Many ways to a new BN, says writer

File photo of BN flags put up during the recent general election. There have been calls for a rethinking of the BN model given the poor showing by some component party members in the election.KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 — The poor showing of the MCA and MIC in the last two general elections has led to calls for a rethinking of the Barisan Nasional (BN) model, The Straits Times reported today.

In an article in the Singapore daily, James Chin wrote that some 71 per cent of Malaysians want BN to relook its racial approach of treating Umno as first among equals and to eradicate money politics. 

“There are several ways being floated to reform BN,” wrote Chin, a senior visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

“These include collapsing all component parties into one entity; allowing direct membership into BN; giving real power to non-Malay BN parties; adopting a US-style Cabinet secretary system; and creating a new coalition,” he wrote.

He said the easiest way to deal with the racial question is to collapse all 13 current BN parties into a single party simply called BN. “The Malays need not worry about losing political power since numerically they will be the largest group in the single BN. The major difference will be the tone of the new entity which cannot merely reflect one ethnic group’s voice.”

He said a second option is to give some real political power to non-Malay BN parties. This will allow them to formulate public policy and regain credibility. A third option is to allow new Chinese and Indian parties into BN, he added.

Chin said corruption would be much harder to tackle as the “money-politics culture is so entrenched in Umno that any leader who tries to reform this system will find himself isolated.” 

“All the recent Umno party elections suggest that money was extensively used to buy delegates’ support. It is no exaggeration to say the majority of Malay businessmen who joined Umno hope to expand their business,” he said.

Chin wrote in The Straits Times that given the realities, he did not expect BN to collapse into a single party or deal seriously with corruption. “There is simply no political will to do both.”

He said one single BN party will not become a reality because the hardliners in Umno would allow non-Malays to “dilute” their party. When Umno expanded to Sabah, he said, many non-Malay Muslims and Sabah Bumiputeras joined the party and this altered its power structure. In the 2012 Umno general assembly, Sabah had the largest number of delegates.

He also said there is, however, political will to let people join BN directly. It would not get rid of ethnic-based parties in BN, but the hope is that in the long run, direct entry will allow BN to form a single party, he added.

Chin said the last option is to create a new coalition. 

BN’s structure was conceived by Datuk Seri Najib’s father, Tun Abdul Razak, in 1973. In the aftermath of the 1969 racial riots, Razak sought to restructure Malaysian politics. He invited all political parties to join a coalition, Barisan Nasional, a government of national unity of sorts.

“Razak replaced the Alliance with BN and there is no reason why Najib cannot bring about a completely new coalition. This is favoured by a small group in BN.”

Chin wrote that no matter what are the reforms, Umno believes deeply in the “big tent” approach, that is, many ethnic groups and classes being represented. Umno’s core leadership does not believe in Umno — or Malay-alone government, he said.