Umno on the decline, not Malay politics, says analyst

 

Delegates at the Umno general assembly last January.

PETALING JAYA: A political analyst has rejected a Bersatu leader’s claim that Malay politics is on the decline, arguing that it is only Umno that has lost its dominance.

Speaking to FMT, Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia noted that Malays still held the vast majority of key positions in the government and most major political parties.

He was commenting on Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Ahmad Kamal’s remark that Malay politics was in an “age of decline” because of a reduced Malay representation in Parliament and state assemblies and because of the “unholy alliance” of Umno and DAP, which he described as “the biggest treachery in the history of Malay politics”.

Fauzi, referring to Malay supremacists, said: “To them, politics means domination, not sharing and compromising. They are trapped in a belief that it is the end of Malay politics if they are not dominant.

“What happened in the 15th general election was a transfer of power from one Malay leader to another Malay leader who upholds the principle of multiculturalism.”

What had declined, he said, were the quality and values of Malay politicians.

He said it was during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure in office that patronage began contaminating Malay politics.

He spoke of the era as a period when Malay leaders in government began rewarding their followers with positions and contracts.

“They tried to play the role of the protector to the Malays, but all the benefits and privileges were circulated among the political elite, not to the ordinary Malays.”

Fauzi said patronage was the main obstacle against the rise of young leaders in Malay parties.

Umno has long been accused of political patronage after the privatisation of many government agencies and the establishment of government-linked companies.

In a book titled Malaysia’s Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits, economists Edmund Terence Gomez and Jomo Kwame Sundaram said patronage in the Mahathir-era led to the creation of a new class of Malays and a culture of money politics in Umno.

Former Sungai Benut MP Tawfik Ismail also said he believed the quality of Malay politics suffered a decline after Mahathir took over.

Unlike his predecessors, he said, Mahathir did not continue emphasising the importance of liberal and progressive values, ultimately leading the Malays on a conservative path.

According to some observers, a catalyst for this shift was PAS’ rise in the 1980s, which made the Islamic party Umno’s main rival.

“We don’t know how to live with other races anymore and view other races with suspicion, as if they are enemies who pose a threat to the Malays,” Tawfik said. - FMT