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President-elect Barack Obama appointed his former political adversary and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. As he announced the appointment, Obama graciously declared that “Hillary is my friend and will always be my friend”. At the Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, the party’s supreme council asked Zaid Ibrahim to get out from Umno and party leaders were unanimous over the decision, as we learnt later. Paul Sir, Borneo Post
THIS is merely an attempt to analyse political events happening in the United States and Malaysia this week. I’m fully mindful that these two major political developments which are my subjects of comparison may not be the correct yardstick in gauging recent American and Malaysian political endeavours. Nonetheless, these are factual events as all of us can testify. I have no intention to paint a negative picture of political developments in my own country and praising a foreign nation in the same breath. Having said that, I also feel duty bound as a writer able to reach the masses through the media to tell the truth and inform my fellow citizens when things are not right. I must have the courage to say so and so must you. There is an interesting twist for me in US politics this week. This recent development truly warms my heart. Why? In Malaysia, a senior Umno leader and former minister was sacked from his party just because he was associating with leaders of opposition parties. And Datuk Zaid Ibrahim cannot appeal on his expulsion nor given an avenue to be heard. How much worse can it get! In Chicago on Monday, President-elect Barack Obama appointed his former political adversary and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. As he announced the appointment, Obama graciously declared that “Hillary is my friend and will always be my friend”. At the Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, the party’s supreme council asked Zaid Ibrahim to get out from Umno and party leaders were unanimous over the decision, as we learnt later. So the former minister has suddenly turned into an outcast who did not deserve to be in Umno even as an ordinary member. But eight months ago, the prime minister brought him into the Cabinet to reform the judiciary. Pak Lah even took the extra trouble to acquire the renowned lawyer’s service via the Senate route. Zaid Ibrahim was a great asset then. This week, he became an unwanted liability. The interesting twist I had earlier mentioned was my declaration of support for Hillary Clinton early this year to be the first female President of the United States. I was sad when June came along and my girl had to concede defeat to Barack Obama, her Democratic challenger. But lo and behold — Hillary is now the next US Secretary of State, a post said to be third in line to the presidency. Well, we can say it’s a consolation prize. But it’s more than that now as I review Hillary’s appointment and Obama’s sound and brave judgment in choosing her. As a former First Lady, Hillary Clinton will no doubt be a great asset to the Obama Administration. As Secretary of State, she is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser and runs the powerful State Department and the Foreign Service of the United States. In short, Hillary Clinton will be the eyes and ears of the President abroad. And who was Hillary before to Obama — a political opponent, a political adversary who stands in your way and whom you must destroy and get rid of. Barack Obama’s political acumen and strength of character were glaring to all this week. Dr Henry Kissinger noted that “to appoint a very strong personality into a prominent cabinet position requires a great deal of courage.” Not only did Obama show his courage in appointing a former adversary as Secretary of State. When he unveiled his security team on Monday, he also retained Republican nominee Robert Gates as Defence Secretary. This showed that the President-elect is ready to work with people who can do the job, never mind the different political ideologies. Back home in Malaysia, I think Umno made a grave mistake in sacking Zaid Ibrahim. The party got rid of a talented individual probably because other leaders were fearful of him and disliked his call for reforms. When I hear the arguments of some Umno leaders as to why Zaid must go, I can’t help wondering why some people who were supposed to lead us be so petty as to consider all others outside their four walls as ‘enemies’. I like the statement of the former minister when he said “those in the opposition are not my enemies — their ideologies are different, that’s all”. Zaid was probably correct when he stressed that his sacking underscored the fact that Umno leaders are not open to the ideas of change which he has advocated. “The criticism against me was because they cannot accept these ideas of change. Otherwise why are they so angry with me? What have I done? They can’t accept these changes,” he said. Zaid said his attempt to articulate a new vision for the party which was less communal had been misconstrued as being ‘rebellious’. He also warned that if Umno did not adopt a more inclusive approach, race relations in this country would be further affected. “Umno has become more ethno-centric, more communitarian but that is not our role. Umno’s role is to be the provider for everyone — that is where we differ,” he said. I can only wish Zaid Ibrahim the best in all his future endeavours. Going back to the United States, it is even more gratifying to note that former president Bill Clinton is open to the possibility of a role in the Obama Administration. Now here is the guy who did not hide his bitterness when his wife lost to Obama in the Democratic presidential race. It was reported that Bill took the defeat more badly than his wife. But this week, Clinton said he was open to being named as a sort of super-ambassador on a specific issue like India, or on a broad topic like restoring goodwill for the United States abroad. He was deferential to President George W Bush, accepting assignments on hurricane and tsunami relief in conjunction with the president’s father, former President George H W Bush. Clinton told CNN International that he’s “just try to be a helpful sounding board” for Hillary Clinton when she becomes the nation’s chief diplomat. “Unless he asks me to do something specific, which I’m neither looking for nor closed to,” Clinton said. They say that democracy in the United States is ahead of us by 200 years. Is this why the Americans are able to pursue the politics of unity and really go all out to ensure that it works. For us, we are stuck in a mindset that those who do not agree with us politically are our enemies and must be destroyed. We must have clear divisions on who agree with us and who do not. We are unable to accept change and reform for our betterment. In short, we still enjoy dabbling in the politics of division. Sad, isn’t it? (Comments can reach the writer at
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