Secularism is the way to go

Yes, as Anwar said, and as I have also been saying for many years, Malaysia can’t make it just with electoral reforms. We need political and government reforms as well. And this is why I joined LibDem in the UK. While the others were talking merely about electoral reforms, LibDem was talking about political and government reforms.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar touts Turkey as model for economic, political reforms

(The Malaysian Insider) - Like Turkey, Malaysia can regain its economic lustre within a short period only through comprehensive political and government reform, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today in debating Budget 2013.

The opposition leader blamed Malaysia’s blunted competitive edge on the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s failure to redress the lopsided economic policies awarded to “cronies and rich parties with interests”, leading to a protracted Budget deficit for the last 15 years.

“Turkey’s success under Reccip Tayeb Erdogan, for example, gives us confidence that economic policy and governance that is based on social justice, transparency, trust and recognising the potential talent of its people can boost the country’s economic prosperity within a short period.”

“That is why Pakatan Rakyat has from early on stressed that change and economic improvements cannot happen without political and government reform,” he said in his Budget speech.

Using Turkey as an example, the former finance minister said in the 10 years since Erdogan became its prime minister, the latter had managed to transform the secular Muslim country’s economy that had contracted in 2002 to become a “new economic miracle”.

Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP) had tripled in nine years, he said, from US$233 billion (RM722 billion) in 2002 to US$773 billion last year. Its projected economic growth for this year is estimated to be more than 11 per cent, based on the first-quarter figures, which Anwar said topped China’s and every other developed country worldwide.

He pointed out too that Turkey’s economy had grown an average of between seven and nine per cent a year during Erdogan’s administration and, more notably, the country would have offset its €1 billion (RM4 billion) sovereign debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by next April, the shortest-ever repayment considering the amount owed.

The Permatang Pauh MP said Malaysia was now facing the risk of being left further behind by other Asian countries that used to lag behind it in the 1970s and 1980s, like South Korea, which had succeeded in forging ahead with measures to combat corruption and level the economic playing field to raise the competitive edge for business entrepreneurs.

But he believed that Malaysia, which had a higher economic potential due to its oil reserves, still stood a strong chance of surging ahead by overhauling the existing economic structure.

“Barisan Nasional’s failure to end the Budget deficit for 15 consecutive years while Malaysia has oil reserves shows there is a structural economic problem that it has neglected and allowed to spread like a cancerous tumour, for resolving the economic imbalance means touching cronies and the rich parties with interests,” he said.

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Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers while legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Its current constitution was adopted on 7th November 1982 after the Turkish constitutional referendum.

The function of head of state is performed by the president who is elected every five years on the principle of universal suffrage according to the current constitution. The president does not have to be a member of parliament but he/she must be over 40 years old and hold a bachelor's degree.

Executive power rests with the president, the prime minister and the Council of Ministers. The ministers do not have to be members of Parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the President and approved through a vote of confidence in the Parliament.

Legislative power is invested in the 550-seat Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing 81 provinces. The members are elected for a four-year term by mitigated proportional representation with an election threshold of 10%. To be represented in Parliament, a party must win at least 10% of the national vote in a national parliamentary election. Independent candidates may run, and to be elected, they must only win 10% of the vote in the province from which they are running.

Turkey has a legal system that has been wholly integrated with the continental European system. For example the Turkish civil law system has been modified by incorporating elements of the Swiss Civil Code, the Code of Obligations and the German Commercial Code. The administrative law bears similarities with the French Counterpart and the penal code with the Italian Counterpart.

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When Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim talks like this I will certainly support what he says. These are the type of things I like him to say. This not only gives Anwar a more statesmanlike image but what he says is in line with my own thoughts.

And, just like most Pakatan Rakyat supporters, I will agree with someone who says things that I agree with and will whack all those who say things that I do not agree with. In fact, that is not just the Pakatan Rakyat way but also the Malaysian way -- you have the right to say anything as long as I agree with what you say.

Above is a bit of background into the Turkish system. Turkey used to be called ‘The Sick Man of Europe’. Today it can actually be called one of the most progressive Muslim countries in the world. Even Anwar would agree with this.

However, Islamists and fundamentalist Muslims would disagree with this prognosis. They would consider Turkey a bad example of what a Muslim country should be like. For that matter, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the man whom the west calls ‘The Father of Modern Turkey’, would be called an apostate and a traitor to Islam by the fundamentalist.

I once prayed in the Rusila mosque in Terengganu and the PAS President, Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, actually whacked Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to kingdom come. Hence I know for a fact that the PAS President (and most fundamentalist Muslims) does not regard Mustafa Kemal Atatürk highly. He would consider Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as someone whose head should be separated from his neck.

In Turkey, everyone is entitled to freedom of worship, religion, conscience and belief. In other words, apostasy does not exist in Turkey. That can never be accepted in a ‘proper’ Muslim country. On that one score alone Turkey can never be accepted as a Muslim country. Hence, how can we classify Turkey as the perfect example of a Muslim country (at least be western interpretations) when by Eastern interpretations it cannot qualify as a Muslim country?

Anwar is singing Turkey’s praises and is telling us that if Malaysia can be like Turkey then Malaysia’s economy will become just like Turkey’s. And in singing Turkey’s praises he lists down Turkey’s virtues.

I can buy that. I agree that if Malaysia became like Turkey then we can expect to see our economy improve, just like Turkey. But to become like Turkey we will need, as Anwar said, political and government reforms -- to quote what Anwar said.

Again, I can buy that. In fact, Anwar took the words right out of my mouth. And this is what I have been saying for many years. And this is what I said when Anwar and I met up in London two years ago. And this is what I said when we launched the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM). And this is also what I said in my TV3 interview in April 2011 and my NST interview on 1st January 2012.

Yes, as Anwar said, and as I have also been saying for many years, Malaysia can’t make it just with electoral reforms. We need political and government reforms as well. And this is why I joined LibDem in the UK. While the others were talking merely about electoral reforms, LibDem was talking about political and government reforms.

So what do I now say? Do I say ‘I told you so’? Do I say ‘now Anwar Ibrahim is singing the same song as I have been singing for so long’? Or do I say ‘how far is Pakatan Rakyat prepared to go to see political and government reforms’?

So we want to become just like Turkey -- a successful country, in particular in terms of governance and the economy. But are we prepared to do things just like Turkey? Maybe I should pose this question another way: will the Islamists and fundamentalists agree to Malaysia becoming like Turkey? In short: we cannot be slightly pregnant. Either we are or we are not. That is the bottom line.

And does Anwar realise that to become just like Turkey we need a lot of reforms -- not just cosmetic changes but a major structural change?

That, I fear, is what most Malaysians are not ready to accept. And that is why I have been screaming at both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. They talk about setting up home but they shy away from marriage. So are you saying we need to live in sin? Either we go all the way or we are neither here nor there. And this is what we plan for Malaysia -- a lot of cosmetics to give the impression of external beauty but rotten to the core internally?

And don’t try to tell me that once we kick out Barisan Nasional all this is going to change. The problem is not Umno. The problem is the Muslims. The Muslims are not prepared to embrace secularism in favour of Islam, like what the Turks have done. That is the core issue here. Hence no change of government is going to help if Muslims resist a change of mindset.