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Where does a Prime Minister come from? -- The Umno President is the Prime Minister (it is taken for granted). Why is Umno President the Prime Minister? -- He is the leader of the main ruling party (it is taken for granted). Why is the leader of the main ruling party the Prime Minister?
-- Because it is the biggest, nope...because it has always been the case, nope...because...it is taken for granted. Such an important question is still looking for an answer. Usually, "it is taken for granted"is not the best answer. In the current political mode, the Malaysian Prime Minister is decided by a very small number of people. In reality, the people and BN member parties have no voice in the fate of PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. | "Other member parties will have to follow what it says, including the Prime Minister candidates." |
More than a million of Umno members and over 2000 party representatives are not involved in the decision making. Only about 40 Umno Supreme Council members, more accurately, the core three to five people are making the decision. The lack of broad participation in deciding the government's top leader is an unhealthy phenomenon in a democratic nation. Moreover, the BN government is a coalition government. The Prime Minister of a coalition government should be born through elections, negotiations and discussions. Only with voices from different parties and by accommodate different ideas, the coalition government is widely representative. However, the recent power transition plan keeps changing and outsiders do not know what is actually going on. Even Cabinet members, who are not Umno ministers, are confused. BN member parties can only be bystanders in the recent change of Umno. But, as they are part of the coalition government, they should not keep themselves out of the problem. Any change in Umno will have an impact on the member parties and the government. The characteristic of a coalition government is that none of the member party holds the vast majority of the seats and thus, they have to rule the country together. At present, Umno has 79 parliamentary seats, which is equal to about 35%. It must rely on MCA and member parties from Sabah and Sarawak to keep its regime. But Umno was too strong in the past and thus, it is the key to many important matters. Other member parties will have to follow what it says, including the Prime Minister candidates. What will the member parties do if Umno makes backbenchers Club Deputy Chief Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajudin Abdul Rahman or former Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail the party's president and becomes the Prime Minister? The French Government is a typical multi-party coalition government whose Prime Minister is born through negotiations. In most of the countries ruled by a coalition government, including our neighbour Thailand, their prime ministers are nominated by the majority party and agreed by other member parties. Abdullah made a progress in BN's history as he is ready to explain the progress of the power transition plan to BN members. However, it is only a small step taken towards a truly democratic coalition government. BN member parties have no right to interfere in Umno's internal affairs, this is very clear. But when it is about the Prime Minister candidates, BN member parties should prepare themselves and discuss about it. The Malaysian political structure is gradually transforming. More competitions and checks and balances can now be found in the political arena. The BN structure should as well be changed, the status of BN member parties should be adjusted and power distribution must be balanced in order to allow more active participations. Who shall be the Prime Minister should not be "their" matter, instead, it is "our" matter. (By TAY TIAN YAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)
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