|
By MARY KISSEL, The Wall Street Journal Asia The biggest surprise about Malaysian politics today isn't the rise of Anwar Ibrahim's opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat. Rather, it's the inability of the ruling United Malays National Organization to respond to voters' changing demands -- for more freedoms, less corruption and a more secular form of politics. To understand why, look no further than the man who has done more than anyone to shape the modern-day UMNO: Mahathir Mohamad.
For Dr. Mahathir, the lessons of the March national elections, which saw a big win for Mr. Anwar's secular coalition, are clear: Voters "want to send a message to the present leadership," Dr. Mahathir told me in an interview last week. "You [foreign correspondents] believe there is a change of heart, they [voters] no longer want to have racial politics and all that. It's not that. They want to defeat this man, this leader." Dr. Mahathir was referring to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his successor and the man he pegs as responsible for UMNO's crumbling public support. Dr. Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, resigned from UMNO in May, calling Mr. Abdullah "incompetent" -- a word he repeated last week. During our interview, Dr. Mahathir largely evaded questions on the specific appeal of Mr. Anwar's policy platform of anticorruption, economic liberalization and equal opportunity for all races, or Mr. Abdullah's stance on these issues. Instead, he talked at length about race. "The idea that this election means that Malays have now rejected racial parties is totally wrong, you see. . . Today, the divisions between the races is much deeper," Dr. Mahathir said. Why? Topics that were "taboo," such as "the position of the Malays" are now fodder for "open discussion." But isn't that good for Malaysia? "Well, whether it's good or bad, it's not important. What is important is that the reaction of the Malays to this is to demonstrate." So why not liberalize the country further, and give people other outlets to express their frustrations, such as through a free media? Why not break UMNO's grip on the political system? "The people are not yet ready for that," Dr. Mahathir answered. "Why? Because the Chinese want to remain Chinese. The Indians want to remain Indians. The Malays want to remain Malays. That is a fact." Dr. Mahathir wouldn't go into specifics over his solution to this perceived problem, but he offered up a hint of his philosophy: "We are doing the right thing if everybody is unhappy, which means you have to give up something . . . You cannot say, this is my right, I must get it. Then others will say they want their rights, too." And can one person, in the form of an authoritarian leader, really balance all these problems? "I think if the [current] prime minister is not there, it is possible." In other words, if only the right man were in place, all would be well. UMNO today hasn't deviated much from Dr. Mahathir's playbook. UMNO under Mr. Abdullah has clung to its message that Malays, its core constituency, need affirmative action to prosper. Mr. Abdullah has taken a few steps to address corruption, such as setting up a government commission, but hasn't given the body much teeth. His government has also adopted Dr. Mahathir's authoritarian tendencies by locking up pro-opposition citizens under the country's draconian, British colonial-era laws. Mr. Anwar and his coalition say they have persuaded enough UMNO MPs to join the opposition and unseat the government this month. Dr. Mahathir waved away Mr. Anwar's claim, saying: "If he has to buy people, he will buy people." Mr. Anwar has denied such charges in the past. If the opposition coalition is successful, UMNO will have to fight for votes on more than just accusations -- it will have to rethink its Mahathir-era policies. That will be a much harder task. Ms. Kissel is editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal Asia.
 |
The Blogs 
