Tsu Koon: BN’s Reforms Come Too Late
By TAN HOON CHENG/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily
Gerakan Rakyat president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said although Barisan Nasional had made some changes after the general elections, many people, in particular Chinese and Indian Malaysians living in cities, had deep-rooted prejudices against the ruling coalition, feeling that the reforms introduced had come a little too late.
He said BN's component parties and leaders at various levels had seen and felt very clearly after the elections that voters were grossly dissatisfied with BN and wanted it to change, although some of the leaders were too stubborn to oppenly admit this.
He also said some leaders realised that the voters had given BN massive mandate in the 2004 general elections and had very high expectations from it. Having said that, he lamented that BN had not fulfilled its promises but had instead given the public a feelig that it had become excessively arrogant.
Tsu Koon told Sin CHew Daily that nine months after the elections, the BN government eventually passed two key reform bills in the Parliament, namely on judicial reform and the MACC.
He also said although some new measures had been introduced, due to the red tape that had accumulated over so many decades, remarkable results would not be seen in the short term unless drastic steps were taken to wipe out the old habits.
As for education, he said the federal government had held a number of roundtable meetings to invite individuals and organisations to talk freely about the policy of teaching science and maths in English.
Tortuous path ahead
Tsu Koon admitted there was still a very long way to go for BN and its component parties to implement the necessary reforms.
He said political parties which had been ruling for a long time would need at least three to five years to emerge anew after suffering major setbacks in the elections, citing the examples of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, the Nationalist Party of Taiwan and the Congress Party of India.
He said due to the fast changing political developments in the country, coupled with the by-elections, economic crisis and the ongoing internal integration of BN's component parties, strategic reforms were yet to be visible, adding that it would take time before common understanding could be achieved.
Moreover, he said some of the leaders remained recalcitrant and arrogant, coupled with poor management on certain issues due to improper planning and coordination, had resulted in more public dissatisfaction, neutralising some of the positive effects of the government's reform efforts.
On the reforms BN has introduced, Tsu Koon said besides the weekly Cabinet meetings, the BN supreme council (presided by the PM) and management committee (presided by the DPM) had met at least once a month during the past one year.
Bipartisan politics could set unhealthy trends
After the 8 March general elections, when many people were counting on a healthier, more democratic and open bipartisan system, Tsu Koon was concerned that the improper handling of party and administrative issues within either BN or Pakatan Rakyat could result in the two opposing camps moving towards two extreme ends, creating the unhealthy phenomenon of a Malay and another non-Malay factions.
He said in the foreseeable future, between BN and Pakatan and among their component parties, important but sensitive issues such as race, religion, language, distribution of economic gains, etc. must be honestly faced and painstakingly handled.
He pointed out that if the federal and state governments could do their respective jobs well and compete on a healthy ground, the existing environment should spawn an even more matured bipartisan system while expressing the true essence of democracy in a more effective manner.
"But what happened during the past one year didn't seem to signal that things actually moved in this direction.
"Both camps continued to get engrossed in mutual attacks, roping in rival assemblymen and bringing down existing administration.
"To be honest, this is not a healthy thing. As a matter of fact, the political tussles between the federal government under BN and state governments under Pakatan should be toned down as much as possible.
"Attention should instead be put on working with the people in handling the various socio-economic challenges."
That said, Tsu Koon agreed that if politicians could put emotional factors aside and objectively and calmly look at things, then the current turmoil could be interpreted as just a transitional phase of adaptation, adjustment and power wrestling as we move on from unipartisan to bipartisan politics, a growing pain that we must go through in the process of democratic growth.
