Why UMNO Edges into Irrelevance

For UMNO, this is the bottom line; if you want to be the generation that brings this grand old party down into irrelevance, then continue threatening those who disagree with you.

Syed Saddiq and Shamil Norshidi

Last week, Justin Trudeau, the new Prime Minister of Canada, announced what he called “A cabinet that looks like Canada.” In what has been labeled as the “most diverse cabinet” in Canada’s history, the lineup includes two aboriginal ministers, two disabled ministers, a refugee from Afghanistan and four Sikhs. Immediately, critics — mostly from the US — feared that this team of legislators, each with their own focuses, would never agree on anything. Ironically, the current US Congress barely represents the diversity of their own constituents and yet they uphold the reputation of never agreeing on anything … ever.

Trudeau answered his doubters simply and justifiably when he said: “It’s 2015.”

With that bombshell, we come back to Malaysia where news of seven UMNO members, who openly criticized the party’s direction, are faced with disciplinary action, where Tun Dr. Mahathir, once the pride and pillar of UMNO, is being questioned by police and where Saifuddin Abdullah, once a Deputy Minister for UMNO is called “trash” for disagreeing with and effectively leaving the party.

It’s easy to recognize that the space within UMNO for internal differences of opinion is minimal or plain non-existent. You’re either with the leadership or you’re out. Insiders of the party say that this is just how it is: the old guards will maintain their strict requirement that members abide to their mode of ideals.

For UMNO, this is the bottom line; if you want to be the generation that brings this grand old party down into irrelevance, then continue threatening those who disagree with you.

Let’s tone it down a bit. Logically and emphatically, the diversity of ideas is the essential key to producing a political system that is innovative in problem solving. Different opinions provide you the opportunity to gear your policies to address perspectives you were unaware of. Put another way, if your views aren’t challenged in UMNO, then UMNO will never produce anything creative that can holistically and inclusively tackle our national issues.

UMNO seems to be revolving in the 80s where leaders had to be stern and undeniably correct. Perhaps this trend was hammered down after the 1989 split, upon which unquestioned allegiance to one head became the key ball game for UMNO.

But it’s 2015. Today, in a Malaysia enveloped by social media where every statement and policy can be scrutinized, the existence of a flawless and bullheaded leader is nearly impossible. More importantly, those types of leaders don’t have appeal in 2015. Today, with every citizen empowered to comment and tweet to ministers, we aren’t looking for a leader that will tell us how things will be, rather, now its about leaders who show engagement and who make it a two way dialogue; empowering the citizen by listening to them.

Linda Hill, a professor at the Harvard Business School studied the leadership of different corporate sectors and she conclusively urged that we must “unlearn our conventional notions of leadership.” According to Hill, a leader who can solve issues and who can garner passionate followers today is neither the smartest in the room or the most authoritative. Rather, a leader in 2015 is one who can “unleash the talents and passions of many people” where the leader will “harness” those different ideas “into a work that is useful.” In this way, the mark of a leader is their amplification of differences and not the minimization of them.

If UMNO continues to silence its internal dissenters on the national spotlight, then this, more than anything, will be the definitive push that loses UMNO the support of the rakyat (especially amongst the gen-Y). On the party level, if UMNO’s top leaders are continually silenced for speaking out, then normal party members who don’t hold party positions will be further pushed into fear, they won’t speak out and UMNO will levitate into a vicious cycle that is disconnected from its grassroots.

If we want to create a better future, then everyone’s realm of smarts needs to be unlocked, pursued and coordinated to form one inclusive line forward. It is in this way that everyone will feel important and counted. It is in this way that UMNO leaders can stop wasting their time disciplining its own members.

An UMNO that is likeminded on all four corners is one that will get comfortable. And when you get comfortable, you stagnate.

It’s worth noting that dissenters can be the most successful leaders, it takes courage to voice out and to step beyond your comfort zone. Doing what’s right is often the harder choice and it can mean sacrificing a comfort that we feel we can’t live without. But if you’re doing it for someone you love, for an ideal you love, for democracy, then you’re empowered to become visionaries rather than ghosts for our children’s future.

“Salah satu daripada rahsia kejayaan dalam segala lapangan ialah memberi apa yang dihajatkan ramai dan bukan memaksa ramai menerima yang kita fikirkan.” -P Ramlee.