WIKIELAKS: 2007 UMNO GENERAL ASSEMBLY FIZZLES, BUT KHAIRY STANDS OUT

UMNO Vice President and controversial Chief Minister of Malacca Mohd Ali Rustam, just weeks after telling the press that UMNO did not need the votes of the ruling coalition's Chinese or Indian constituents, pledged that "in the coming election, BN (Barisan Nasional) will win in Kelantan." Mohd Ali claimed the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) only won control of the Kelantan State Assembly in 2004 because UMNO members in Kelantan had failed to register to vote.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

1. (C) Summary: The United Malays National Organization (UMNO) held its 58th Annual General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur from November 5 - 9 and despite the usual fanfare proved to be little more than a pep rally for the upcoming general election. Although party elections remain a year away, changes were bothrumored and evident in UMNO's Youth, Women's, and Young Women's organizations.

Son-in-law to the Prime Minister and Deputy Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin appeared to be the heir apparent for the Youth chief post and rumors continued to float that Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said would challenge International Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz for the top Women's post next year.

Considerably toned down from last year's convention, delegates abandoned attacks against other ethnic groups as the party focused on issues of unity, solidarity and electoral preparedness.

Khairy Jamaluddin was the charismatic star of the assembly and seemed to set the agenda for his father-in-law, party president and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. Khairy and Abdullah spoke on a number of similar issues, including the necessity of ending fuel subsidies and of the need for the police to deter illegal street demonstrations.

Abdullah threatened the opposition not to challenge his authority and resolve, but found himself and the whole assembly upstaged by a mass street protest on November 10 (ref A). Recent mass demonstrations seem to have undermined UMNO's election optimism, and Abdullah finds himself in a particularly difficult position of having to repeat his performance of the 2004 general elections when his coalition parties won 90 percent of the seats in Parliament. End Summary.

Focusing on the general election

2. (SBU) UMNO's 58th Annual General Assembly, which ran November 5 - 9, was little more than a pep rally for the upcoming general election, and one whose impact lasted less than 24 hours as public attention shifted to the successful opposition-led Bersih rally on November 10 (ref A) and the ensuing street demonstrations that dominated November and December. Gone were the television cameras which showed to Malaysia's minorities the hate speeches of the 2006 assembly and the political maneuvering of the Abdullah - Mahathir rivalry. Instead, UMNO politicians from the grassroots to the Supreme Council pledged solidarity, tolerance, and above all else, electoral success. Leaders warned members to steer clear of divisiveness ahead of the general elections, focused on interracial themes, and promised that party elections and internal politics could wait until after the general elections were held. Throughout the week UMNO owned and controlled newspapers ran headlines with themes of "SOLIDARITY" and "WE'RE READY".

Auxiliaries look toward succession

3. (SBU) As is the annual fare for all UMNO General Assemblies, the Youth, Women's and Young Women's assemblies occupied the first two days of the conference. Despite pledges to delay maneuverings for party leadership positions until after the general elections, rumors continued to circulate that Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said would challenge International Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz for the top Women's post next year. Young Women's leader Noraini Ahmad has already surpassed the maximum age for membership in UMNO's Puteri organization, and her speeches clearly indicated this was her farewell year as Young Women's (Puteri) chief. Youth Chief and Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein was also on his farewell tour, evidenced by nearly every Youth speech thanking him for his leadership and honoring him as the inspiration of UMNO Youth. At one point early in the Youth assembly, a video was played with accolades for Hishamuddin's leadership and concluded with a clip of Deputy Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin raising the national flag during the recent Independence Day celebration.

Hishamuddin then began his address by speaking of unity and continuity within UMNO Youth, symbolically placing the future of UMNO Youth into the care of his deputy Khairy.

Abdullah's leitmotif

4. (C) UMNO President and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi opened the 2007 General Assembly in his typical lack-luster, uncharismatic style, but touched on his standard tranche of issues that promised to be campaign topics for the upcoming elections. While a noticeable number of UMNO delegates read newspapers or napped, Abdullah spoke for some 80 minutes on Islam, government linked companies (GLCs), public services, growth corridors, human capital and education. Noticeable sound-bites for upcoming Barisan Nasional campaigns were scattered throughout his speech, and Abdullah made frequent reference to harmony among Malaysia's various communities and national development projects that would address the needs of all Malaysians. Nevertheless, the Malay agenda remained an underlying message and attracted the most audience interest.

Abdullah ensured that threats to Malay supremacy would not be tolerated: "Other communities must appreciate the sensitivities of Malays," Abdullah said. "Basic matters relating to the sanctity of religion, beliefs and practices, Malay interests and the social contract between the communities are sacred to us and should not be raised. Similarly, the basic issues that were agreed upon at the time the Federal Constitution was drafted are non-negotiable."

5. (SBU) As he has done every year since 2004, Abdullah gave particular attention to Islam and reiterated his concept of Islam Hadhari or "Civilizational Islam". Of note, Abdullah stated: "UMNO is committed to strengthening Islam and will not apologize for doing it. Islam promotes moderation. . . We give the assurance that UMNO will not endorse a narrow interpretation of Islam. UMNO opposes the culture of violence...Islam must be identified as a religion that dispenses justice, prohibits inequity and rejects violence." Abdullah spent considerable time touting Malaysia's efforts and successes in the Islamic finance sector and in the halal food sector. He promised that Malaysia would continue its efforts aimed at becoming "a premier global Islamic center."

"We're ready, Pak Lah. Call the elections"

6. (C) Over the proceeding two days, dozens of delegates addressed the assembly with their usual calls for limiting the number of foreign workers in Malaysia, demanding expanded use of the Malay language in public schools, and encouraging development in the Malay heartland. However, notwithstanding the usual ethno-centric appeals to the UMNO base, the topic of the coming general elections always returned.

UMNO Vice President and controversial Chief Minister of Malacca Mohd Ali Rustam, just weeks after telling the press that UMNO did not need the votes of the ruling coalition's Chinese or Indian constituents, pledged that "in the coming election, BN (Barisan Nasional) will win in Kelantan." Mohd Ali claimed the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) only won control of the Kelantan State Assembly in 2004 because UMNO members in Kelantan had failed to register to vote.

"I hope after this assembly, the delegates can prepare a list of members who have yet to register as voters and register them so that they can vote in the coming elections." Indeed, delegates throughout the convention waited with baited breath for the Prime Minister to call the elections, but such an announcement was not forthcoming. As one Puteri delegate said in her closing speech, "We're ready, Pak Lah. Call the elections. We just can't stand it anymore."

UMNO is not racist, says Khairy

7. (SBU) Even the first son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, spoke of the upcoming elections and warned BN's component parties to be happy with their share of the pie. "No one should accuse UMNO of being a racist party or label the Malay agenda as being a racist agenda," he said. "If we look at the allocations of electoral seats, the truth is UMNO could have contested more seats than what it has now, but this was not the case, as we are willing to give way for our BN partners to be better represented. If we are racists, we would not give away Malay majority seats," Khairy argued. With echoes of the 2006 assembly, Khairy warned that if any minority group wanted to raise issues of political equality among the races, then UMNO Youth would reciprocate by asking for equal economic clout.

Khairy sets Abdullah's agenda

8. (C) Khairy's speeches, emotionally eloquent and charismatically superior to almost all the other delegates, were not limited to defending the Malay agenda. He also set the tone for many of the topics that would later be covered in his father-in-law's final address to the assembly. Two of the principal topics which Khairy introduced for Abdullah were, firstly, the need to end gasoline subsidies, and secondly, a demand for a police crackdown on the November 10 Bersih rally (ref A).

9. (C) Venturing away from his typical racial and political pandering, Khairy ventured into new waters by addressing issues of the nation's economic longevity, and tied future budgetary concerns to the government's RM40 billion in yearly subsidies for gasoline, natural gas, and agricultural produce. Khairy recognized the political suicide in ending subsidies outright, but argued that RM40 billion each year in the government coffers could "build at least two cities just like Putrajaya, nine bridges like the Penang bridge, or about 500,000 low-cost houses."

Khairy argued that the government should implement a tiered subsidy system; continue subsidies for the poor but not the rich: "Why should we be giving subsidies to well-to-do people? This is not fair." With oil prices hovering at USD100 per barrel, Khairy argued, the current subsidies could not continue, or it would eventually bankrupt the country. Just "don't do it drastically" he asked. "Give us notice so that we can brace ourselves and not make it too burdensome on the people."

10. (C) In his final speech on November 8, Khairy also lambasted the opposition for calling on 100,000 people to take to the streets to demand "a clean election" (ref A). Khairy boasted that UMNO could certainly match their numbers in the streets, but such an act would only cause a riot. Instead, he called on "the police to arrest the organizers of the illegal rally."

Nevertheless, despite his charismatic delivery, Khairy utterly missed the irony of his words when he issued the challenge: "To these people, I call on them to stop going to the streets and behaving like monkeys, and instead go to the polls if they want to challenge us," for only five weeks prior Khairy was leading street demonstrations in front of the Burmese embassy to protest the junta's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters (ref B).

Abdullah agrees subsidies cannot continue

11. (SBU) In his closing remarks to the 58th General

Assembly, Abdullah Badawi returned to his Wagnerian leitmotif and preached of economic prosperity, religious tolerance and the need to "grow human capital". Highlighting the economics section of his speech, however, were talks of ending subsidies. Abdullah agreed that fuel subsidies could no longer be sustained with the steep rise in global oil prices.

He proposed a two-tier structure to ensure the impending price increase was affordable to those in the lower income groups. "For those who can pay, we set the price a little higher," said the UMNO president, but he did not indicate when the price increases would take effect. "We will restructure and subsidize at suitable rates and this will be the approach we will take in the future," Abdullah said, admitting that the RM40 billion-a-year subsidy for fuel was too much for the government to bear. "If the subsidy is reduced, we will have a lot of money to develop our country," he said, echoing Khairy's words from the day before.

Abdullah: I will not be challenged!

12. (C) As calls from the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) resonated through the alternative media, NGO, and opposition network for a November 10 march on the national palace (ref A), Abdullah again was compelled to echo the words of son-in-law Khairy and called on the police to arrest the leaders of the "illegal demonstration." "They challenge our laws and our public order. They challenge the people because the people want safety, security and lasting stability. That's what they challenge, not me. But I say, I will not be challenged," declared Abdullah. "What changes do you want? Wait until the elections, then we will see together who will win. Or are you afraid of the elections, " Abdullah mocked. On the morning of the Bersih demonstration, Malaysia's newspapers headlined his warning: "I will not be challenged!" And yet, as the morning rose on November 10, and tens of thousands assembled in Kuala Lumpur from around the country to participate in the Bersih rally, UMNO's week-long annual general assembly was upstaged and lost all public resonance.

Comment

13. (C) So similar were the key points of the PM's speech with Khairy's that some observers half-heartedly joked that Khairy must have written Abdullah Badawi's closing remarks. It seems improbable that there was no correlation of the two men's speeches, but it was Khairy and not Abdullah that had the most to gain from this year's assembly. Khairy's foray into the technical and economic realms of UMNO politics marked a strong departure from his previous role defending issues such as Hishamuddin's love affair with the Malay dagger (keris) and championing calls for Palestinian independence. The 2007 UMNO assembly marked a new era for the heir apparent, and his path to the UMNO Youth chair currently appears unchallenged and unimpeded.

14. (C) UMNO's principal objective in this year's assembly was to saddle the horses and prepare the foot soldiers for battle in the upcoming general elections. UMNO also intended the general assembly's messages to reassure its BN partners, particularly MCA and its Chinese voters, in sharp contrast to last year's divisive racial rhetoric that went out unfiltered to the Malaysian public. The ensuing street demonstrations of November and December, however, sapped away any momentum from this year's UMNO gathering. The government's counter-attack through its harsh law enforcement approach following the November 25 ethnic Indian protest appears to be an attempt to retake the initiative. Nevertheless, the recent mass demonstrations seem to have undermined UMNO's election optimism, and Abdullah finds himself in a particularly difficult position of having to repeat his performance of the 2004 general elections when his coalition parties won 90 percent of the seats in Parliament.

KEITH (December 2007)