Time to dismantle the regime

No political party should be allowed to rule for more than half a century. This is not about Pakatan or BN but people's power.

COMMENT

The only constant thing in life is change…

Four years have passed since Barisan Nasional watched with disbelief as the opposition swept into power in several states and denied the ruling coalition its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. It was a contest that shifted the electoral tectonic plates in Malaysia and resulted in what was aptly termed as a political tsunami.

From securing the biggest ever mandate to the smallest ever within a span of four years, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi allowed the impregnable fortress to crack under his watch. This earned him the scorn of Umno and BN leaders, who swept their respective shortcomings under the carpet, and pinned the blame on his fondness for the forty winks and his over ambitious son-in-law for the catastrophe. The old prime minister was then swiftly deposed and driven out of Putrajaya with his new bride.

Now, there is a new prime minister with an old bride at the helm with innovative ideas, hoping that the people would give him a strong mandate for his attempts to undo, in three years, the rot that has been festering for decades. But to his credit, he is the first prime minister to admit that all is not well in the BN front and apologised for it.

Born with a silver spoon in his aristocratic mouth, the son of the second prime minister is portrayed as a caring, pragmatic and sincere leader, sensitive to the plight of all races from all walks of life. His task, an unenviable one, is to restore BN to its former stardom.

His 1Malaysia slogan has become a catchphrase, with the government-linked media and his public relations experts ensuring that the message travels the length and breadth of the nation, even to remote places, where voters lurk in the dense tropical jungles.

Autobot or decepticon?

But behind the media blitz and glitz, is a man with enormous political baggage.

He continues to be haunted by the spectre of a beautiful Mongolian woman who was blown to smithereens with plastic explosives by two police elite force personnel, for reasons known only to them.

For the court which ordered that the duo be sent to the gallows did not establish a motive for the gruesome murder, leaving a trail of speculations that lead right to the prime minister’s doorstep since it was his close associate who was charged with abetting the crime but later discharged. And no amount of denials and swearing on the Quran managed to convince the conspiracy theorists otherwise.

His credentials also submerge whenever the Scorpene submarines surface, a deal drowning in allegations of corruption, sex and murder.

Now, Malaysians wait with bated breath for the outcome of the French judicial inquest into the matter. The situation, claim some, is made worse now with France having a Socialist president. His wife also hogs the limelight and can be considered the most popular self-proclaimed first lady of Malaysia, albeit for the wrong reasons.

Behind closed doors, there are whispers in BN circles that she and her alleged expensive taste for leather and glitter are liabilities to both her husband and the coalition he leads.

Never before in a political rally, have protesters also called for the downfall of a leader’s wife but this happened in Kuala Lumpur on April 28, where cries of “Hancur Rosmah” rang out. Detractors also claim that she has her husband wrapped around her finger like a diamond ring, meddles in state affairs and demands equal prominence.

While his political nemesis is hailed as a reformer, he is marketed as a transformer. But the jury is still deliberating on whether Najib Tun Razak is an autobot or a decepticon.

Transformer’s first GE

The nation’s sixth prime minister and first transformer is now on the verge of calling for his inaugural general election as head of state.

And the bout would put all his transformation and public relations efforts for the past three years to the test.

An unfazed Najib declared that he is prepared to call for an election at any time but some observers believe that last month’s Bersih rally forced him to reconsider the date. Talk is that the numbers rattled Putrajaya and rightly so, because while 100,000 physically took to the streets – without the need to be paid and fed a free lunch – millions more were there in spirit.

And it is safe to assume that none of them would be tipping the scales in BN’s favour come election day when Najib’s army, comprising generals without horses – since none of the presidents of the coalition’s peninsular-based parties have a parliamentary seat – march into the battlefield against both the supporters of Pakatan Rakyat and the haters of BN.

Despite all its attempts, the ruling coalition is still struggling to win the hearts and minds of the people in urban areas. The mounting scandals, such as the NFC fiasco, do not help either. What more the wastage of taxpayers’ money on numerous royal commissions, independent panels, select committees and Suhakam inquiries, whose recommendations and findings are often ignored.

These voters care not for the age-old threats of communal violence and instability which would purportedly follow a change of government. To them, if change can happen elsewhere then why not in Malaysia? The rest is simply hypothetical.

During the reign of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysians lived under a dark cloud of fear, but now, they are bolder in demanding their rights and questioning their leaders.

Similar to its ever widening income gap, there is now a voter chasm in Malaysia which BN is unable to bridge.

The coalition, which has ruled for more than five decades, has ceased to be the thinking man’s choice and its appeal among the younger generation of all races is rapidly fading as well. It can only hope that its handouts to the poor and those in rural areas would turn gratitude into votes.

The stumbling block

Extending him the benefit of the doubt that he is indeed sincere in wanting to transform the nation, Najib’s greatest stumbling block is inheriting an antiquated power structure and possessing an uninspiring octogenarian mentor, deputy, home minister and law minister that appear resistant to change. It is Umno which is in dire need of transformation.

And in Umno, save for a few, there is no room for 1Malaysia either and the hawks are supposedly sharpening their claws for Najib, who is seen to be pandering to the demands of the Chinese and Indians at the expense of the Malays. Being the prime minister of all races and president of a “superior” race is not an easy feat.

Espousing equality on the one hand and allowing Perkasa, the Malaysian variant of the Klu Klux Klan, and Umno’s unrestrained mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia to peddle hegemony on the other, has also cast aspersions on Najib’s all-encompassing stand.

Contradiction appears to be the motto of BN. When Najib addresses the nation as prime minister, his speech writers ensure that the rhetoric launch the country two steps forward but when a crisis erupts, the subsequent reactions, statements and editorials in Utusan put Malaysia in reverse gear, reminding her citizens that theirs is still a third-world nation.

Simply put, this regime ceased to be a government a long time ago. It is a political dynasty replete with arrogance, an unavoidable consequence of protracted rule.

And the alternative?

So what about the alternative? Is Pakatan the knight in shining armour? Hardly.

The federal opposition bloc of tussling secularists and theocrats is also riddled with problems and here too contradictions and allegations abound. On numerous occasions, Pakatan has also shown a hypocritical and hypersensitive streak when it concerns tolerance for dissenting voices and criticism.

But to its legions of believers, Pakatan and its supremo Anwar Ibrahim are infallible and to them, all that is wrong in the opposition must be plots conceived by the evil propaganda machinations of BN.

And this too is BN’s fault. With the Election Commission, MACC, judiciary and police being seen as serving the powers-that-be, BN leaders have pushed the boundaries of logic too far, too often and insulted the people’s intelligence. So much so that the people believe BN’s fingerprints can be found at every crime scene.

No political party should be allowed to lord over a nation for more than half a century and therefore this regime must be dismantled. Such a move would empower the people and serve as a stern warning to politicians on both sides of the divide not to abuse or take their positions for granted. It is not about BN or Pakatan, it is about people’s power. It is about showing who is the boss.

However, pundits claim that the possibility of Pakatan forming the federal government in the next general election is an impossibility since BN has the vote banks of Sabah and Sarawak tucked under its belt. Perhaps the pundits are right. But then again, none of their crystal balls predicted the outcome of the 2008 general election.

It is said that politicians are like diapers and both should be changed often for the same reason. Malaysia has been wearing the same diaper for more than fifty years. One can only imagine how much crap has been accumulated over this period.