-off between the two opposing forces benefit us – the rakyat? Well, I for one am confident that there will be change and that we as a nation desperately need that change. Indeed, we've reached a point where it doesn't actually matter who brings the change – BN or PR, conservative or liberal, socialist or right-wing. Malaysians will rally behind whoever is the most sincere in taking us out of this mess, just as Ronnie Reagan and later Obama inspired their respective voters. Ironically, after all this talk of substantive politics we're back where we started with character and personality. So, we have to batten down, wait, watch and judge because at the end of the day we, the people are sovereign and through the ballot box, we can kick out those who've let us down. So carry on ladies and gentlemen of the political world, we're watching and evaluating your performance.

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