Who will be Malaysia's prime minister after GE13?

During an English lesson, students in a Malaysian school were asked to write an essay on “What I would do if I am the prime minister?” While most students went about their task, a particular student opted not to write the essay. His reasoning was that “I can never become the prime minister of Malaysia because I am an Indian.”

While this stumped the teacher, it was really a thought-provoking reaction and response to the assigned task by the student. In reality, why should only Malays of the Islamic belief allowed to helm the country if there are better suited Malaysian candidates from the other races and religions?

Even pre-dominantly white America is able to accept a half white-half black man in the form of Barack Obama as their president signifying a major shift in the values of people in America towards putting an end to racism.

Are we Malaysians as a people prepared to show respect and take instructions and obey a person who is non-Malay and non-Islamic as the prime minister of this country?

Paranoia

The answer most unfortunately is a resounding no. Malaysia and the people of this country have yet to reach a state of political maturity to be able to accept the non-Malay, non-Islamic prime minister.

This is because of deep-rooted but unfounded paranoia by the Malays in this country who foster feelings of fear and insecurity that they have much to lose by having to share political power on an equal footing with the other races.

This effectively translates into meaning that Malaysia does not practice democracy in a pure form but only a semblance of it and is really trying to pass off and convince the rest of the world that it is conforming to the full tenets and obligations of democracy.

Perhaps a more vigorous “Malaysian Spring” will be needed before the nation decides to go fully the way of democracy in its purest, unadulterated form to free the people from the shackles of prejudice and racism.

The need to practice meritocracy

While Barisan Nasional (BN) has gone on a great transformation drive and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has its reformation plans, the real core issues over which Malaysians want to see changes have been virtually untouched.

One great concern is that the choice and selection of the position of prime minister be kept open to any person, irrespective of their race and religion, only then Malaysians will begin to believe in a Satu Malaysia as this is hard evidence of meritocracy at work in this country.

Besides meritocracy, there needs to be fair play and justice for the Satu Malaysia concept to work.  When the issue of race and religion of a person is of no importance to what the person can contribute to this country as the paramount leader or prime minister, Malaysia will witness rapid growth and prosperity and the quality of life will greatly improve.

In the present context, reserving the chair of prime minister for a member of a particular race, the Malay race, and the profession of Islam as their faith, causes the field to narrow, and in the current situation where there is a dearth of good Malay-Muslim leaders, Malaysians have to put up with leaders that fail to measure up to their expectations.

By opening the chair of prime minister to any Malaysian, irrespective of their race and religion, the nation’s practice of meritocracy will pave the way for better competition and for leaders to need to prove themselves.

This will produce top class leaders as Malay-Muslims will have to compete with the other races. There is a dire need for the nation not to reserve the seat for members of a particular race as by taking it for granted that the right to lead is theirs, the end result is that the leaders available do not have that class and caliber of rising in stature among Malaysians and in this world.

The options now for a prime minister for Malaysians

If BN is to win the 13^th GE, it would mean that Najib Razak will be endorsed to lead the coalition as prime minister. It means there will be no effective change in the leadership of the country.

The status quo is expected to be maintained although a significant number of Malaysians express the belief that Najib’s leadership skills are poor. But Najib is really the best of the lot, in the sense that he is the most capable Malay leader of Islamic belief at present from the dominant party of BN – UMNO.

In recent years analysts across the board agree and are united in consensus that UMNO have very few leaders that are capable and effective and from among these few choices Malaysians unfortunately are saddled with Najib who is the best among them.

Since the thought of endorsing a non-Malay, non-Islamic candidate as prime minister is anathema to the Malays of UMNO, Malaysia has no choice seemingly but to put up with the weak and infirm leadership of Najib.

Anwar should win hands-down

In the event of a win by PR in the coming 13^th GE, the opposition coalition will be hard pressed to select its choice of a prime minister as they appear to have a pool of winnable candidates.

While on the surface the tripartite coalition made up of PKR, Parti PAS and DAP have already endorsed Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, as their choice of prime minister, there appears to be jockeying behind the scenes to see other candidates in the line-up for prime minister as well.

The other candidates will include Hadi Awang, president of Parti PAS and difficult as it might seem to believe, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, as the other possible choice of prime minister as the position of prime minister by PR appear not to be cast in iron as yet.

While the bid by Hadi Awang made by Parti PAS followers is understandable and the bid by DAP on behalf of Kit Siang is based on the fact that he has been “Mr Opposition” for many years and being prime minister should be a crowning effort for him for weathering the storm all these years, Anwar should triumph.

But what Malaysians really want?

In a summation of a variety of surveys and polling done by various individuals and organizations, it is surprising to unearth the findings and fact that Malaysians generally feel let down by the quality and the capability of their national leaders.

If these are the leaders with which Malaysians are “stuck” with, then there is that sorry feeling among Malaysians for themselves. Basically, Malaysians are of the view that the present crop of leaders are really not good enough to lead Malaysia forward especially in this era of globalization.

Malaysians now tend to be better educated and better informed. They are seeing for themselves what leaders of the other nations around the world are doing and the feeling among Malaysians is that the leaders at present in this country are not the sort to make Malaysia a great nation.

This is because of the belief in Malaysians that their leaders are mediocre. Worse is the belief by many Malaysians that their leaders are self-seeking and self-serving.

Malaysians are of the opinion that their national leaders do not have an interest in serving the people but they have the mentality of the masters who have to be served by the people of this country.

Given this situation, to change the status quo, Malaysia and its people have to evolve quickly to keep abreast of developments in a globalized era so as not to be left behind and to lobby for change for the betterment of the country.

Perhaps Malaysians can begin by giving support and endorsing candidates in the 13^th GE who will strive to fulfill the wishes and aspirations of the people and to better the quality of life for all Malaysians.

Malaysians should only support capable candidates in the 13^th GE, those with a proven track record, and discard corrupt and tainted candidates to ensure a great improvement to the quality of political leadership in this country.

Endorsing these capable candidates will then ensure they can move the people and nation forward in the right direction towards greater growth and heights of excellence for many years to come.

Malaysia Chronicle