The current generation of leaders have failed the country and are unlikely to change, says political analyst James Chin.
To set the country on the right track, Chin said the country needed to skip a couple of generations to seek out younger leaders.
He said this because the current leaders were moulded in a certain way and will not be able to change their thinking.
"Basically, we need to skip one or two generations and we need to move down in terms of political leadership and look for people in the 40s and early 50s.
"The current generation of leaders, they have failed this nation. There is no amount of work that is going to make them change their way of thinking.
"People like (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) are very set in their thinking and not only his generation - Muhyiddin Yassin's generation, Ismail Sabri Yaakob's generation - all these people come from a very specific period in the Malaysian development process. They are not going to change," he said.
Chin noted that there is scepticism towards younger leaders but believed that they cannot do any worse than the current leaders.
"The usual argument is that the younger people - how do we know they will be much better than the current generation?
"My answer to that criticism is always that they can't do any more damage than what is being done now," he said.
Chin was speaking at a webinar last night titled: 'Umno Redux: What next for Malaysia' organised in conjunction with the release of the book Paradise Lost: Mahathir & The End of Hope authored by former diplomat Dennis Ignatius.
Other panellists at the webinar included Dennis, former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, scholar Mohd Tahuddin Mohd Rasdi and former MP Tawfik Ismail, who is also the son of the second deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.
Chin said with the right leaders, countries on the verge of failing can be quickly turned around.
"If you look at contemporary history, there are many countries that were on the verge of failing - I'm talking about the institutions.
"Everything was about to fall apart. But if you get the right leader you can actually turn around the country very fast.
"The problem with Malaysia now is if you scan the horizon, you do not have that leader. And that's the reason why I think people are getting more and more pessimistic," he said.
Transition period
Chin said in order for Malaysia to undergo a profound change, the country needed to go through a traumatic experience.
He described the current political instability as a transition period.
"We saw this happening with other countries, sort of in similar stage with Malaysia, especially countries in East Asia and Eastern Europe where it took them more than 15 to 20 years to stabilise the politics," he said.
Chin expected Umno to spend the remaining of the current term trying to weaken Bersatu ahead of the 15th general election due in 2023.
He added that political instability is expected to persist unless there is a clear winner in the next general election.
Meanwhile, Thomas said anyone who underestimates Umno does so at their own peril.
He said Umno was only met with a "setback" in the last general election and has continuously been able to exploit communal struggles to its advantage.
However, he noted that Umno is facing challenges, namely the emergence of other Malay-based parties.
Furthermore, he said Umno's use of the racial and religious card has not helped its incompetence in governance, particularly in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been disastrous. We are nearing two million cases and 20,000 deaths.
"Millions of unemployed struggled to put food on the table. Cash has dried out, companies are insolvent, individuals bankrupt.
"If Malay voters reject Umno in the 15th general election because of this pathetic track record in government, it will be soundly defeated,' he said. - Mkini
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