Bersih and all M’sians must support the right changes

The upcoming Bersih 4.0 rally has given me mixed feelings. The first rally had a significant meaning. It was focused and targeted at creating more awareness on voting rights and the promotion of a fair and transparent electoral system.

Despite a misconception that the Bersih movement was an Opposition’s political instrument, it was widely accepted by Opposition politicians and a good number of BN politicians as well. Politicians from both sides had signed and supported the pledge to a fair and open campaign during the 2008 general election.

It is fair to say that Bersih had achieved a fair share of success in educating largely urban voters about their rights and expectations. The 2008 general election had seen an awakening of the urban voters. They had sent a signal to both the ruling coalition and the Opposition parties that governance is more important than racial politics.

Soon after the historic electoral gains by the Opposition parties in 2008, the movement, the Opposition and BN had done the independent movement a disservice.

The Opposition had courted some of the movement’s activists as their candidates. The movement, overwhelmed by its success (although the voters’ response to BN was largely due to their frustrations of its arrogance and power abuse), had wanted to do more than just promote electoral reforms.

As a result, it lost some of its neutrality. Bersih’s muted response to the failed Kajang Move and several failed backdoor power grabs orchestrated by Anwar Ibrahim were proven examples.

Lastly, BN was too quick to pounce on the movement and alienated it for colluding with the Opposition to challenge their dominance. It means a lost opportunity for the ruling regime to find out why they actually lost their two-thirds majority after a number of decades.

Despite its misgivings, the Bersih movement has some legitimate reasons to organise a fourth rally too. Its legitimacy is limited to a lack of a formal and effective channel for the people to voice their dissatisfactions.

Actions taken by the Najib administration to muzzle several independent public institutions have given the public an impression that his government is not keen to accept its mistakes and correct its weaknesses through real institutional reforms.

There’s no other platform for regular Malaysians to voice their discontent on several issues such as the 1MDB, abuse of political power, poor governance, corruption and others due to a highly controlled media environment.

The mainstream media are surprisingly very meek and mundane despite the fact that the BN regime is facing one of its most controversial terms.

It is highly understandable because media companies are profit-oriented organisations too and their operational licences are dependent on the generosity of the ruling government.

A few bold and opinionated ones have been suspended and a possible loss of revenue is enough to bring them to the brink of closure.

However, the success of Bersih 4 cannot be solely measured by its ability to mobilise tens of thousands to the streets. The rally is capable of attracting many people but not all of them are going there on shared purpose and intention.

Majority are going to be made up of partisan members who are there to build up the momentum for their respective political party especially when the Sarawak state election is looming.

Bersih 4 must not forget its message. It must press for respect for the Federal Constitution and rule of law. By respecting the rule of law, the executives especially the prime minister cannot be given unlimited and unchecked powers that can perpetuate his abuse of power.

Hence, the movement must push for meaningful constitutional and institutional reforms to put check and balance and good governance at the forefront. Purging Prime Minister Najib Razak out of the administration alone is not going to help correct the mistakes.

Without the over concentration of power around his position, it is unlikely that Najib could have done whatever he has done today, including sacking his deputy and ministers, interfering with the investigation process, taking action against public investigators, stifling media and others.

The movement can send out its message loud and clear without being partisan or pro-Opposition. Bersih 4 can become a success if it is able to effectively influence Malaysians to support a responsible, clean and transparent government. It can be any government, not necessarily a particular coalition.

It is undeniable that Malaysians are facing the most difficult socio-political crisis since Independence. The ruling government has never before experienced such negative perception and credibility deficit from both locals and foreigners.

By acknowledging that the ruling regime, especially Umno, had received political funds from a foreign government has made it worse.

The Bersih movement must exercise restraint and try its best not to allow speeches or actions that can incite racial or religious sentiments.

The movement must organise the rally with care because a conflict can be easily created if some parties decided to capitalise on the situation to organise an anti-Bersih rally concurrently.

For a better nation, a change is imminent but we must support the right changes.

 Khoo Kay Peng is a political analyst and management consultant.