Umno Baru should reinvent itself

 

Umno Baru should use this opportunity, post-Najib Razak, to reinvent the party and attempt to project a cleaner image to the general public. Unfortunately, many Umno Baru politicians are running scared and the sad fact is that the majority, if not all of their politicians, fear change.

The party is now 76 years old, but the Umno Baru Malays appear to be more insular, racist, insecure, misogynistic, and worst of all, clueless. While the rest of Malaysia have embraced the 21st century, Umno Baru Malays are like kampung chickens, squawking with delight as they scratch around in the dirt.

Theirs is not an irrational fear, because the same trepidation is also projected into the general public. It took several decades of Umno Baru misrule, mismanagement, money issues, corruption issues, abuse of funds and power, discriminatory practices, and cover-ups, before the rakyat decided to give Umno Baru a bloody nose in 2018, at the 14th general election GE14).

-ADVERTISEMENT-

Ads by 

When Umno Baru politicians squabble and grab what they feel is their entitlement, it is the rakyat who suffers.

Will Umno Baru ever learn? Perhaps not. Many Umno Baru politicians, and their supporters, have been trapped under their own tempurungs since birth, and they are apprehensive about venturing into a more progressive environment.

The relatively younger, more progressive men and women could ditch the old guard with their tired ideas of how a party and nation should be run. Those with more principles could get rid of the knowingly corrupt personalities, the combative warlords, and the deadwood.

Instead, a majority of them fall back into line, and merely repeat the same old mistakes of their seniors.

Their former leader and guru Dr Mahathir Mohamad formed a new political party because he could not persuade some of the stick-in-the-mud Umno Baru politicians to obey him. Unfortunately for Mahathir, he could not see, nor accept, that he was also part of the problem.

Most of the other former senior Umno Baru politicians also left, or were sacked, or were enticed into other political parties, not because they wanted to do the right thing, but most probably because they could not get what they wanted.

A good percentage of Umno Baru politicians could not see themselves advance internally, because more senior politicians, or others with much stronger “kable ke atas” stood in their way.

After decades of bad practices and selfish motives, many Umno Baru politicians think that the party will cease to exist because of the qualities, that many of them lack, or few have ever displayed.

These qualities are best described by the acronym MATI, which stands for meritocracy, accountability, transparency, and integrity.

Some of their politicians laugh at this acronym, which many treat as a joke, only because they realise the significance that having to adopt the MATI principles, will be difficult for them to incorporate into their daily lives. Mati also means “death” in Malay.

Sixty-five years after Merdeka, has Umno Baru done enough to enlighten the Malay mind?

Life as an Umno Baru Malay must be difficult. Decades of indoctrination, and of Ketuanan Melayu, have convinced them that they are the best at everything and deserve the fruits of success, without any effort. This belief has addled their senses and made them arrogant. Money for nothing.

We are told that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been threatened to do as some factions in Umno Baru have demanded. Others deny that Ismail was given an ultimatum. Who is telling the truth? The party has a lot to lose because its image has been severely dented.

A few days ago, the highest court in the land jailed an Umno Baru politician. There are allegations that some politicians urged Ismail to interfere in the final verdict. So, how will this help Umno Baru, and more importantly, help the nation.

Malaysia suffered for decades when Mahathir removed the independence of the judiciary. Let us not go down that particular route again. We were pariahs in the international community, but trust in our public institutions eroded, just because Mahathir wanted to have his own way.

Let the courts take care of the corrupt in Umno Baru instead of trying to subvert the course of justice or manipulate the findings of the law.

Umno Baru politicians should grow up, adjust to life in the 21st century (and not some ancient fiefdom) and stop being blind to injustice, racism, religious extremism, abuse of power, and corruption. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.