A rousing speech for Umno but old, tired themes for Malaysia

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin wanted members to be more courageous in questioning their leaders but at the same time he insisted the Sedition Act should be retained. – The Malaysian Insider pic, November 26, 2014.

By all accounts, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin gave a rousing speech while opening the assemblies of three Umno wings but analysts say several of his points went against his wish for party members to be braver, smarter and more competitive.

The analysts said the Malay party’s number two used rhetoric that was unbefitting a deputy prime minister when he said liberalism and secularism were threatening Umno’s core beliefs, a theme that has been drummed up in the run-up to the general assembly this week.

By claiming most Malays and Bumiputera were economically weak, Muhyiddin was also essentially admitting that the New Economic Policy (NEP) had failed, they added.

Muhyiddin also wanted his members to be more courageous in questioning their leaders but was not willing to extend the same freedom to the public as he insisted that the unpopular Sedition Act be kept with some improvements.

This prompted political analyst Dr Wong Chin Huat to question whether Muhyiddin really meant what he said about being "honest with your leaders".

“If you are not intellectually bankrupt, then why do you fear free speech?” said Wong, of the Penang Institute think tank.

“There is a famous Malay proverb, berani kerana benar (be brave when speaking the truth). It shows Malays do not fear debate and free flow of ideas. They embrace the truth instead of fearing it.

“The Sedition Act betrays this great Malay idea of believing in the truth.”

In his speech last night, Muhyiddin said the youth wanted Umno leaders who were honest, transparent, not corrupt and not afraid to speak up on behalf of society.

Wong also said a true test of whether Muhyiddin really wanted Umno members to do that would be whether he allowed them to talk about the NEP’s failures or the scandal-hit 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Another analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan pointed to the contradiction between Muhyiddin’s wish that Umno recapture the urban vote and for the Sedition Act to remain.

“Urban voters want the freedom to speak up and question what they see as not right.

“Maintaining the Sedition Act would contradict this aim,” said Wan Saiful who heads the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

That liberty to speak up included being able to question whether the NEP has really met its aims and whether ethnic-based affirmative action was still needed," said Wan Saiful.

Unfortunately, Muhyiddin chose to conflate the freedom to question government policy with liberalism, which he said was a threat to the special position of the Malays and Islam.

“It is not right to say that liberalism will lead to people to question the position of Islam or the Malays.

“What people are questioning is whether we should continue a policy where some communities are still protected while others are not.”

Wong of the Penang Institute said Muhyiddin’s speech highlighted how Umno is suffering a crisis of legitimacy in its failure to properly implement the NEP.

To deflect blame from itself, it is once again making non-Malays scapegoats.

Muhyiddin had listed many of the unmet NEP targets such as 30% private equity for the Bumiputera and the fact that their median incomes were lower compared to Chinese and Indians.

Muhyiddin then called for a new Bumiputera economic agenda to address these problems, saying that it should be a national agenda.

“No matter how Umno tries to blame non-Malays it will still need to answer the failure of the NEP. Why has it failed to adequately lift the Malays after more than four decades?

“Will more Bumiputeraism work to help Malays or do we need alternative policies to ensure that it’s the ordinary Malays who need help and not princelings of Umno?”

Muhyiddin, however, also raised some important points, said Wan Saiful, such as the need to tackle inequality among communities and within members of the same community.

“Another good point was on racism. How when Umno talks about Malay rights it is seen as racism but when others talk about the rights of their own communities it is seen as minority rights.

“It is a call for Malaysians to evaluate how they talk about racism. If you really want to abolish ethnic interests then we should do it across the board,” said Wan Saiful.

Overall, Wan Saiful said Muhyiddin’s thoughts about the economy, personal liberty and the Sedition Act appeared not to square with his own boss Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

This is since Najib had pledged to repeal the Sedition Act and had often made eradicating income inequality as a centre piece of his plan to transform the economy.

“It is surprising to see a deputy prime minister who is talking a language that is different than the prime minister.”

- TMI