|
Firstly, the president has to listen to the grassroots. The branches. The divisions. Without filtering and sanitisation by the state liaison chiefs. The liaison chiefs are just that. Liaison chiefs with no power to decide and to censor the voice and aspirations of the rank and file. By Mohamed Rahmat, THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, better known as Tok Mat, is Umno (Baru) Member NO: 00000003. He joined Umno in 1963 and was first elected to Parliament in 1969 in the Johor Baru Barat constituency and contested in a further six general elections, winning every time in the same constituency which was renamed Pulai in 1974. He first served in the Cabinet as Information Minister in 1978 before being appointed ambassador with ministerial status to Indonesia in 1982 when Dr Mahathir became Prime Minster . He rejoined the Cabinet as Information Minister in 1987 and retired from politics in 1999. He has also served as both Umno and Barisan Nasional secretary-general.The Umno anniversary today will not be a happy occasion.Behind the flag-raising, the honour guard, the prayers and the speeches at the party headquarters, Umno members are either dispirited, disconsolate, demoralised or in denial after the shocking results of Election 2008. While the leaders delay the inevitable, the grassroots want answers. They want heads to roll. They want change. They want reform. In order to be relevant, to be in power. Twenty years ago, Umno did that. It reformed in the image of the president when we were made illegal, forming Umno Baru to succeed the old Umno which I became a member in 1963 and later elected to Parliament in 1969. The dates hold special significance. In 1969, in the aftermath of May 13, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wrote a letter criticising then UMNO president Tunku Abdul Rahman. In 1988, a challenge against Dr Mahathir made Umno illegal. In 2008, Dr Mahathir's criticisms helped unseat Barisan Nasional and by extension Umno, from four states. So Umno crises happen every 20 years or so. And ironically thus far, all have involved Dr Mahathir. But Dr Mahathir has been a great leader. I know as I have worked with him despite being fired by him twice. I accept that. We have to work with the leadership to achieve the aims of developing Malaysia. There can be no other aim. Today, we do not see this happening. The current leadership is working at cross-purposes and are not united behind the party president. In fact, some leaders have become too powerful, assuming powers that they don't even have under the party constitution and running roughshod over the grassroots. Umno's power is from the grassroots and we have to reform to be relevant for them and the people. The party president can do a few things to achieve relevance with the grassroots and the people. Firstly, the president has to listen to the grassroots. The branches. The divisions. Without filtering and sanitisation by the state liaison chiefs. The liaison chiefs are just that. Liaison chiefs with no power to decide and to censor the voice and aspirations of the rank and file. For too long they have been a power unto themselves and it is time Umno streamlines its organisational chart to prevent a top-down leadership. Secondly, the president has to do away with the 30 percent quota for nominations. That quota was put there to ensure no challenges for Dr Mahathir. It is not democratic. It is time it is eliminated from Umno's election rules. Thirdly, Umno should have term limits for office bearers. The party needs a system that allows potential leaders to move up the rank and file instead of creating congestion at the top and keeping demoralising potential leaders who will have nowhere to go. Perhaps two terms for the presidency and other key office bearers. The old ways won't work anymore. We have been independent for 50 years with one ruling coalition that has Umno as its backbone. That is a long time and we have been working the same way since then. But if Umno does not reform, it will go the way of the Liberal Democrat Party in Japan, the Congress Party in India, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Mexico and other grand old parties that overstayed their welcome because of inflexibility. Umno has to reform to be relevant.
 |
educate your members that the half of the population belong to other races
I hope everyone in Malaysia takes heed of this sound advice from a wise veteran that is Tok Mat, because he makes sense.