THERE IS LIFE AFTER UMNO: Call their bluff - Zaid tells BN parties to defend secular Malaysia

Dr Wee Ka Siong (the future MCA strongman) recently made a statement where he threatened to review MCA’s position in the Barisan National over the hudud issue. This is indeed long overdue and is welcomed by many people. I hope he is serious. It’s about time that the leaders of BN component parties tell UMNO that politics in this country must stay true to the core of its existence, which is to defend the modern and liberal democratic system which this nation was founded on. It’s time UMNO stopped playing political games with such recklessness, and at the risk of ripping apart our national fabric. It’s time their colleagues from the component parties tell them that yes, there is life after UMNO.

It’s been interesting to see UMNO’s response to Dr Wee’s statement. The future UMNO strongman, Khairy Jamaluddin, said MCA must not “move too fast on hudud”. He seems to be suggesting that UMNO is only looking at the implementation aspect of Kelantan’s proposal on hudud, that UMNO is just playing another political game and may not agree to the idea after all. So why move so fast? Why say right away that the idea is unacceptable? (When Hitler proposed gassing all the Jews in 1938, some smart German leaders—knowing how “popular” the move was and how important it was not to offend the Führer—probably replied “Yes, why not? Let’s see if this can be implemented.” We all know what happened next.)

My good friend Datuk A, an UMNO loyalist since birth, has similarly been hard at work trying to convince me that UMNO is just playing games, and that they have no intention of supporting PAS in implementing hudud. Many people think the present breed of UMNO leaders are so savvy and smart that they need to show how clever they are, i.e. how they can outsmart the Pakatan Rakyat by playing this political game over hudud.

Race to out-dumb each other!

I do not agree. They are neither smart nor savvy. They are not playing games—they are just too weak and afraid to explain to Muslim voters in this country that the hudud plan will only cause them hardship. They no longer have the convictions of former leaders, who had similarly been threatened by PAS since 1950’s over the issue. The present crop of UMNO leaders are just political wimps unwilling to confront the issue as leaders should. Leaders are supposed to lead the community. Wimps just wilt and follow, hoping the issue will die down.

If the present, smart UMNO leaders think the hudud issue will break the Pakatan, have they considered the possibility that it might break the BN first? Have they considered that they might lose the middle ground of Malaysian politics among those who do not care about either Anwar or DAP? Before the present leadership, many Malaysians had relied on UMNO to defend our way of life. They were sick of their corrupt ways and extravagant lifestyles but they still voted for the BN because they valued the democratic system that past leaders had established. They relied on UMNO for this stability and for its stance on religious moderation, no matter how flawed the system had become.

Now, however, the smart leaders of UMNO are willing to gamble even this. For the first time, and in complete defiance of the position that the Tunku, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Dr Mahathir and Tun Abdullah took over this issue, UMNO leaders are now happily announcing that they have never rejected hudud. For the first time, an UMNO-led BN Government has formed a national committee to study its implementation. For the first time, PAS and UMNO scholars are united and sitting together to discuss its implementation. And yet Khairy still says that Dr Wee is moving too fast?

Talibans taking over Malaysia!

People—including Datuk A—who want to preserve the remnants of our system must not be a party to this political game. They must be prepared to abandon UMNO and band together to defend the future of this secular democracy. If UMNO teams up with PAS, let them be. If the Pakatan breaks up over this issue, that’s really not so bad either. Why talk of consensus politics when a partner is unwilling to live this consensus?

Let’s see how far these new Talibans can take this country forward. Let’s see how far these Brioni-suited leaders in UMNO and their new friends in PAS will take hudud, and all its ramifications. Let’s call their bluff, and let’s reject stupidity and bigotry for a better Malaysia. - MAILBAG