The odd man out in M”sian politics

ARCHIVES 2009

By adminK On Mar 18, 2009

And when asked why the state didn"t have fresh polls, Malaysia"s former finance minister (1976-84) replied bluntly: "The chances are we (the BN) will lose badly in Perak and that is why they are reluctant to have the sultan dissolve the assembly."

S Jayasankaran, Business Times Singapore

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is the odd man out in Malaysian politics. Since the March 8, 2008 general election, which fractured politics like never before, the lawmaker from the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) has come across as the lone voice of calm and moderation in a world of near-continuous bickering.

Tengku Razaleigh makes everyone in the Malaysian political fray uncomfortable. He reminds Umno of its corruption, bemoans the judiciary"s lack of integrity and whacks the Opposition"s hypocrisy.

He slammed the Umno-led Barisan Nasional"s (BN) takeover of the Perak state government through crossovers as "a lie" and, probably much to the embarrassment of the state"s sultan, who refused to dissolve the assembly for fresh polls, has called for just that.

They may smart at his comments but BN leaders are loath to take him on.

The reason: Tengku Razaleigh, 72, is the last of an Umno generation – that of Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia"s second premier.

Tengku Razaleigh was wealthy before he entered politics. He did not go into politics to line his own pockets and has contributed more than his fair share to the country and his party.

Not that he hasn"t tried going for the top. In 1987, he came within a whisker of unseating former premier Mahathir Mohamad as Umno"s president.

And more recently, he tried to get enough nominations – he needed at least 58 – to bid again for the presidency. It turned out to be a fiasco. Deputy Premier Najib Razak got 190 while Tengku Razaleigh got just one nomination.

It was a situation that must have hurt. "Of course, I felt let down," he says softly. "Maybe I don"t know the party any more or maybe they don"t think I have, in some small measure, contributed towards the country and Umno."

Like Dr Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh began as a Malay nationalist, achieving prominence as executive director of Pernas, an organisation set up to promote the economic interests of the country"s majority Malays. An economist by training, he is also pro-business and friendly towards foreign investment.

But unlike Dr Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh isn't very blunt. Other politicians say he doesn"t have the killer instinct to go for the jugular as Dr Mahathir used to do.

Indeed, he seems to believe in public service.

As the pioneer chairman of Petronas, the state oil company, in the 1970s, he refused to take a salary, apparently feeling his personal wealth was enough.

Unfailingly polite and with great personal charm, he has often been compared to Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia"s first premier, from 1957 to1971.

Whether Umno delegates know of his background is debatable, but Tengku Razaleigh doesn't care.

He thinks the situation in the country is worrying, with the electorate getting more polarised.

Of three by-elections that are coming up in April, he feels the Opposition has the
edge in two – in Sarawak and Kedah – while the one in Perak is "touch and go".

Indeed, he is worried about East Malaysia as a whole. "Sabah and Sarawak have to be closely monitored because it could spark the disintegration of Malaysia going forward," he says.

"The people there have been quite unhappy with the way they have been treated, and we have to find out why."

He thinks the disgruntlement is greater in Sarawak. "I don't think the people of Sarawak have been happy with Taib (Taib Mahmud, the state's chief minister since the late 1970s)," he says. "And now it's all slowly coming to the surface."

After March 8, 2008, when the BN lost five states and its two-thirds parliamentary majority, some political analysts said the "liberality of space" espoused by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had backfired.

"I don't agree with that," snaps Tengku Razaleigh. "It's better to try a more consensual approach. If you try and batten everything down with a sledgehammer, it will work so long as you are around. Then it will come back to haunt you.

"Look at Dr Mahathir and the revelations about the judiciary and other things that have repeatedly cropped up after his retirement.

"These were things that were whispered about during his tenure and now it"s out in the open. Also, it"s difficult to continue being a strongman now as the Internet has changed everything."

On the economy, he thinks the slowdown should have been addressed sooner and with a lot more money – "at least RM30 to RM40 billion".

"Now is the time for micro-management, every week you have to make sure the money is going to the right places, that it's targeted," he says.

But Tengku Razaleigh's economic plans have fallen on deaf ears. He has proposed a National Housing Programme – along the lines of Singapore's Housing and Development Board – and another programme to make Malaysia a regional oil and gas hub. While economists have lauded his ideas, nothing has come out of them.

But his most radical ideas are political. He thinks it is time for a national unity government and that Umno should be democratised "at all levels".

"Every member must be given a right to vote for their leader and there should be no more delegates," he says. "There should be no more quotas and everyone should be free to contest. The leadership should be separate from government. And the president should serve no more than three terms, that is, nine years, which is still more than the US president.

"The BN should be reformed, with everyone given the chance to join directly, and there should be elections to choose the BN leader.

"Similarly, all parties should reflect the demographics of Malaysia to contest in election. The DAP (the Democratic Action Party) says its multiracial but it's Chinese.

Pas (the Islamic party of Malaysia) is the same, only it"s Malay. And the money for campaigning should come from government and it must be for everyone. Donations should be limited by law."

Pie in the sky? Tengku Razaleigh smiles wryly: "You won't be the first one to say that. But I have been thinking about these things for a long time."