SORRY, NAJIB: A leopard cannot change its spots - neither can you or Umno!

A leopard cannot change its spots. Now, will this hold true for BN and especially UMNO?

There is talk among some UMNO-BN power brokers that BN needs to “re-brand”. One notion is that that it should mint a new name to replace the “BN” and to even have a new logo to reflect that change.

The idea being mooted is to disband race-based UMNO, MIC and MCA with a single tag to represent a sort of multiracial coalition of sorts.

But let us take a leave from that age-old wisdom – let truth be told!

Having a new logo is not going to change the spots of the leopard. A leopard is a leopard. Having a new name to describe a leopard is not going to make the leopard into a cuddly cat.

Daily bombardment

As you read the unabated bombardment of race divisive news and view the overdose of Malay rights sentiments overflow into the television in your homes, you wonder what re-branding is UMNO talking about.

As you hear the power brokers pump all kinds of derogatory slurs and plant suspicion in the minds on the rakyat against the alternative political coalition (PR), you wonder what kind of inclusiveness is BN talking about.

Why are the power-controllers within BN still so adamant even till this day when the post GE-13 pie-charts clearly paint the realities of the times? Can they not get a drift of their waning popularity?

Any amount of repainting, sprucing up of the façade or even form of convenience-renovations will not bring any relevancy to BN’s future. It has to be far more substantive.

The old and well worn BN has demonstrated to the hilt that it cannot break free from the frozen eyeballs of seeing Malaysians along race and religious boundaries. The venomous spewing of unabated poison against Malaysians through its mouthpiece Utusan is an example.

It is cemented in that un-democratic foundation of ensuring that there is gerrymandering. The GE-13 election-results have exposed this very clearly for the world to see at one glance.

It is solemnly sworn to the mantra of propaganda while the world has shifted into the wavelength of Promotional Culture. The non-stop pumping of pre and post election propaganda in the mainstream media is unprecedented and clearly shows that the leopard cannot change its spots.

So how can re-branding or a new logo do the trick? It is like owning a single story terrace and renovating it to the hilt to make it look like a bungalow. BN leaders, do you get the drift?

They want democracy

The citizens of today and tomorrow are focused on the principles of democracy. These fundamentals demand transparency, accountability, free and fair elections, justice and harmony. The magic of the future is all about inclusiveness, collaboration, participative democracy.

BN needs to come to terms with these terminologies.

Can BN be transparent – not just in the future but also expose all its past misdeeds?

Can BN be accountable – not just making promises for the future, but more importantly account for all the capital flight, imprisoning of the Judiciary under the Executive, the numerous allegations of corruption running into billions if not trillions of ringgit.

The cornerstone of political power in the decades ahead is to be constructed out of the steel of democracy. Trying to compromise or make believe that there is democracy at work or trying to argue that democracy has to be “managed” (Tun Dr M’s claim) because Malaysia is a very different creature from the rest of the world – all these is not working and will not work.

In short, rebranding is not cosmetic. It must reach the very roots as much as the very tips of BN’s make up. And that takes time, including doing a sabbatical to speed up recovery from its past sins. Are you BN prepared?

If BN is truly serious about being a re-born political force it must be prepared to die first. This may sound rather proverbial. But that is the truth. You must be prepared to atone for your past mistakes these past three decades. BN must pay the price. Only then will the rakyat swing back to try out a new BN.

So, BN are you prepared to call for re-elections in the disputed constituencies or would you prefer to go shopping for crossovers while cloaking yourself with a brand new vest that you call re-brading?

The choice is entirely BN’s. Do not blame the Generation-Y or your sworn enemies (as how BN sees it) namely the alternative political coalition of PR for any eventuality.

MAILBAG