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"I realise there is a new Malaysia that has evolved and changed. Malaysian society is now more mature and demands more openness ... if we do not change or reform, it is quite possible that the electorate will decide to end BN rule." THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Zubaidah Abu Bakar, New Straits Times
Barisan Nasional’s convention in February will be crucial for the coalition’s component parties to discuss concerns, address differences and seek a better understanding of each other. UNTIL the 12th general election in March, Malaysia had prided itself on having one of the region's most successful governing arrangements.
What Malaysians see today, however, is a much weakened and fragile coalition of 13 parties, most of them ethnic-based, and each grappling with its own issues to satisfy calls for change.
The ethnic gamesmanship following the rejection of Ba-risan Nasional component parties on March 8 has come to dominate the political scene.
As BN leaders searched for reasons for the coalition's dismal performance in the polls, they found that BN, despite having been around since 1974, did not have access to coordinated and systematic information and data, let alone its own think tank.
Even Umno, the backbone of BN, does not have one. The newly-formed BN committee on research and information, headed by Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, depends on MCA's Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap) and Gerakan's research unit.
BN's peninsula-based component parties don't seem to understand each other well any more, and also lack knowledge of Sabah and Sarawak parties.
Datuk Prof Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, the founding director of Institute of Ethnic Studies, said: "It's like a makeshift arrangement. BN is totally dependent on Umno's groundwork, and this is what has kept the coalition running all this while.
"As the main Chinese-based party, MCA knows very little of Chinese parties in Sabah or Sarawak."
BN component parties started having regular meetings only after March. They had hardly met before, which is why many political analysts think racial and religious issues were left unresolved to such an extent as to contribute to BN's electoral losses.
The BN convention scheduled for the middle of February will be outgoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's last chance to show Malaysians that BN, which he chairs, is serious about easing ethnic and religious tensions.
Even though the individual parties in the coalition practise racial and religious politics, a concerted effort on the part of all component parties could improve the situation.
Some 2,000 delegates representing all the component parties will attend the convention, which BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said would focus on improving inter-racial and inter-religious relations.
Abdullah should get the support of other BN leaders to see this through before he hands over power to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak in March. "I am thinking of how to handle the issue of race relations and religious tensions because of so many things that are happening," he told the Associated Press.
Professor James Chin of University of Monash, Malaysia, however, doubts the ability of BN to drop the politics of race and religion. The founders of the Alliance were clear that they believed in race-based party politics, which was why the three founding parties -- Umno, MCA and MIC -- represented one ethnic group each.
Chin said: "If they had believed in a non-racial system they would have created a different arrangement."
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Najib acknowledged that BN was facing its most serious challenge after 50 years in power. "I realise there is a new Malaysia that has evolved and changed.
"Malaysian society is now more mature and demands more openness ... if we do not change or reform, it is quite possible that the electorate will decide to end BN rule."
A comprehensive survey commissioned by Abdullah a couple of months ago to understand what Malaysians felt about the ruling coalition also indicated a growing number of Malaysians did not believe that only BN could govern the country.
The coalition, said Prof Siva-rurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia, had to find a mechanism to deal with racial and religious tensions that are fracturing intra-party relations.
"For instance, leaders can look back on how the coalition's forefathers dealt with racial issues, and find solutions behind the scenes rather than spell it out in public.
"There is no leadership by example here at all. Leaders should control party members from blurting out statements about sensitive issues."
Malaysians today have become more racially polarised than ever, contrary to the perception that they have moved beyond racial politics following March 8.
Leaders of race-based parties in BN -- MCA, Gerakan and MIC -- fan racial issues in trying to win back the lost confidence and support.
BN saw its support from the Chinese and Indians plunge in March.
The coalition cannot continue to be mired in internal crisis, particularly over race and religious issues. Those who turned their backs on it nine months ago seem in no hurry to return to its fold.
Unless and until there are substantial changes to the way Umno is perceived by the public, more non-Malays and younger voters, as well as the more liberal Malays, will detach themselves from BN.
Younger Malaysians are sick and tired of racial and religious politics, but the leaders of political parties tend to come from the older generation where the rules of politics are based on race and and religion.
Chin said: "Don't expect too much from the convention. Nice words will be spoken but the actions are what count."
But all is not lost for BN. There is hope and opportunity for salvation. The coalition can reshape and reinvent, but only if Umno is willing to be the moving force.
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