Not the time for toxic and petty politics
By John Teo (NST)
AS the economy looks headed, like everywhere else, into a marked slowdown and as our politics seems mired in uncertainty almost a year after the last general election, I, for one, only wish that we can skip March and move to April sooner.
With the Umno general assembly slated for late next month, politics will likely remain front and centre until the assembly is over. The only silver lining is that we will end up with a new prime minister.
Given that Datuk Seri Najib Razak has served his political apprenticeship since assuming his late father's mantle 33 years ago, his is assuredly a safe pair of hands.
He also will assume the premiership with the not inconsiderable advantage of pretty modest public expectations, given how Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi swung from a record high to a record low from one general election to the next, largely on account of starting off with sky-high public expectations.
Any effective prime minister will first need to have a grip on his own party and, on that score, we will no doubt be reassured that Najib's hold over an Umno rattled by its recent setbacks will be unambiguous and firm.
It is on that basis that the new prime minister can credibly turn to the nation's many pressing problems and not a moment too soon.
His spending two nights in Sarawak this week in the eventful run-up to his assuming the premiership gives an indication of Najib's appreciation that the challenges facing the government now are truly national in scope.
His official itinerary points in the welcome direction of seeking to directly hear out the concerns of Sarawak's Dayak communities which, despite forming a numerical plurality in the state, continue to nurse a sense of alienation from the national mainstream.
The post-March 8 political realities in the country make it plain that a truly inclusive political culture spanning the entire nation is now a necessity rather than a desirable luxury.
It must sound infuriatingly alienating to Malaysian Dayaks and Kadazandusuns when national political discourse centres invariably around the concerns of Malaysian Malays, Chinese and Indians.
Political necessity may well be the mother of political invention and we must hope the prime minister-in-waiting is in full listening mode.
The legitimate political and economic aspirations of Malaysians in Sarawak and Sabah must henceforth be harnessed and made central to any and all national policy matters.
A healthy cynicism has naturally crept into the minds of many in Sarawak and Sabah when they assess the intentions of politicians from the peninsula.
While they are naturally flattered by all the attention now lavished upon them, they are not unmindful of the fact that those who sincerely care about them are often rather thin on the ground.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim goes about unabashedly courting political defectors from the two Borneo states because he knows that is the most expedient way towards his goal of grabbing the premiership before the next general election. Some Sarawak and Sabah politicians are naturally not averse to joining in the courtship dance for similarly practical motivations of their own.
In the thirst among Sarawakians and Sabahans to be really meaningful and integral parts of the national whole, therefore, lies perhaps a perfect opportunity for the Federal Government, and Najib in particular, to craft a framework for a new national political and economic consensus.
This may take the shape of new ideas and measures to address the needs and concerns of those Malaysians who still feel left out politically and economically, especially the indigenous communities in Sarawak and Sabah but including pockets of marginalised groups across all communities nationwide.
It may finally be the right time to shift from a race-based to a more traditional left-right national political discourse.
We need to move away from the toxic and seemingly unending political in-fighting in the country. The looming economic troubles must provide us that added impetus to politically and economically restructure and reform.
Only then will public cynicism subside and faith restored that debates will be more on policy matters for the common good rather than over selfish political spoils and economic gains.
