Malaysia after regime change - PAS and Islam

As Malaysia prepares for its 13^th general elections, due no later than April 2013, the long-standing competitive authoritarian regime will face one of its most difficult tests. The 2008 elections dealt a surprise blow to the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN), and ever since, Prime Minister Najib’s government has struggled to protect its now-fragile majority. After four years of renewed opposition activism, rumours of defection from UMNO (the United Malays National Organisation), and the recent acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysians will have the chance to vote the BN out of office once and for all.
In a post-BN Malaysia, observers will closely monitor the role of Islam in public life. Much of what happens will depend on the shape of the government that follows. In terms of the composition of a post-BN government, two outcomes seem most likely: (1) a multi-ethnic Pakatan Rakyat-based (PR) coalition in which PAS (Parti Islam SeMalaysia/Pan Malaysian Islamic Party), PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat/People’s Justice Party), and the DAP (Democratic Action Party) all participate, perhaps along with one or more East Malaysian parties; or (2) an UMNO-PAS “Muslim-Malay” coalition, again perhaps involving the cooperation of one or more East Malaysian parties. Either way, PAS—an explicitly Islamic party—will be part of the government.

That PAS would advocate for a greater role for Islam in Malaysian public life is undeniable. PAS describes its goals as follows:

• Memperjuangkan wujudnya di dalam negara ini sebuah masyarakat dan pemerintahan yang terlaksana di dalamnya nilai-nilai hidup Islam dan hukum-hukumnya menuju keredhaan Allah. [Fighting to create a society and government that is run according to Islamic principles and the laws which please Allah]
• Mempertahankan Kesucian Islam serta kemerdekaan dan kedaulatan negara. [Defending the sanctity of Islam alongside independence and national sovereignty.]

The prospect of PAS in government alone is worrying for those many Malaysians (both Muslims and non-Muslims) who express concern about the Islamisation of Malaysian politics and society. Moreover, a PR-based government would struggle to balance PAS’s goals with the DAP’s largely non-Muslim constituency. That would make an UMNO-PAS alliance all the more attractive to PAS, while UMNO, whose membership is not restricted to Muslims but is overwhelming Muslim anyway, would likely not hesitate to return to power with a new coalition partner.

Questions about PAS after the BN may reflect the concerns that many non-Muslims in Malaysiahave about the role of religion in public life, and Malaysia’s Hindu minority in particular has cause for grievance on this account. But this obscures the corrosive effects that six decades of ethnic partisanship have had on the prospects for Malaysian democracy. It is a mistake, in other words, to focus narrowly on PAS, or broadly on Islam itself, when anticipating Islam in a post-BN Malaysian political order. Doing so confuses the potential consequences of PAS in government with the factors that have contributed both to PAS’s popularity and to the current state of Islam in Malaysian public life.

PAS itself has not played a major role in the Islamisation of Malaysian politics or Malaysian society. Rather, it was Malay politicians in the pre-independence period (the very same group that went on to found UMNO) who enshrined Islam in the constitution and legally defined Malay-ness with reference to Islam. This was done not in the name of Islam, but to protect what were perceived to be “Malay interests” (see for example A History of Malaysia, pp. 256-257). After independence, with communism illegal, social democracy discredited (through its historical affiliation with a largely Chinese opposition party), liberalism cast as antithetical to Malaysian values, multiculturalism or pan-ethnic solidarity discouraged through the party system, and the bumi/non-bumi split underlying every aspect of social and economic policy, the only “Malay” alternative to UMNO’s Malay platform was PAS’s Islamist platform.

Today, in a society in which economic function and demographic characteristics such as urbanisation no longer distinguish Malays from non-Malays as easily as they once did, core issues such as religion have a new importance for voters whose political identities are constructed through an ethnic framework.

The strategic logic of political competition in Malaysia’s plural society therefore rewards parties seeking Malay votes when they appeal to the characteristics that define Malays in opposition to non-Malays. It should not surprise anyone that when Malay voters find UMNO politicians wanting, they are likely to vote for the only opposition party whose political outlook has not been labelled as “un-Malaysian” for the past half century.

Facing this, non-exclusivist opposition parties such as the DAP and PKR have struggled to transcend the ethnic paradigm in Malaysian politics. The choice for non-Malay, non-Muslim voters has been whether to cast their lot with their own regime-allied (and ethnically-constituted) parties, the “un-Malaysian” multiethnic opposition, or the Islamist PAS.
The fundamental challenge for public life in a post-BN Malaysia is not Islam, it is ethnicity’s dominant role in defining Malaysians’ political identity, and this challenge is just as pressing today as it would be if a new government with PAS comes to power following the upcoming elections. Of course, PAS’s explicitly religious goals are important to note, but there are few things that it could do in government that are not already within UMNO’s capacity today.

UMNO has presided over—and its campaign messages and public policies have encouraged—the rise of Islam in public life. It is tempting today to see what Judith Nagata called the “reflowering of Malaysian Islam” as merely a local instance of a global Muslim awakening, but this misses the very politics of Islamic politics in Malaysia.

In the Malaysian context, the rise of religion is the unavoidable consequence of the politicisation of ethnicity. A PAS-led government might go further than the BN has in prosecuting perceived insults to Islam, or in expanding the domain of Islamic family law, but such worries already mark Malaysian public life. The religious issues facing Malaysia are far deeper than the ruling party’s religious outlook, and having PAS in government is best understood as the outcome of decades of social change and religious conflict rather than a possible independent cause of future religious tensions.

It is reasonable to wonder what Malaysian politics would look like with an avowedly Islamist party like PAS in government, but as always, the meaning of Islam in Malaysian public life cannot be separated from the dominance of ethnicity in Malaysian politics.

The “solution” to the “problem” of Islam in Malaysian politics—if one believes that Islam is indeed a problem—is the same as the solution to many of the other issues that face contemporary Malaysian society: a post-ethnic movement (not merely a multi-ethnic one) in which Malaysians identify, assemble, and act as Malaysians rather than as representatives of ethnic groups in a zero-sum competition for power and resources.
This is what many hope that a PR government would mean, and in rhetorical terms, that is what Najib’s 1Malaysia campaign promises. A recent article in the Economist suggests that many young Malaysians would welcome such a post-ethnic politics. But they will have to wait, for Malaysian politics as BN-versus-PR restates the ethnic politics framework without moving past it.







Thomas Pepinsky is assistant professor of government at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY,USA. His work focuses on comparative politics and international political economy, with a special focus on contemporary issues in island Southeast Asia. His interests include the politics of finance, authoritarianism, Islam, and finding a way to move Ithaca to the tropics.

Malaysia after regime change - With or Without Barisan Nasional: Regime Change and Identity Politics in Post Authoritarian Malaysia

Why are you interested in Malaysia? If asked such a question, the majority of foreign observers, scholars and students of Malaysian politics would most likely mention ethnicity, religion (Islam) or what is broadly categorised as “identity politics.” Even if identity is not their primary interest, not one of them is likely to deny that collective identities are a crucial aspect of contemporary Malaysian politics dominated by the multi-ethnic ruling coalition, National Front (Barisan Nasional, BN).

What will Malaysian politics look like if BN ever lost power? Would identity, either ethnic or religious, recede from politics if the opposition, People’s Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat, PR), came to power? Or would it fuel politicisation of identity even further to threaten otherwise relatively oppressive but peaceful inter-communal relations?

Possible answers to these questions in part depend on the type of regime that the opposition coalition—comprised of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), and the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS)—wishes to establish. The opposition pact was first and foremost formed and sustained to challenge and bring down the authoritarian rule of BN where the Malay-Muslim based United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) is dominant. The establishment of some form of democratic rule is their next goal. Indeed, their platform, “Ubah Sekarang, Selamatkan Malaysia! (Change Now, Save Malaysia!)”, published in the run-up to the 2008 elections emphasizes the following initiatives: expansion of democratic rights and institutions such as independent judiciary; creation of a just and fair society that provides all people with equal opportunities regardless of ethnicity, religion and culture; elimination of corruption and other unfair and discriminatory practices that hinder equal and fair distribution of public resources; growth with equity; and elimination of undemocratic apparatuses and practices, most notably the Internal Security Act (ISA). The absence of aforementioned initiatives under the current regime provided a common ground for opposition parties to come and fight together, leading to their impressive electoral ascendancy in 2008. The question remains however: Is the PR platform sufficient to convince their multi-ethnic constituencies to oust BN from power to build a new democratic Malaysia?

Complication about Malaysia’s regime change and democratic transition is derived from the very nature of the current regime. It is not only authoritarian in a conventional sense of the term, but also highly ethnocentric and illiberal, thereby denying equal rights and freedom to minority citizens based on their ethnic/religious identities. Under this regime, the majority Malay (and therefore Muslim) population have gained an unparalleled amount of power, wealth, status and opportunities as their birth rights since independence. UMNO and its major coalition partners in BN, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), were formed and allowed to survive primarily to represent and protect political and material interests of Chinese and Indian minority communities. In the post-NEP period, the regime has become even more protective of the communal interests of the Muslim-Malays while gaining authoritarian characters.

Under this ethnocentric pro-Malay regime, state institutions and a bureaucratic infrastructure were constructed in a manner to buttress supremacy of the state, UMNO and the Muslim-Malay community, while undermining civil society, civil rights and the well being of minority communities. Furthermore, the same regime has granted an unprecedented amount of power, resources and authority to the Islamic state bureaucracies in order to cater to the religious interests and spiritual well being of a growingly pious Muslim-Malay community. The results of such maneuvering are now obvious in a wide range of policy areas including law, education, welfare and economy. Consequently, post-NEP generations of minority populations feel increasingly alienated and discriminated against despite the fact that some communal grievances were mitigated by the inclusive multi-ethnic national vision and continuous growth under Mahathir (together with currently opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim) till the multiple crises following 1998.

Against this backdrop, it is of little surprise that the Hindu-Indian community has formed a powerful opposition against the regime. In 2007, the opposition was organised to form an ethno-nationalistic movement, Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force), to express the socio-economic grievances and political demands of the community. The state’s violent suppression of a street protest organised by the movement further deteriorated the already uneasy relations between the BN regime and minority communities, arousing anti-regime sentiments even further with particular damage done in urban areas.

Opposition parties, while certainly sharing such unusually strong anti-regime sentiments emanating from civil society, were not able to translate these divisive ethnocentric sentiments and demands directly into political action. Instead, they have chosen to stay mute on fundamental issues that they do not wish to discuss or negotiate, that is, issues related to communal identities and religion. Moreover, they strategically framed their anti-regime cause in universal democratic terms so as to forge a critical coalition with civil society forces across communal boundaries. They did so precisely because they need one another to maintain a multi-ethnic coalition front in order to beat BN. They and electorates are aware that the opposition parties and their interests, just like their opponents in the ruling coalition, are defined and restrained by competing identities: PKR is Malay-Muslim dominant and led by the most charismatic and powerful Malaysian Muslim leader to date, Anwar Ibrahim; DAP is non-Muslim based and dominated by ethnic Chinese; and PAS is a puritanical Islamist party. These constituencies have made significant efforts to compromise on issues regarding their core identities and interests in order to achieve their political goals and survival. Such compromise was handsomely rewarded with a significant 2008 increase in votes for the PR.

The tragedy of Malaysian authoritarianism is that authoritarian rule has grown stronger alongside the growing dominance of UMNO in BN and the Malaysian polity as well as its avidly pro-Malay and pro-Islam characters throughout 1980s and 1990s. The highly politicised identities—and state, political, economic and socio-cultural institutions created to serve the identity-based interests over several decades—will not easily go away even if regime change rids Malaysia of authoritarian rule and the BN falls from power. Popular interests and demands will continue to be defined and organised through collective identities based on ethnicity, religion, culture, or some combination of these characteristics.

This situation will lead to another tragedy: a tragedy of Malaysian democracy and regime change. As a result of the institutionalisation of politicised identities, demands for democracy, freedom and equal rights for all Malaysians are readily interpreted in zero-sum terms to connote a reduction of the special rights and privileges preserved for the Malay-Muslim majority. Regardless of whoever takes over the BN, the new regime will have to negotiate and balance contending communal demands and interests.

The key question here is whether Malaysians, especially the Malay-Muslim community, are ready to accept a new set of deals, terms and conditions set by the new democratic regime along the line suggested by PR. All possible signs thus far seem to suggest that they are not. According to public surveys conducted by the Merdeka Center between 2008 and 2010, a large majority of Malays, especially those in the lower income categories, strongly favour the reservation of special rights and privileges. They are also extremely anxious about policies and concessions that appear favourable to non-Malay communities. It is important to remember that Malay votes for UMNO/BN were constant between 2004 and 2008 and many still think that UMNO supremacy is necessary to protect their special rights.

More alarmingly, such anxiety among a community perceived to be under threat or siege at a time when the regime is undergoing unpredictable transition is a ready recipe for communal tension and potential violence. Indeed, it was when the BN adopted policies and allocated resources in ways seen disproportionately favorable to the non-Malay communities, especially Chinese, that ultra-nationalistic Malay movements such as Perkasa gained popular approval and appeal. Some UMNO elites were willing to allow these movements to exploit racist rhetoric and symbols in an effort to provoke anti-minority sentiment and violence.

Regime transition means that UMNO will be in the opposition. It is not unlikely that UMNO elites will use such racist rhetoric and movements more freely and aggressively to regain power they have lost, deteriorating already uneasy ethnic relations even further. We are also unsure if PAS will remain moderate once it gains power in order to have access to the conservative religious bureaucracies and patronage that have expanded dramatically under UMNO. According to Ashutosh Varshney, a renowned scholar of ethnic violence, ethnic peace is more likely when rivaling communities have developed associational interactions and ties—and social capital—across ethnic boundaries so as to withstand attempts to instigate racial hatred or antagonism. If this proposition and legacies of institutionalized political identities mentioned above offer some guide to predict Malaysia’s democratic future, we are left uncertain whether the much-waited transition to democracy will in fact bring a peaceful and happy future for all Malaysians as many had wished.

Kikue Hamayotsu is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA. Her research focuses on comparative politics, identity politics, religion and politics and regime transition and quality of democracy in the Muslim world with special reference to Indonesia and Malaysia. Her current interest include: religious parties and electoral politics, religious intolerance and violence, and finding a way to move Australia closer to North America.

Najib crowned Champion of Doubletalk by top US paper despite splurging millions on 'image'

What a deafening silence from Prime Minister Najib Razak! While the world shook its head over the FBC Media scandal, where his administration used Malaysian tax-payers money to ‘buy’ favorable mentions on international prime-time television, Najib is no where to be heard or seen. It could be he is hiding his head in shame but given his past record, the Malaysian PM doesn't feel remorse or guilt easily.

In a statement posted on the BBC website, the broadcaster said the “small number” of programmes that were aired on BBC World News between Feb 2009 and July 2011, broke the internal rules aimed at protecting its editorial integrity.

“These rules ensure that programmes are free, and are seen to be free, from commercial or other outside pressures,” read the statement.

Financial relationship

Although the nature of the programmes related to Malaysia were mentioned without much details, the BBC made it clear that 8 of these appeared to have a' financial relationship' with the Malaysian government.

After much public tongue-lashing from the opposition, Najib finally admitted to Parliament that it had paid RM84 million to FBC Media between 2007 and 2010 for ‘consultancy services, advice and management of a communication campaign’ to spruce up Malaysia’s image. Apart from painting a falsely flattering image image of himself, the documentaries also painted a rosy picture of Malaysia's oil palm industry and its treatment of indigenous peoples - which are in stark contract to the views from the ground.

British daily The Independent, the newspaper that broke the scandal, reported that the BBC would be apologizing to an estimated 74 million people globally over the matter. The report said viewers from “Kuala Lumpur to Khartoum” will be able to watch the broadcast which is available to 295 million homes, 1.7 million hotel rooms, 81 cruise ships, 46 airlines and 35 mobile phone platforms, at four different time zones. According to the BBC statement, the BBC Trust’s editorial standards committee had identified various breaches in editorial guidelines due to the errant programmes.

“It agreed that given the serious nature of the breaches an on-air apology to the audience was appropriate,” read the statement.

But not a word from Najib or his team. Such a public roasting, and yet Utusan, Star and all its media organs carried not a word on the matter.

Correct to demand an apology

So when Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng demanded an apology from the Prime Minister, he was cheered on by the public even though they Najib would pretend to ignore the entire incident or condemn it as being as "opposition-instigated" demand. But did Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat pay RM84 million to the UK publicity firm? Who was it who instructed FBC to polish Najib's image, give an overly glowing report about the benefits of consuming palm oil, and praise the BN's handling of indigenous people?

“Datuk Seri Najib Razak should direct his Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to apologise for paying RM84 million to burnish the Najib administration’s image... just as the BBC is apologising for accepting payments in exchange for a positive image for countries with a poor record of democratic practices and corruption,” Guan Eng wrote in a statement.

However, in a sad reflection of his caliber, Najib has chosen to hide his head in the sand.

The same goes for the UMNO-BN government he leads. They all seem content to stick their heads in the sand and wait for the whole matter to blow away. Who then apart from the opposition will keep an eye out for the Malaysian people? Will MCA ask Najib about the RM84 million sloshed down the drain? Will Gerakan, or the MIC? How about Umno?

Yet, it is more than just another embarrassing moment for Malaysia and one which Najib should apologize for. That is the minimum to restore some degree of the global esteem lost through the ill-judged and unethical act of paying a mercenary media firm to basically plant false news and disseminate it to an unsuspecting audience.

There was also APCO, Mr Cool and Ah Jib Gor ...

No doubt, following the FBC expose, Putrajaya ended its RM96 million contract with FBC, which Najib began in 2009. But FBC is not the only media scandal. In his vanity and thirst to be larger than life, Najib had signed on other public relation strategists including the Zionist-backed APCO Worldwide to polish his personal image.

Given his attack against arch rival Anwar Ibrahim for supporting a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, such an appointment is hypocritical to say the least, especially since Najib even gave APCO staff access to key communications facilities in the country. It is well-know that many of the top staff at APCO are former high-level officers at Shin Bet and Mossad, the Israeli secret services. What an awful joke and when Anwar, DAP chairman Karpal Singh, PKR leaders Azmin Ali and Sivarasa Rasiah took issue on the matter, fearing breach of national security, Najib had them suspended and locked out of Parliament for 6 months!

Indeed, APCO’s time in Malaysia was marked by controversy. So too was the most recent hire of a team purportedly comprising ex-staff of former British PM Tony Blair’s “New Labour” campaign. This group was tasked to turn Najib into a 'Mr Cool' and to reinvent him as a moderate reformist. Once the news leaked, it was clear Najib had bungled again, losing millions of public money. Malaysian either laughed or disapproved at the 'nonsense' he was dishing out. Even his 'Ah Jib Gor' Facebook website has failed miserably. Aimed to attract the Chinese, it has been taunted as being silly, in bad taste, and a desperate political move.

And the result - Najib crowned Champion of Doubletalk

Proof that Najib's exorbitant media scams are not working and instead backfiring comes in the form of a stinging rebuke from the highly influential Washington post editorial, which describes Najib's government as the "champion of doubletalk". Mind you, even President Obama and Hillary Clinton read the Washington Post. 

"His persecution has been facilitated by another champion of double-talk, the government of Malaysia, which claims to respect the rule of law but bundled Mr Kashgari onto a private Saudi jet Sunday in spite of a court order prohibiting his deportation," said the Washington Post.

The Post was referring to Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari whom Najib's cousin and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein illegally deported to face near certain death in his own country over several tweets the Saudi authorities deemed blasphemous. As human rights activists the world over have warned, if Hamza is executed, there will be blood on Najib's hand. 

So enough of the doublespeak. The game is up. You have been rumbled. Own up and apologize. Najib owes Malaysia an apology over the media scandals he created in his vanity, and for wasting the people's money so foolishly and flagrantly.

Malaysia Chronicle

Malaysia Election Around the Corner?

With Sodomy II out of the way, look forward to March polls -- maybe or maybe not

With the Sodomy II trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim now out of the way, it is probably time to start thinking seriously about Malaysia's 13th general election, which most observers -- but not all -- believe will be called in March, during school holidays when the classrooms are empty.

Despite euphoria on the part of the three-party opposition coalition, the end of the trial doesn't mean that Anwar's troubles are over. One political observer in Kuala Lumpur told Asia Sentinel that the United Malays National Organization, the lead party in the ruling national coalition, will probably do its best to discredit him in other ways.

Although he was declared not guilty, the image of the opposition leader as a sexual deviant has probably been planted in a lot of Malaysian minds. Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, Anwar's accuser, appears to have no intention of going away. He has asked the attorney general to appeal the acquittal and is tweeting and texting his outrage and innocence to anyone who will read them. UMNO could well put him on the trail to demand denied justice at every campaign stop.

However, Umno and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak carry plenty of baggage of their own. A long series of scandals within the party bear the hallmarks of being pushed by various Umno factions to cripple each other. That isn’t to say the snap poll won’t come off. But there are headwinds. The party held its annual general assembly in December and was expected to come out fighting. There was plenty of harsh rhetoric that made it sound as if Umno is besieged on all sides by threatening foes from both inside and outside the country – particularly from Christians, and particularly Chinese ones.

Najib himself concluded the conclave by pounding the war drums in stark terms, outlining a dark future if the opposition were to win, saying that: “This is the fate that will befall us if Umno loses power. Who will uphold the symbol of Islam? Who is capable of protecting the rights and agenda of the Malays? Who will continue to honour our Malay rulers?”

Massive scandal derails party conclave
Almost simultaneously with the annual general assembly, however, Umno found itself in a massive scandal involving the family of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the head of Wanita Umno, the women’s wing of the party and minister for Women, Welfare and Community Development. It has been impossible to wish the scandal away as a ploy by the opposition because it was exposed in September by Malaysia’s Auditor General.

As some observers have pointed out, it is also damaging because it involves agriculture, and particularly cattle – something Umno’s rural constituency can understand in all of its ominous implications. The matter involves the National Feedlot Corporation, which was given RM250 million (US80 million) in a government soft loan and was established to slaughter as many as 60,000 cattle a year by halal, or religiously accepted, methods. However, NFC has never slaughtered 10 percent of the projected total and has since scaled back its target to 8,000 head but hasn’t been able to meet that target either. The agreement to establish the company, made when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister, was okayed by Muhyiddin Yassin, the agriculture minister at the time and now the deputy prime minister.

None of Shahrizat's family had any experience in cattle production or beef supply prior to the establishment of the company. It appears that much of the money—as much as RM131 million -- was poured into things that had nothing to do with feeding cattle but instead into cars, condos and travel, among other things.

The matter has been seized upon with a good deal of glee by the opposition. One Malay businessman source said “there may be other revelations as to how the money for cattle was used which may implicate the number 2 guy.” That is Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister. “This thing has been a lifeline for the opposition who are sitting on a thumb drive full of info which they are revealing in bits and pieces,” he said.

Intermixed with this are reports that both Muhyiddin’s and Najib’s private secretaries have been accepting funds of at least RM10,000 per month from private parties for reasons that are unclear. The allegations against each – complete with pictures of checks -- are suspected of having been leaked by the Muhyiddin and Najib factions against each other. There reportedly is yet another massive scandal waiting in the wings, involving hundreds of millions of dollars in connection with the Iskandar project in Johor across the strait from Singapore. Documents are believed to have been made available to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that are said to implicate former lieutenants of former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Some sources have said the Shahrizat matter and shortcomings by other ministers argues for a cabinet reshuffle prior to any election. Certainly, Shahrizat is expected to be dropped as a candidate in the next election, whenever it is to be held, and that probably her husband will be charged at some point.

Continuing allegations of corruption have cost the country four places in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, dropping it to a still relatively respectable 60th. But it is the third straight year the country has slipped in the perceptions index – all three occurring on Najib’s watch. Although the mainstream media, all of which are owned by the component parties of the Barisan have tended to downplay the corruption reports, it is estimated that 41 percent of Malaysians now have access to the Internet – and a huge flock of opposition bloggers and websites, some of which, such as Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini, are very professionally produced, and which pull no punches on reporting corruption and government mismanagement.

Part of the problem for Umno, a party source says, is getting divisional warlords to make way for winnable candidates in races that have become competitive now that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition has become a genuine movement rather than a ragtag group of parties cobbled together by Anwar. These are old hands that refuse to give away to younger, more attractive and educated candidates.

It is a longstanding problem borne out by the fact that Rais Yatim, the information minister and an Umno Supreme Council member, said after the December conclave that those not selected must refrain from sabotaging the party. It is significant enough that the Mahathir wing of the party is contemplating demanding that party members sign a loyalty oath. A Penang district member, Musa Sheikh Fadzir, proposed the establishment of a General Election Disciplinary Committee to take action against those who go against the party in the upcoming polls.

Added to this are concerns that the party isn’t appealing strongly enough to young, urban Malays, turned off by infighting and corruption, who have been drifting towards Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS, which has rebranded itself as a secular party, and to a lesser extent to Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

According to the Neilsen rating agency, Malaysia’s highest Internet usage is recorded among the young -- of people aged 20-24: 57 percent use the Internet regularly, spending an average of 22.3 hours online per week. Despite considerable publicity in recent weeks over a demand that the party return to its Islamic roots by former executive committee member Hasan Ali and his confederate, Nasharudin Mat Isa, a former PAS deputy president who was supplanted by the new moderate team, other sources say the party remains perhaps the most disciplined in the three-party opposition.

The biggest of the three opposition parties, PAS is continuing to work to appeal to urban voters. It is a dramatic illustration of the change in Malaysian society. According to the CIA World Factbook, 72 percent of the country’s 28.7 million people are now living in cities. Although Malays make up the preponderance of the other 28 percent, the rural roots of both Umno and PAS are vanishing – at an annual rate of 2.4 percent. Agriculture now comprises only 13 percent of the workforce, with industry, 36 percent, and services, 51 percent, making up the rest.

As evidence of the racial divisions in the country, a poll by the Merdeka Centre taken last year said 61 percent of ethnic Malays believe the country is going in the right direction as opposed to only 31 percent of Chinese. Ethnic Indian approval of the way the country is going, at a high of 66 percent, has fallen dramatically as well, to 39 percent despite Najib’s assiduous efforts to woo Indians back to the fold.

Najib, Rais Yatim and others have pointed to the decision to acquit Anwar as evidence of the Malaysian judiciary's independence, which is probably stretching the truth considerably. However, Umno and its leaders have been touting reforms of the hated colonial-era Internal Security Act, which allows for the indeterminate jailing of anyone the attorney general considers to be subversive, amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act and election law cleanup as well as other liberalizations as a step towards a new Malaysia.

Opponents regard these changes as cosmetic. The ISA is likely to be replaced by something akin to the Patriot Act, which was jammed through a panicked US Congress in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

The government appears to have shot itself in the foot with the passage by the Dewan Rakyat, or parliament, of a Peaceful Assembly Act that opposition lawmakers, human rights activists and the country’s lawyers say was about as bad as the law it replaces as it bans street demonstrations and requires assemblies, meetings and processions to be held only on designated compounds.

Whatever strength Najib has within Umno and whatever hold Umno has on the ethnic Malay electorate, the Barisan Nasional appears almost certain to have to simply write off the Chinese vote, and perhaps an unknown portion of the urban Malay and Indian vote as well. According to one analysis, overall 50 percent of parliamentary seats are Malay majority, 25 percent are Chinese majority and mixed seats i.e. seats in which no ethnic group has a majority, 25 percent are from the east Malaysia states of Sabah and Sarawak. To win Putrajaya, either the Barisan or Pakatan Rakyat must secure at least half of Malay majority seats -- 25 percent of the total parliamentary seats. For the Barisan, the winning formula is: 25 percent Malay majority seats, 5 percent Chinese or mixed seats and 20 percent from Sabah and Sarawak. For Pakatan, the winning formula is: 25 percent Malay majority seats, 20 percent Chinese or mixed seats and 5 percent from Sabah and Sarawak.

The other Barisan component parties are in considerably worse shape than Umno. The nearly moribund Malaysian Chinese Association is enmeshed in a scandal over the development of the Port Klang multimodal port facility, which has the potential to cost the country RM13 billion if all loan commitments are to be met. There is also hand-to-hand combat among leadership factions. In addition Chua Soi Lek, the head of the party, has been repeatedly taken to task by Malay supremacists such as Ibrahim Ali and his NGO Perkasa, which has the tacit backing of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, further disenchanting ethnic Chinese, who make up 23.7 percent of the population. They appear to have abandoned the party wholesale for the Democratic Action Party, which has been termed a Chinese chauvinist party.

Although East Malaysia appears solidly in the Barisan camp, if the state election held in Sarawak held on April 16 is any harbinger, the results indicate a clear abandonment of the Barisan by Chinese voters. The Chinese-based opposition Democratic Action Party won 12 of the 15 seats it contested, doubling its share of seats in Sarawak since the 2006 state elections. Parti Keadilan Rakyat, led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, won three seats, including a rural one.

Thus the outcome appears to depend on how much PAS, having abandoned its Islamic goals, can make inroads among the Malay population, and particularly the urban Malay population. That 72 percent urban preponderance starts to look interesting indeed.

Many observers believe the most likely scenario is a Barisan win, but the historic two-thirds majority in parliament, which allowed the Barisan to dictate the country’s political and governmental agenda, is likely gone for good.

That doesn’t mean the opposition is faring much better. Pakatan Rakyat coalition continues to be beset with defections and arguments between the three component parties.

One of the things militating for an early election is increasingly dour economic forecasts. Second-half gross domestic product growth edged lower to 4.0 percent year-on-year as domestic demand weakened. By sector, according to the Malaysia Economic Institute of Research, services (6.3 percent growth) and manufacturing (2.1 percent) were the main growth engines. MEIR expects growth momentum to moderate as exports weaken on lacklustre performance by its main export partners, principally the United States. For 2012, MIER has revised its GDP growth forecast downward to 5.0 percent. Other research analysts, more pessimistic, put growth at 4.4 percent.

Although inflation seems relatively tame at a forecast 3 percent, Malaysia’s tripartite growth model, two segments of which are manufacturing and commodities and both directed for export, will be hit by what appears to be an almost certain 2012 economic downturn in Europe and sub-par growth in the United States barring some miracle. That leaves just fiscal pump-priming and the public sector economy to maintain growth. Federal government net borrowing is already forecast at RM45.1 billion for the full year of 2011 and RM43.6 billion in 2012. Najib has produced an election budget with some goodies for everybody but particularly the country’s ethnic Malays, including 1.3 million civil servants, one of the highest civil servants-to-population ratios in the world – the preponderance of them ethnic Malays. Civil servants will be offered tuition assistance for part-time studies

Other goodies include abolishment of payments for primary and secondary education, a “commercialisation innovation fund” to help out SMEs, a RM2 billion “shariah-compliant” financing fund for SMEs to be managed by selected Islamic banks – another bone thrown to Malay businessmen – as well as a review of capital gains taxes on property to stabilise the property market.

Najib and his troops have been hitting the campaign trail assiduously. But whether that means an election is imminent remains to be seen. Mahathir, the party’s stormy petrel, counsels waiting until all of the ducks are lined up. But he also counsels that the Barisan keep up the pressure to make the opposition believe the national polls could happen sooner – forcing them to spend money, time and energy to try to keep up with the government parties.

 Asia Sentinel.com

Even Dr M thinks Najib will lose but a debate with Anwar is still vital

THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE The polls are looming and Malaysia is gearing up for the most hotly-contested general election ever. Unlucky 13 may be the one that finally breaks the Barisan Nasional's 50-year dominance over Malaysian politics and welcomes the Pakatan Rakyat to Putrajaya.

With all things in the balance, it is only right that the people of Malaysia test the ability of its two prospective prime ministers on a public stage to discuss public policies. Yes, it’s high time we see a Najib Razak - Anwar Ibrahim debate.

For the record, the Republican Presidential candidates in the United States have already had 20 debates; which has helped narrow the field down to only 4 candidates. The debate floor is a great place to gauge each candidates stand on such things as immigration laws, English as the official language of America and setting up more jobs for unemployed Americans.

So why can’t Malaysia have a debate between Najib and Anwar?

Even Mahathir is worried Najib will lose

It is also telling that former premier Mahathir Mohamad has openly advised Najib not to debate Anwar. It immediately sparked talk that Mahathir was afraid the technically less competent Najib would disgrace himself in such a debate.

Indeed, the reason Mahathir trotted out defied logic, insisting that a 'debate' made sense only if Anwar shared the current the BN's views.

"What’s the point of debating when everyone knows his stand, and the debate won’t change this. It’s a different case if Anwar shares the government’s opinion on matters raised," the government media reported Mahathir as saying.

At the root of the BN's problems is that Najib Razak is merely caretaker prime minister, one who was appointed to the post by his party after an internal power struggle that ousted former premier Abdullah Badawi. Najib should have immediately called for snap general elections to win his own mandate from the people, but he chickened out, knowing that he was likely to perform worse than Badawi. Only one year remains of the BN's 5-year mandate now, with Parliament due to automatically dissolve in April 2013 regardless of whether Najib calls for polls.

On the other hand, Anwar has been prime minister in waiting for too long. Anwar Ibrahim is now the leader of the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat, and if it wins more of the 222 seats in Parliament than BN, Anwar will finally become PM. Back in 90s, Anwar was already the hottest Malay leader in town. Then he was the Umno deputy president and even Mahathir feared him, so much so that sodomy charges were fabricated to bring down and jail Anwar.

At that time, Najib was nowhere in the radar, unable to command a following of his own. 

In fact, he claimed to be one of Anwar's biggest supporters then. And so did others like current Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Defense minister Zahid Hamidi. With Anwar released only from jail in 2004, it is not surprising that these men switched their allegiance to Mahathir, and now, they are keeping an eye on premiership for themselves. As for Mahathir, sure he would rush for the chance to be PM again - if Malaysians would vote for him that is - but basically, his efforts are now focused on getting his son Mukhriz to take over Umno and the premiership in the round after GE-13.

Paranoia only confirms Anwar's legitimacy to be PM

This is why since 1998, the BN government has gone to incredible lengths to keep denying Anwar his shot at the premiership. In fact, the change in the Malaysian political scene can be traced back to his detention under the dreaded Internal Security Act in 1999. This was the event that galvanised the opposition movement in Malaysia. And every political move the Umno-led BN has made since has been designed to keep Anwar out of the race for prime minister.

So silly is this thinking that many pundits say it is because of this very paranoia of Anwar, that Mahathir and gang have actually trapped themselves now. Always worried that justice will finally come and they will be made to answer for their misdeeds, they have helped themselves to huge chunks of the national wealth resulting in RM888 billion in illicit outflows to overseas accounts. They have also neglected their duties, the economy and the weak governance of the country have chased away massive foreign investment. At the same time, by their sheer insistence to 'shoot at sight' Anwar and his Pakatan cohorts, they have unwittingly confirmed Anwar's legitimacy as challenger for the Malaysian premiership.

So, barring other candidates who feel that they can garner the confidence of the Parliament as prime minister, these two gentlemen are Malaysia’s heavy-weights for the main contest. And should there be other candidates, they too should be allowed their chance to debate so that Malaysians as a whole benefit and get to choose the leader they believe can best deliver the job.

What does the Constitution say

Article 43 (2) states - The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows, that is to say: (a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House;

The key to being prime minister in Malaysia is that a member of the House of Representatives command the confidence of the majority of the members of that house. Malaysians vote in fellow citizens as members of the House of Representative and 'pass on' the responsibility of choosing the Prime Minister to these elected representatives. Trust is passed onto these reps to make the wisest choice to benefit all. Whether these reps betray their countrymen and instead vote based on instructions from 'higher authority' in their party or in line with bribes taken will determine whether they are re-elected in the next round.

So the people must keep tabs and do not take for granted their reps will not betray their trust. But how can the people of Malaysia gauge the capabilities of whom will best fit the role of Prime Minister? A public debate would do fine.

But Malaysians still think MPs are their bosses!

A public debate is a medium by which the public can see and gauge for themselves the candidates with aspirations to lead the nation. Any reservations can then be voiced out to their respective Members of Parliament and the voice of the people must then be taken into account when choosing the person that would command the confidence of the House of Representatives to be PM. It is a process by which the people of Malaysia can be and should be part of. How difficult it this? Is this not a hall-mark of a progressive and mature democracy?

Sad to say, in many parts of the country, the people feel beholden to the reps. They feel their MPs are their bosses and not the other way around. But allocations given to the MP to distributes to the needy are actually money belonging to the nation - the Malaysian people as a whole. The elected rep is just a person chosen to undertake this task and the basis for choosing him or her should be trust.

The MP's constituents chose him because they trust him. So he has to do right by them and not behave as if they owe him and need to thank him and be grateful to him. This is the problem with Malaysia and only a government that will not take advantage of the rural people and instead educate them on their rights should be elected in GE-13.

This is 2012 and Malaysia is already very late in the people awareness and empowerment game.

Cannot function without a script written out for him

Yet in true BN government-knows-best form, Najib Razak will not take part in a public debate. And Mahathir supports this fully, although the older man's reasons may be less flattering to Najib than the younger man realizes!

But why won't Najib take on Anwar. At 58, Najib should possess greater fire and derring-do than the 64-year-old Anwar.

Perhaps, it is because in a public debate, Najib Razak’s most obvious flaw will be on show. He is a 'scripted' man - and in a volatile environment of a public debate where scripts are written on the spot by oneself as one speaks - he would simply be dumbfounded. Yes, the cat is out of the bag. Without scriptwriters, Najib will have nothing to say. Unaided, Najib would fail miserably against Anwar Ibrahim, a man who has been tried, tested and tempered through all temperatures on the most public of forums including the two Umno-instigated sodomy trials.

Bear in mind, Anwar has been defending himself in since 1999. He was not only the fastest-rising and most popular Finance minister of the Southeast Asian region, but he  has borne the brunt of all sorts of attacks against his sexuality, morality, character and personality. Both in the public sphere and in the courts of law.

Winner is obvious, and there may be sniggers but ...

In an immediate face-off the winner is obvious. But Najib should not be so vain and shallow as to refuse a debate because he knows, like the rest of the nation, he will surely lose. He must adopt a more gung-ho attitude and not just roll over and die. Style is not really that important, neither is articulation. Facts and substance are.

This is what Najib, at 58, should learn. He is no longer 18 and trying to show off to his girlfriend. He is Prime Minister of Malaysia and Malaysians want to hear what he has to say. How can he just drop his head and pretend it is not important. Not only will his critics in the Pakatan have a field day ridiculing his cowardice, even his own people in Umno will doubt him even more. Does Najib not think Mahathir would not in private sneer at him and perhaps tell common friends that 'Najib is so useless, I have to come out and help him to get out of it!' Isn't this a very likely reaction, even if not from Mahathir, others in Umno will surely say so.

Above all, Najib owes his countrymen. They already know him and they are entitled to know whether he has more to him than he has shown so far. Really, he should recognize their rights. Otherwise, he should talking about his dad, Abdul Razak who was the second premier, all the time as if being Razak's son means he would never do anything to harm Malaysia. But is not keeping Malaysia backwards and allowing ruthless opportunists like Mahathir to call the shots a slap in the face to the memory of his dad. One really wonders if Razak would approve of Mahathir or perhaps would have been even worse than Mahathir if he had ruled Malaysia longer.

Reclaim your rights

Malaysians should reclaim their rights and their nation. A public debate is the basic building block of a democracy. It is not an elocution or a beauty contest but a forum where the ideas and policies of two or more different quarters can be publicly evaluated, and the people can make up their minds. The prime minister's post is the highest executive job in the land. Malaysians have a right to gauge the potential of each candidate for themselves and not be curtailed by what the Umno-BN chooses because it is not to their disadvantage.

Finally, the prime minister can be anyone who is a member of the House of Representative and not limited to president of Umno. And to leave no room for doubt as to how the prime minister is chosen, all candidates must be made to lay out their plans and ideas and aspirations for Malaysians to vet through and to eventually approve of - whether at the ballot boxes on their own or through their reps in Parliament.

This is playing fair, this is playing fair according to the rules of democracy. This is the sign of a mature democratic country. If Najib or any other candidate in the future - whether from BN or Pakatan - refuses to debate in the run-up to any major election, he or she should not even be nominated to contest.

by  Maclean Patrick & Wong Choon Mei

Malaysia Chronicle

The heart of a gentle person - Dr Jeyakumar

I am writing this urgent letter to all Malaysians to be aware of the suffering that all the 6 PSM members are going through . Isolated from loved ones and family , they will have to beg to go to Toilet , or shave or bathe and hence the mental torture starts.

 

Dr Micheal Kumar Devaraj as he is known , is the Member of parliment for Sungai Siput . He was born and grew up in Penang. In school he was head prefect and top in his entire school for form 5 and form 6. He is by profession a Cardiac specilist with a heart for helping people . He belongs to the Socilist Party of Malaysia and is 58 years old I think . I remember during his campaign in 2008 simple from all walks of life came forward to help voluntarily in his campaign . He could not pay money to everyone like the Barisan National but people filled up petrol in their cars and motorcycles with thier own money and bought their own food to show solid supprt for this gentle man.

 

Beacuse of his tireless efforts to side with the downtrodden and victimised he was arrested a few times fighting for squatters and normally it was for illegal assembly or some silly reason . I used to sometimes tell him not to be too in the front lines but he told me that it is not enough just to tell people what is the right thing to do but to stand with them when they do it

 

I am writing on behalf of Dr Jeyakumar as I am a part of his family .I hope and trust that the family members of the others that are detained will start writing too, to urge people not to stand against the utterly stupid charges against the 6 .If in fact there was a T shirt or poster of " former " CPM leader Chin Peng , how is it wrong . ???

 

The National Libraries and most libraries in Universities have many books on communism for reference and reading . There are even books with his pictures as well as other involved in the struggle at that time. Is Hishamuddin going to remove all reference books in all the libraries ?? Is he going to have all the Librarians arrested or having reference material on communism ??

 

Hishamuddin calls the Bersih Rally illegal and as such justifies the wearing of bersih T shirts illegal also and had the 30 people arrested . If so , the Parkasa rally and UMNO Youth rally was also illegal , can we assume as such that wearing Parkasa shirts and UMNO Youth Illegal !!!

 

Hishamuddin is the most shameless politician for using such a stupid comparison . He takes us ordinary Malaysians as stupid , but we have to show him in a clear, non violent and reasonable way that we will not accept this dastardly action.

 

Dr Jeyakumar

I know Dr Jeyakumar personally . His father is also a doctor. Let me first tell you some childhood stories that will capture your imagination of this simple yet strong willed but gentle person.

 

1 st personal story

In his teens One day he went to to town to buy some items . He simply wore slippers and told his mum that he will be back later .A few hours later he called and asked his mum to please come and fetch him back . His mum was busy and asked him to take the bus but he pleaded with her to just come this one time . She relented and went to pick him up and found him without slippers !!! , standing on the inside of the pavement in a shop away from the heat of the midday sun.

Looking relieved he quickly jumped into the car . People had been staring at him whenever they passed by and wondering what was wrong with this boy . In the car he explained that he saw an old man shuffling about without slippers and could not stand it anymore and just gave him his own slippers to walk.

Only after doing that he realised that the pavement was very hot and couldn't walk to the bus stop and also was receiving strange stares from passerby and decided to call his mother.

Such is the heart of this gentle man who has been arrested by Hishamuddin and the police saying he is a communist and was wrong carrying Bersih T shirts

2 nd personal story
When he was in University Malaya he constantly involved himself in the plight of the estate workers . I know personally of how he started tuition classes in many estates from sg Siput to BUTTERWORTH for poor students during his semester breaks. His legacy still continues till today with Indian students still sacrificing their important time during their breaks to tutor underprivileged students in estates till today.

When he became a doctor , he requested his posting to be in Sarawak interior where many places had no electricity and reachable by boat to treat orang asli and start education programmes for kindergarten aged children . He stayed for many ,many years in Sarawak doing selfless work among the poor and destitute.

Such is the heart of this gentle man who has been arrested by Hishamuddin and the police saying he is a communist and was carrying Bersih T shirts

3 rd personal story
Once when I was in Ipoh few years ago ,way before he became Member of Parliament (and like David beating Goliath - won the Parliamentary seat from Samy Velu) saw me and asked me if I was free . I replied that I was and and in the night approx 9 pm ,after he had finished his hospital rounds picked me up and we drove many miles and reached a large squatter area . The old blue rickety Volkswagon tumbled and tossed in the uneven mud road and there were no streetlights at all and we were driving completely in the dark.

After a long time we reached a broken down hut and inside was an old Indian lady on a makeshift bed . Dr Kumar listened for a long time to her crying and after sometime he gently talked to her and gave her some painkiller injections and she soon slept off . On the way back he told me that she was in the end stage of her cancer and was dying and in so much pain . He made this trip twice or 3 times a week as she could not come to a hospital for pain medication . I sat quietly reflection how much just one person can do and how we who are so blessed , do so little.

Dr Kumar is my cousin and I am proud to know him . !!! My relationship with him throughout the years have enriched me tremendously. I hope that reading this , that you will not believe the lies that the mainstream newspapers is trying to tell you.

All of the 6 deserve our support and love - more so at this time , This is my simple testimony . I am sure that many , many more people will be able to share more experiences that they have had with Dr Kumar.

His gentle heart , his ready ear for listening even to the smallest complaints . I am enraged that they have locked him up without his seeing his wife and son and parents and friends. It is said that h is in solitary confinement . His 17 year old son who was also on the bus was arrested with him and kept in the lock up for more than 6 days . Imagine that - a minor sitting on the cold jail cell for being with his father.

Remember - All it takes for Evil to Triumph is for good people to do nothing !!

Please do take some time to reflect and pray for Dr Kumar and the rest to have the strength at this time . I have just attended a candle light vigil in Bkt Aman and have been informed that they are still in solitary confinement and blindfolded most of the time .Thier family has managed to visit them and they asked them to tell us that they are still strong after so many days in prison and thank us for all the prayers and wishes and ask us to please continue to support them until they are released .

Proud to be his friend,

Christopher

( 012 - 2180525)

The Ugly Muslim - Mariam Mokhtar

The Muslim NGO Pembela is wrong to blame Christianity for the alleged decline of Islam in Malaysia because the worst enemies of Islam, in Malaysia , are from within the ranks of the Muslims.

Islam may be a beautiful religion, but some of the Muslims in Umno, Utusan Malaysia, and the extremist groups like Perkasa and Pembela are ugly. Islam may preach love and tolerance, but Muslims in Umno, Utusan, Perkasa and Pembela are bigots who are consumed with hate.

Perhaps the so-called Muslims in these organisations, who profess to be true Muslims, are Muslim in name only.They lust after power and are aware that without the Malay vote, the activities of their party, their newspaper, their institution or their way of life (the Ketuanan Melayu lording it over other communities) will be curtailed or cease to exist altogether.

Umno has been stung by the successes of the Opposition in Sarawak . They then suffered further humiliation with PAS rejecting their overtures. So,their only recourse to remain in power, come the general election, has been to provoke and manipulate Malay/Muslim minds, especially the rural Malays.

Umno has capitalised on the power of distraction. The trick is to divert Malaysians from BN's failure to stabilise the economy, to reinvigorate the private sector and investment, and to manage the public finances.

Instill fear in Malays, blame the others

They do this by instilling fear in the Malays and by shifting the blame onto others. This time, the hapless recipient of Umno's degeneracy, are the Christians of Malaysia . On previous occasions, it has been the 'ungrateful' Chinese.

Last Saturday, Utusan Malaysia defiantly provoked Malaysians with a front-page headline claiming the DAP was in league with a group of Christian pastors to instal Christianity as the country's official religion. The insinuation was that the act would pave the way for a Christian prime minister.

Had this been a non-BN sanctioned newspaper, the editors would have been sacked and jailed, their licence to print revoked and the paper shut down.As Utusan is owned by Umno, it was business as usual at this Malay daily.

Time and time again, Utusan has got away with seditious publicationswhen others, like Raja Petra Kamaruddin, face arrest for publishing revealing documents. It is the same treatment meted to Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the non-Muslim founder of the online website, Sarawak Report (SR).

SR prints original documents alleging Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's corruption and illegally obtained wealth. Clare is trying to make Malaysians aware of Taib's corruption, but very few of the Muslims in Umno have taken heed.

It is without doubt that weak leadership of the country has given rise to this dangerous state of affairs.

Najib's pledge may prove to be just hot air

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak finally broke his silence on the Utusan article; however, his announcement that the government would 'investigate the matter before it was blown out of proportion' and lead to 'serious polarisation in society', may prove to be just more hot air.

Perhaps he should ask himself how many times Utusan has been guilty of sedition and escaped censure? Most will say far too often.

How soon, and how severely, will he clamp down on the extremist Muslim elements in Malaysia , who have fanned anger and suspicion in the community?

Perkasa has already lodged a series of police reports in every state, saying that the 'Christian state issue' was a threat to national security.

Pembela finds fault with the Christians, by claiming that the Christians were on a mission to convert Muslims in the country, starting with "confusing" Muslims by the use of Islamic terms, presumably like the word 'Allah'.

Those who have lived in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s will recall that Christmas was a time when all the races and religions would mix and mingle in open houses. There was no issue with the food or drink, no issue with the religious symbols like crosses or that there was a Christmas tree and hymns and carols were sung. Those times are but a distant memory.

If it is any consolation, all these machinations by the media are an indication that the general election is near.There is nothing like a dose of fear to manipulate people to do the wrong thing.

Perhaps the best way to reason the perceived threat to Islam, in Malaysia , is in the Muslim populace. If Islam here is under siege, it is because the enemy is the 'Ugly Muslim'.

They are the ones who crave power. They are the ones who maintain that the term 'Allah' cannot be used by non-Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia , but is permissible in Borneo . They are the ones who confiscated the Bible in the Malay language and held the Christians to ransom.

So, why do they keep silent on the serious issues?

If we dig deeper, who are the ones who force children to convert to Islam, if one of the parents becomes a Muslim? How about body snatching or grave robbing? What about the child in Sarawak who was whipped for eating food that had been prepared for his school break?

What about the women who are treated like cattle? Or those who are abandoned by their husbands who yearn for a younger model? What about the Muslims who are flogged for drinking beer when this should be a personal choice?

What about the moral policing which has caused several deaths? What about the endemic corruption or the public screening of sex videos? What about child marriages?

Why do the Muslims keep silent on these serious issues but harp on about a fictitious demand by the Christians for Christianity to be the official state religion?

The biggest threats to Malaysia and Islam in Malaysia are the thieving, power-grabbing Muslims in political parties, the media and the NGOs, who know the truth but prefer to manipulate it for their own selfish means.

They have failed their fellow Malaysian and others of their religion. That is the profile of the Ugly Muslim.

Malaysia's Fading Opposition

Dogged by disorganization and allegations of sex scandals, the Pakatan coalition looks in trouble

Three years ago the opposition Pakatan Rakyat's victorious sally in the 2008 general election seemed to have Malaysia's governing Barisan Nasional alliance on the ropes. Then only a Cassandra would have predicted that Pakatan's successes would appear so hollow so soon.

State elections in Sarawak loom, supposedly the last campaign for Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, just the kind of long-standing Barisan potentate that Pakatan was supposed to sweep away. Instead, the only question is how big a majority he will win. Few doubt it will be less than two thirds.

Far from charging at the head of his troops, Pakatan's charismatic leader, Anwar Ibrahim, is suspended from parliament and distracted not only by his second, interminable sodomy trial but now also by the allegation that he is the star of a sex tape (by way of variation, with a woman) produced by a trio collectively known as "Datuk T."

If the tide of filth through which Anwar must wade is politically motivated – and whatever the truth of the charges against him, no one believes they stem solely from an earnest desire for rectitude in the private lives of MPs – some of it still sticks. Visiting Kuala Lumpur recently, Anwar's former adviser Ziauddin Sardar told me that as long ago as 1996 he predicted that the then deputy PM's enemies would try to fell him by bringing up sodomy.

"Simply accusing him of bribes, cronyism and having affairs with women was not going to work. Those who know Anwar know he is above such things," said Sardar, now a prominent UK-based critic and commentator. "They had to find something unthinkable, something the Malays had a deep aversion for."

The problem is that while Sardar may declare him "a man of unshakeable integrity," who "cannot be bought, bribed or forced to deviate from the path of honesty," there are plenty who are not so sure. His nemesis and onetime boss, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, said that Anwar admitted to "affairs with women" in his just-published memoirs, claiming that prior to his ousting, his former deputy told UMNO's supreme council "he had done nothing unusual and insisted that everyone had done such things."

Not all believe the good doctor, of course; nor might they listen too closely to former colleagues in government who remember a not-quite-so saintly figure.

But Anwar's cause was dealt a blow from the home side earlier this year when reports highlighted the fact that although he later changed his mind, the DAP chairman Karpal Singh (subsequently Anwar's defence lawyer), also once accused him of sodomy, raising the issue in parliament in 1997 and asking the government to act against the then deputy PM. Even in liberal circles, observers with no great affection for the BN privately express the strong suspicion that Anwar might have indulged in hanky panky, possibly with both sexes.

These may be the tribulations of one man, but he is the man that matters: the only one who is, or who could be, a prime minister-in-waiting. And they are compounded by, and partly the cause of, those also being suffered by his party, PKR, and hence Pakatan as a whole.

Of Pakatan's three allies, the DAP gives the impression of being fighting fit, helmed by the still dynamic duo of Lim Kit Siang and Karpal, with an array of talent coming up the ranks and of an age to take over if necessary. In particular there is Lim's son, Guan Eng, who is also Penang's chief minister, Karpal's feisty orator son Gobind Singh, and the forensic economics whizz Tony Pua.

PAS, meanwhile, appears to have maintained its grip on its heartland in the peninsula and – important not only in wresting the Malay vote from UMNO but also to encourage non-Malays to overcome their reservations about casting their ballots for a party that used to think the Taliban had a good thing going -- its reputation for probity.

However much they try to paper over the cracks, though, the leftist, Chinese majority DAP and the Malay Islamists of PAS are allies of convenience, not soulmates. They cannot stop themselves from rowing over the extent to which Muslim laws should apply: for instance, PAS-controlled Kelantan's ban on the sale of "un-Islamic" lottery tickets, which the Chinese like to buy. Beyond good governance, their aims are ultimately incompatible.

So, how to keep these two together? This is supposed to be the role of PKR. And this is where Anwar's party is failing badly, struggling to convey what it is for, apart from being a vehicle for its leader's ambitions, and immensely damaging Pakatan Rakyat's effectiveness and chances at the next general election. It has lost a fifth of its parliamentary representation to defections and resignations since 2008, including in January N Gobalakrishnan, whose departure was particularly devastating given that he was a founder member of PKR who had given up a promising career within the Barisan Nasional (he had been Youth Leader of the BN component party, the Malaysian Indian Congress).

Other prominent figures such as former UMNO law minister Zaid Ibrahim, whose initial joining of PKR was hailed as a great coup, and the former vice president Jeffrey Kitingan, have left to start their own parties. When matters of import are in the air, the voice of PKR is drowned out by its own wranglings.

At a ceramah in the Empire Hotel, Subang, last weekend, PKR's communications director, Nik Nazmi, admitted that the party had serious issues with its image. "People don't understand what PKR is about apart from Anwar Ibrahim, that's what they tell me," he said. As for the loss of parliamentary seats, he explained that as PKR only had one MP and one state assemblyman before 2008, "everyone thought we were a lost cause. It was difficult to get good candidates." Of the 31 MPs who were then elected, he said, "some were not good enough. The jokers lost the plot and that's why they defected."

Anwar's daughter, PKR vice president Nurul Izzah, joined him in stressing that the disagreements with which the BN-supporting press has made much hay were a healthy sign. "They are important," she said. "Don't imagine that because the BN appears to have blanket agreement that it is so." They both seemed aware, however, that incidents such as the arguments between PKR and the DAP over seat allocation in Sarawak, in which Tony Pua accused PKR's negotiator of being "a little Napoleon", come across less as vibrant democracy at work than as evidence of a house divided.

The pair made impassioned pleas for PKR to be recognised as a unique driver for change: the first party in South East Asia to introduce One Member for One Vote for internal elections (hence, said Nurul Izzah, while turn out may have been low in last November's vote, 80,000 ballots were still cast "more than in any other party election"); and the only truly multiracial party in the country. "We are multiracial but Malay-led," said Nik Nazmi. "That is the only way you can convince the Malays about multiracialism."

The 29-year-old Selangor assemblyman is impressive, fluent and likeable. He even managed a good joke about how he knew the sex charges against his party leader were false. "I worked for him for two years as his private secretary. I'm quite good-looking, and nothing happened to me!" Nik Nazmi could be a future leader – but he is way too young for now. In terms of the top echelons who should be taking the reins while Anwar has to deal with his troubles, PKR is appallingly weak. Zaid Ibrahim could possibly have filled that role, even if his arrival and instant presumption to prominence put out the backs of veterans. A party with a greater grip on its long-term strategy would not have contrived to lose one of the clearest-eyed analysts of Malaysian politics, whatever the personality clashes his staying might have entailed.

For PKR and for Pakatan Rakyat, much is at stake here. "We have a chance for change at the next general election," said Nik Nazmi. "If not, it might be another 50 years." But the onus is on PKR to prove that is worthy of leading the opposition; otherwise PAS and the DAP may conclude that they are better off concentrating on their own strongholds rather than sacrificing too much for a greater effort that comes to nothing. "We have to improve ourselves," conceded Nurul Izzah. "That's a reality we are facing much more than PAS or the DAP."

Recognising that PKR's report card reads "must do better – much better" is a start. Translating that into action that revitalises the party and gives it the appearance of focus and energy is the hard part. The cause is not lost: BN leaders know that the personal approval ratings of prime minister Najib Tun Razak do not mean that the people have learned to love again the ruling coalition they rebuffed at the last general election. But if the opposition cannot recapture the spirit with which they effervesced only three years ago, their task is going to be to maintain their gains rather than push forward to take Putra Jaya, the nation's administrative capital. Anwar and his party, meanwhile, have become the weakest link. This was not how it was meant to be.

 

Sholto Byrnes is a contributing editor of the New Statesman 

- AsiaSentinel.com