The same old same old

The number of ministries and ministers are virtually the same. What is perhaps even more indicative that it is the same old same old is the fact that it is the same old faces. In fact, it includes some old faces whom one would have thought one would not see as they lost in the last General Election.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Azmi Sharom

In 2004, after the General Election, I wrote a piece, which was more a plea than anything else. Unlike many at the time, I was not convinced that Abdullah Badawi was going to usher in a new era of democratic and institutional reform. However, due to the incredible landslide victory that the BN had won, I practically begged that he use this tremendous public support to show magnanimity. Considering how secure he and his party appeared to be, I thought it pointless to govern with the iron fist so beloved by his predecessor.

To some extent, Badawi did loosen the grip of fear that we were so used to living under (though by no stretch of the imagination was it due to my pathetic begging). The public space became more open and more critical. Unfortunately, the unprecedented mandate given to the BN by the people was abused by those in power. Arrogance and racism became endemic. UMNO in particular took their large number of seats in Parliament (even without their BN partners they were merely one seat short of a simple majority), as carte blanche to act as though they were the “tuan” of the rakyat and not the other way round.

And the people reacted by handing the BN its worst election results since independence in 2008. The reaction of UMNO in particular was not to seriously think about where they went wrong, instead they just kept on doing what it was that angered so many people in the first place. They played the race card. The shouted and screamed about how the Malays were now under threat. But was it really the Malays who were under threat or was it UMNO?

Just over a year after the 2008 elections, for the first time in our history we have a new Prime Minister who got his position without going through the crucible of a General Election as leader of his party. However, if the three by elections earlier this month are anything to go by, his appointment has not made a dent in the way the citizens are feeling. The results in Kedah and Perak show that if anything, the anti-BN sentiment is as strong as ever and the “new broom” syndrome, which worked so well with Badawi, is not working with Najib.

I think he and his advisors realise this so in the days following his appointment the nation was fed with a diet of spin that would make Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell proud. We are going to be a more democratic nation it seems. The press will be freer and greater concern will be given to the welfare of all Malaysians regardless of race. There is even a new catch phrase, 1 Malaysia.

I am not convinced. There is nothing in Najib’s record to suggest that he is a forward thinking reformer. His tight relationship with Mahathir Mohamad and the latter’s blatant endorsement of his premiership (and hints at an “advisory” role in Cabinet) suggests a retrograde step not a forward one.

Our new PM started his reign by releasing thirteen ISA detainees and choosing a new “stream lined” cabinet. Neither of these acts has convinced me that he is serious about reform. That being the case, what would convince me?

For starters, all ISA detainees should either be charged in a court of law or released. There are now about sixty detainees and all have been locked up for years, some close to a decade. If there is not enough evidence by now to charge them, then what are they doing locked up? After all they are all accused of offences where there exist sufficient laws to be used in order to send them to jail.

And any talk about “reforming” the ISA is simply not good enough. It has to be done away with altogether. The idea that it will not be abused if it is used only for “terrorist” activities is laughable; any law that gives such tremendous power to one man can and will be abused. It was only eight years ago that Hishamuddin Rais, Tian Chua and eight others were detained under the so called ‘reason” that they were planning an armed struggle – an accusation that was completely unfounded. Therefore, if you have a law to detain terrorists without trial, it can still be used against your political enemies. Simply call them terrorists.

The new cabinet is also a strange beast. For one thing, it’s not all that streamlined. The number of ministries and ministers are virtually the same. What is perhaps even more indicative that it is the same old same old is the fact that it is the same old faces. In fact, it includes some old faces whom one would have thought one would not see as they lost in the last General Election. What would have been good was to see many more new faces; people with fresh ideas and without any scandalous baggage. But that is not to be.  Perhaps because there is no one to choose from or perhaps keeping things as they are is what the new PM wants.

As it stands, despite the carefully worded statements of “give me a chance to prove myself”, I see nothing in the past few weeks to convince me that there will be any meaningful change in the governance of this country. In fact, I see a move backward, or at least the potential to move backward. I just hope that I am wrong.