UMNO: the long and winding road

Tuesday, 31 August 2010

The recent Merdeka  centre survey showed that UMNO has still a long way to go. Only 12% of the Chinese respondents said they are satisfied with the Government/UMNO. Malays are split 50:50. The Indians- they are not so critical as they are easily swayable.

The survey also said that if PM calls for early elections, he has to project more of himself to win. The gravity of this finding needs to be appreciated. If UMNO's future depends on the weakened shoulders of one person, this means the party is bereft of leadership material. It is reduced to a party forced to manage its image instead of offering convincing direction and policies.

I am sorry to say this- at the moment what Najib has, is the made for TV image and persona of leadership. He is still struggling to impose his leadership substance. And he isn't helped on by his colleagues who are either disinterested or disconnected with his ideas. Or worse, his party members do not understand his leadership direction.

The party UMNO is so discredited. There were 3 main reasons- the leadership is only interested in themselves( read feathering their nests), playing politics and corruption is seen as growing bigger, aided and abetted by the government leadership.

If the party is discredited because of racist chauvinism as asserted by a senior minister, it would have lost its relevance a long time ago. UMNO has always been identified as a Malay chauvinist party. So, why could it stay relevant with the Malays for a long time? That could only suggest that its posturing on Malayness is an accepted trait. UMNO will always be as UMNO is, but what turned Malays and Malaysians against UMNO are the 3 things exposed by the survey; stupid UMNO politicians are interested in feathering their own nests, the level of corruption has reached its tipping point and there is too much politicking brought about by vacuous leadership material.

I have said it before and will repeat it here- the unfortunate truth is that UMNO leaders reached their eminent stature not because of producing great thinking but because they are adept at playing the political game. Hence instead of the cream rising to the top, you have the scum prevailing over others. UMNO is sliding because there are no more good men in leadership capacity.

In short, if elections were to be called early as in next year, UMNO will lose. The revolution that will occur will come about not because NEPish policies are abandoned, but more because UMNO cannot accept losing power.

Can you imagine, life as many UMNO bigwig politicians know for so long is no more? No more pillaging, no more abuses of power, no more avenue for rapacious greed, no more hiding behind your prowess of outshouting your opponents. No more concealing your mediocrity. That will be the end of the world for men and women accustomed to prevailing over others with bullying tactics and out-maneuvering others in political intrigues. These people will incite rebellion because they will find themselves cut off from their power bases and decapitated from wealth creating resources.

If the survey is taken in Pekan, I think the observations will be more correct. It is impossible for Najib to lose there and indeed there Najib enjoys an unassailable stature like Anwar Ibrahim to some of his followers. He can do no wrong.

But a victory alone in Pekan if cancelled out by massive losses elsewhere is of no use. UMNO still loses and that will be the end of Najib's career as PM. The problem is with UMNO and its leadership in general. It is a discredited brand name soiled by self interested leadership, mired in political intrigues and UMNO is seen as a party that promotes corruption.

How can UMNO redeem itself?

Bring in good men in government which means sack the mediocre material. Even a bad system can still be saved by having good people in leadership capacities. Perhaps it was this factor that made UMNO successful in the early days as they were more good leadership material. Honest and sincere leaders believing they could make a difference to the lives of the public. Good leaders were even forgiven for personal weaknesses. Tunku Abdul Rahman and even Tun Razak were partial to intoxicating drinks, by they were nevertheless tolerated because they could lead and because they don't trample over religion and their race.

Restore the people's faith in a party committed to offering the best and talented to the people. Remove all vestiges of ensconced privileges and political rules that impede and frustrate the emergence of new talent. The insistence of no campaigning for party positions is a mockery to the commitment to let diversity of leaders emerge.

Restore the public's faith in the resolve of the government to stem out corruption by going after the big guns. Start by opening the boxes infamously mentioned by one Ezam Mat Noor and go after the 18 high profile cases mentioned by Rais Yatim. Compel him to turn state evidence otherwise charge him for obstructing justice.

Restore the public's faith in our judiciary by first promoting judges of the highest integrity and sound technical knowledge of the law.

Restore the public's faith in the freedom of ideas by giving real press freedom. Allow opposition parties to publish their papers so that the public is accustomed to a contest of ideas and thinking.

And in this 21^st century, there is hardly any justification to have a draconian piece of legislation such as the ISA. It is an archaic piece of legislation more relevant in an age of unreason. It is suitable in an age where we stamp our authority by using coercive instruments. In the age of reason, we secure public's faith and belief in us by the force of reason and civil argument. 

At the end of the day, good leadership must not only be heard, but must also be seen to operate. 

SakmongkolAK47

 

Revolution says Mahathir

Dr M warns NEP removal could lead to revolution

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

August 30, 2010

Mahathir: Everyone is thinking about his own race. If I am included it is because I think it is dangerous for the rich to take away what little the poor have.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad predicted today that there would be an escalation in racial tension and division should NEP-style policies be removed, likening the situation to the Communist revolution in Europe. He stressed that the time was not right to introduce any policy which would “disregard the disparities between races in the interest of equity and merit.”
“Take away the minor protection afforded by the NEP and the bumis will lose whatever that they may have. Then racial division will be deepened by wealth division. I don’t think this would be good for the country. Remember it was the disparity between rich and poor in Europe which led to the violence of the Communist revolution.
“I may be labelled a racist but fear of the label will not stop me from working for what I think is the good of the country. Nothing will be gained by dividing the people of Malaysia into poor Bumis and rich non-Bumis. The time is not right for disregarding the disparities between the races in the interest of equity and merit,” said Dr Mahathir in a posting on his blog today.
The former PM continued his stout defence of the pro-Bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP) style policies in his blog post, by suggesting an indefinite continuation of affirmative action programmes.
The former prime minister admitted today that he was “not proud” of the NEP which accorded protection to the Bumiputeras, but stressed that such protection was still necessary and that a 20 year-timeline was not enough for Malays to be economically on par with other races.
Malaysia’s NEP, put in place in 1971, officially ended in 1990, but many of its programmes are still being continued. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said he plans to remove subsidies and many of the pro-Bumiputera quotas under economic reforms. But Dr Mahathir and many Malay groups are opposed to the removal of quotas and equity targets, despite evidence suggesting Malaysia is being handicapped economically and is less competitive globally as a result of such policies.
“I am not proud of the protection afforded the Bumiputeras. It implies weakness. I don’t think Malays and other Bumiputeras like to think that they are inferior in any way.
“But the reality is that in Malaysia the Bumiputeras need new skills and a new culture even. These cannot be had by them in a mere 20 years. The original planners of the NEP were too optimistic,” said Dr Mahathir in a blog posting today although he did not provide or suggest a time frame in which the NEP would no longer be needed.
Using education as an example, Dr Mahathir lashed out at critics who have attacked the government for maintaining a 60 per cent quota for Bumiputeras in local universities.
The former PM said that if the current Bumiputera quota in public universities was reduced, more Bumiputeras should be then allowed to enter private universities which he claimed only consisted of 10 per cent Bumiputeras.
“Even the 10 per cent Bumis are there because of scholarships by MARA. Take the scholarships away and there would be practically none.
“Why is it that the focus is only on what is done by the government? If the Bumis in government universities should be reduced, then the Bumis in the private universities should be increased. Or else meritocracy would reduce the number of Bumiputeras getting university education. Or is it the intention to deny Bumis higher education? They are not the best but they are qualified,” said Dr Mahathir.
The outspoken politician claimed that there were more non-Bumiputeras in foreign universities than local universities because Bumiputeras still could not afford to pay for private tertiary education, and cautioned that this would inevitably result in the Bumiputeras lagging behind in education.
“Because they can afford it there are more non-Bumis than Bumis in foreign universities. This must increase the disparities in higher education between different races,” he said.
Dr Mahathir has been increasingly vocal in speaking out against the New Economic Model (NEM) introduced by Najib, saying that affirmative action must still be carried out, signaling fears that Malays and Bumiputeras would stand lose out the most if the administration were to implement a hundred percent meritocracy-based system.
The former prime minister revealed last week that he had written to the prime minister to offer his advice and let him know what he thought of the New Economic Model (NEM).
However, Dr Mahathir said he did not expect Najib to consider his recommendations.
Citing another case, the veteran politician alleged that even with the existing Bumiputera quotas in government contracts, there was still no guarantee that the contracts would actually be awarded to Bumiputeras.
“As for contracts even with the 5 per cent advantage given to Bumi contractors, many of the Government contracts do not go to them because of their lack of capacity. Even if they do get, non-Bumi contractors get most of the sub-contracts etc.
“Actually construction by the private sector is bigger than the public sector. In the private sector the Bumi contractors get next to nothing. I suppose this is because the private contracts are given based on merit. Or maybe it is not. I don’t know,” said the former Prime Minister.
In justifying his arguments, Dr Mahathir said that during his tenure as Prime Minister and under the implementation of the NEP, Malaysia enjoyed stability and good economic growth.
He noted that despite increased talks about “meritocracy,” the races in the country are more divided today than ever before.
“For 46 years this country enjoyed relative stability and consequently good growth. But today the races are more divided than ever. Everyone has become racist, talks about meritocracy notwithstanding. Everyone is thinking about his own race. If I am included it is because I think it is dangerous for the rich to take away what little the poor has,” added Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir has appeared to be highly critical of Najib and Umno in recent remarks, suggesting recently that the ruling party was weak and mismanaged.
The feisty ex-premier had also mocked proponents of meritocracy last week, calling them racist and decried Malays who supported meritocracy as having misplaced pride.
His comments come after recent remarks by top Malaysian banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak — the CIMB group chief executive and the brother of the PM — who said that the NEP had been “bastardised.”
Nazir has been pushing for reforms while Dr Mahathir has been putting his weight behind right wing Malay groups such as Perkasa, who believe Bumiputera quotas were a “right” of the Malays.
Dr Mahathir has also denied that the NEP had been an obstacle to the country’s development.
He has also mocked proponents of meritocracy, calling them “meritocrats” who are pushing for dominance by one race in all aspects of the country.
MI

UMNO Corporate Nexus Probe

Pakatan seeks probe on Umno-corporate nexus

By Boo Su-Lyn

August 29, 2010

Lim said the mingling of Umno’s interests with GLCs’ stretched back decades. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders are demanding a probe into Umno-linked companies being awarded lucrative government contracts, but conceded to the complexities in such an exercise and the difficulty in proving that corruption was involved The links between Umno and certain conglomerates were revealed further in a High Court hearing last week involving the past shareholders of Realmild Sdn Bhd, the shadowy company that took over media giant The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd in 1993, and Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB).
“There has to be a comprehensive investigation because for the last 30 years, there has been such a far-ranging nexus of Umno companies and the role they play not only in corporate but also government-linked company (GLC) transactions,” DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider.
“There is no proper accountability in the whole process,” said Lim, adding that this was the reason why Malaysia’s integrity rating took a nosedive in the past three decades.
The Ipoh Timur MP pointed out that it was difficult to identify the boundaries involving the government, the political party, and the individual in companies owned by Barisan Nasional (BN) parties.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said that there was a clear conflict of interest when the government awards contracts to Umno-linked companies.
“Whatever the government awards benefits companies [owned] by Umno and other ruling coalition parties,” said Pua.
Realmild, originally a RM2 company, was the majority shareholder of MRCB, which is now developing the KL Sentral commercial and transport hub in Brickfields.

Pua claimed that Umno’s masking of the ownership trail makes tracing the real beneficiaries “complicated”.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP added that the probe should focus on identifying the stakes in the Umno-linked companies. “The National Audit Department should run a check on all companies where Umno holds a stake, direct or indirect, and verify them against contracts awarded by the government,” he said, adding that this must apply to all ruling parties including PR if they should capture Putrajaya.
Pua, however, admitted that the probe would be a “complicated” exercise as he claimed Umno hides their holdings under various companies.
“Trying to unravel the entire network of Umno’s ownership in many companies would be a major exercise,” he said, pointing out that the complexity was shown by the court dispute where some shares that were meant to be proxy shares were retained as personal shares.
Former Realmild director Datuk Khalid Ahmad had sued Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Maidin in March 2005 for RM10 million over the sale of a five per cent stake in Realmild in 1999, which took place during a shake-up and buy-out related to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking from government.
Abdul Rahman had paid RM5 million but later reneged on the remainder as he learnt from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the shares actually belonged to Umno.
Abdul Rahman is also now seeking to recover the RM5 million he paid to Khalid, saying the businessman had misrepresented the ownership of the shares.
However, Khalid has maintained that the five per cent stake was his own although he acknowledged that the majority stake was part of an “Umno Trust”.
The other directors in Realmild then were former Berita Harian group editor Datuk Ahmad Nazri Abdullah, New Straits Times group editor Datuk Abdul Kadir Jasin, and Mohd Noor Mutalib, who replaced Khalid as NSTP managing director in February 1993.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali noted that it was difficult for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to probe Umno-linked companies as they were private companies.
“Unless there are reports from people inside regarding irregularities, it is very difficult to prove them,” said Mustafa, adding that the national anti-graft agency had no legal grounds to investigate Umno-linked companies.
Mustafa pointed out that one way to ensure transparency despite the existence of companies owned by political parties was to implement open tenders for government contracts.
“The number of negotiated tenders by government should be reduced. They have to do open tenders,” said Mustafa.
Pua said that laws should be put in place to ban or restrict political party involvement or ownership in business interests as mere guidelines were unlikely to prevent abuses.
“In a case where the government is awarding contracts to an Umno company, it becomes complicated. The minister may step away from (making) the decision, but civil servants are under pressure to award the contract as they are under the purview of the minister,” he said.
Pua also noted that although companies participating in government tenders could be forced to disclose political party ownership, most Umno-linked companies avoided such disclosures as their shares were usually held in proxy.
Beyond the disclosures of such links, Lim also stressed that proper guidelines and accountability were still needed to prevent gross abuses.
“There has to be proper check and scrutiny to ensure public accountability and transparency and integrity of our government,” said Lim.
MI

RPK too Hard for BBC Hardtalk

BBC drops RPK from Hardtalk to appease Putrajaya

By Adib Zalkapli

August 30, 2010

Raja Petra, too hot for the BBC. - Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — The BBC has cancelled its plan to have Raja Petra Kamarudin on its Hardtalk programme this Wednesday. According to a statement posted on Raja Petra’s website Malaysia-Today, BBC’s Bridget Orborne had called the blogger yesterday to inform him of the decision.
The statement claimed that BBC decided to drop Raja Petra after the network’s lawyers advised them that the show would expose BBC to legal action and upset the Malaysian government.
“Bridget added that the questions they would delve into, which would be very sensitive in nature and critical of the government, would run foul of the Malaysian government,” said the unsigned statement.
“The fact that the programme would be accessible in Malaysia, said Bridget, makes this a problem for the BBC,” it said.
“It looks like RPK is too hot even for HARDtalk and BBC said it is a rare occasion that they have had to drop a programme,” the statement added.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar are local personalities who have appeared on Hardtalk, a 30-minute interview programme.
Raja Petra, who was facing a criminal defamation trial, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in November last year by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court after the police failed to serve warrant of arrest.
He was believed to have fled the country in May last year after he was charged with defaming Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the prime minister.
He had allegedly published an article linking the murder of a Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu to her.
Raja Petra made his first public appearance in London last July with Pakatan Rakyat leaders where they spoke to over 200 people.
MI

What the Fuss about?

Harakahdaily

KOTA BHARU, August 29: Drawing parallels from Prophet Muhammad's practice, PAS Murshidul Am has demolished the argument that non-Muslims were forbidden from entering Muslim prayer houses. Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said as such, the recent controversy sparked by Serdang member of parliament Teo Nie Ching's presence inside a surau last Sunday stemmed from ignorance of Islam among those who condemned her. “Because we have grown so much apart from Islam, let alone to learn the religion, these issues can turn into controversies. “If we care to study the history of Islam, we will find that the Arab non-believers used to meet the Prophet in the mosque. They even slept and had their meals in the mosque," said Nik Aziz commenting on condemnations from UMNO over Teo's presence. Teo, expressing  disappointment that the issue had been politicised, had explained that she was there to brief members of the surau about the Selangor state government's education initiative as well as to hand over contributions to the surau committee. Nik Aziz explained that to invite a non-Muslim to a mosque had been one of the Prophet's methodologies in propagating Islam. "This is not wrong in Islam. In fact, it was one of the Prophet's ways to disseminate the message of Islam," he said, adding that the polemics caused by the Teo's visit only underlined how Islam's noble values had been eclipsed by racial and partisan sentiments. “What's the fuss? Non-Muslims can enter mosques, they can also give speeches. It's not a problem," he added. He said politicising the issue not only went against the spirit of the Prophetic Sunnah (examples), but could also push non-Muslims in Malaysia further away from Islam. “Prohibiting non-Muslims from entering the mosques is a part of our tradition, not that of the Prophet." Nik Aziz also clarified that the term mu'alaf, usually used in Malaysia to refer to new converts to Islam, consisted of three groups of people: those who had recently embraced Islam, those who have yet to convert but interested in learning about the religion, and those non-Muslims who respects Islam and do not wage war against Muslims. “In our case, we only use one of these three aspects of the term. The result is a wedge between our (Muslim) society and the non-Muslims," said Nik Aziz. On criticisms that Teo was not wearing proper Islamic attire, Nik Aziz said it related to the surau caretaker's responsibility to ensure such rules were followed.