‘New Malaysia’ dream under threat

Ho Wah Foon, The Star

WHEN DAP’s adviser Lim Kit Siang spoke at the “New Malaysia, Old Politics” seminar in Universiti Malaya recently, he said the Pakatan Harapan government needed more than 10 years to fulfil its pledges to build a better Malaysia.

Lim, also the Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri, told the audience frankly that while the May 9 general election (GE14) had given Malaysia a chance to reject kleptocracy, the “New Malaysia” has yet to be born.

“A New Malaysia is struggling to be born. There is no guarantee that the New Malaysia will succeed,” he said. “It cannot be accomplished in an electoral cycle – give Pakatan 10 years or more.”

The DAP supremo divulged he was attacked by his friends for “selling out” as he did not persuade other component parties in Pakatan to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).

“It is important to be aware of the complex problems we face in our multi-racial society,” he said.

The Pakatan government made a U-turn and decided not to ink the United Nations’ anti-discrimination treaty after opposition parties Umno and PAS claimed this would threaten the privileges of the Malays in the country. An anti-Icerd on Dec 8 lured about 50,000 Malays.

The Icerd issue was the first major reality check for the Pakatan government, and a disappointment for Pakatan supporters.

And if the seminar audience had earlier thought that the Malaysia under Pakatan would be clean, they were in for another shock after listening to Professor Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, another speaker at the seminar.

The prominent UM lecturer highlighted the pervasiveness of money politics not only in Barisan Nasional but also in the states ruled by Pakatan.

He is disappointed that his recommendations on reforming political financing, which has an impact on the choice of leaders, was ignored by both Barisan (when it was in power) and the present Pakatan government.

To the current and former governments, Gomez has proposed legislative and institutional reforms, as well as making public funding of political parties transparent.

He noted that in the recent party elections of PKR (the biggest partner in Pakatan), there were serious allegations of money politics.

“Is this the new politics we expected after May 9? Is this how parties should run elections? Where did they get their money? The 1MDB scandal shows how government linked corporations (GLCs) could be abused to further political agenda.”

Indeed, money politics was introduced when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became premier for the first time in 1981. Since then, it has become “a cancer that permeates the political system”, said Gomez.

In Sarawak, many businessmen have entered political parties and become elected state leaders to further their business interest.

Due to money politics, party-hopping has become a norm in local politics. Sabah and Perak have witnessed the downfall of elected governments after their state assemblymen were paid millions to switch sides.

But the current spate of political frog jumping from Umno to Pakatan may not involve money. Neither is it based on principles and policy differences.

The compelling factors are believed to be: escaping prosecutions for links to 1MDB corruption scandal; factional friction within Umno; political disruption to Pakatan engineered by hidden hands.

Whatever the reason, this has brought about disillusion among voters who yearn for a true democracy with a strong opposition.

The dream to have a robust two-party political system country is shattered. A government that is too strong will eventually become corrupt, as shown by the excesses committed by top Umno leaders in the previous regime.

According to a poll of 20,000 netizens by the New Straits Times, an overwhelming 85% opposed the move to absorb Umno politicians into Pakatan.

Voting the corrupt Umno out in the May general election looks meaningless if Pakatan allows Umno politicians to join them.

Instead of focusing on national issues, Pakatan is now preoccupied with horse-trading. Its leaders are talking to Umno politicians.

The current political drama appears to be orchestrated by Dr Mahathir, whose PPBM or Bersatu is the smallest party in Pakatan.

The ruling coalition’s other bigger partners are PKR, DAP and Amanah.

Last Wednesday, Dr Mahathir reiterated that the Malays who still support Umno must be won over to PPBM in order to strengthen his party as well as the coalition as a whole, according to Bernama. The 93-year-old reasoned Umno had continued to receive support from many Malays in the May 9 polls.

“Those Malays must be brought out because if they support PPBM, PPBM will become strong and Pakatan will become strong,” Bernama quoted Dr Mahathir as saying.

Indeed, Umno has lost 17 MPs since the general election and some, such as former minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and former Puteri Umno chief Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, have joined PPBM.

There are only 37 Umno MPs left now, down from the 54 after the May 9 polls.

For those in support of Dr Mahathir’s game, they see these crossovers as helping Pakatan to eventually control two-thirds of the Dewan Rakyat.

With two-thirds of MPs in hand, amendments to crucial laws and the Federal Constitution can be passed without hurdle.

And if Pakatan does not accept Umno politicians, they may hop over to PAS. This may strengthen the Islamic agenda that Pakatan may find difficult to handle.

Dr Mahathir’s firm stand on Dec 19 shows that he has chosen to ignore the dissenting voices from other Pakatan leaders, particularly from DAP and PKR.

Last week, PKR president and premier-in- waiting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim disclosed his party had so far rejected the entry of some opposition leaders into PKR.

Anwar said this decision was made “to defend the party’s integrity and the principle of its struggle as well as to ensure that the reform agenda can be achieved”.

“We are committed to the Pakatan Harapan agenda and issues of integrity and the need to undertake effective measures must be pursued,” he said.

Last Thursday, Lim Kit Siang issued a stern warning that DAP leaders would leave the Pakatan government if “the objective of a New Malaysia is abandoned”.

Before this, he had proposed an anti-hopping law to stop MPs from switching parties.

“There should be a by-election for MPs to renew their mandate as they were previously voted in via a different party ticket.”

Lim said Umno politicians wanting to join Pakatan should face justice if they were involved in corruption or any abuse of power.

Senior Umno figures such as former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor, and former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, among others, have all been charged with corruption.

Amid the tension within Pakatan, former vice president of PKR Rafizi Ramli fired an open reminder to Pakatan that its rating is sliding.

His latest survey shows that the approval rating of the Federal Government since Harapan took over in May 2018 has plunged.

In June 2018, about 72% of Malaysians approved of Dr Mahathir’s performance. The Chinese rated him highest at 87%, followed by the Indians at 84% and Malays at 66%.

But in the survey conducted two weeks ago, Dr Mahathir’s approval rating as the prime minister has plunged to 53%, said Rafizi.

“There is a consistent drop of around 20% across all races – Malays support (now 45%), Chinese (65%) and Indians (64%),” he added.

It is clear that the release of the survey at this time is a wake-up call for Pakatan leaders, particularly for the Prime Minister.

Political analyst with Penang Institute Dr Wong Chin Huat tells Sunday Star: “En masse crossover from Umno to Pakatan is obviously causing a lot of discontent and disillusion among voters.”

But the most important political consequence of Umno’s political migration to Bersatu is that the political dynamics within Pakatan will be changed to the disadvantage of PKR.

The future plan for Anwar to become Prime Minister in 18 months may be undermined, if Dr Mahathir decides to stay on.

Already there is a rumour about mass crossovers of MPs from PKR to Bersatu, although this rumour has been denied by one senior PKR leader close to Dr Mahathir.

“If Bersatu becomes much more powerful, the rivalry between Bersatu and PKR may become intense and this may even derail the plan for Anwar to become the next premier if the latter cannot command full support of his own party and Pakatan,” says Dr Wong.

Due to Dr Mahathir’s uncompromising stance in accepting Umno defectors, the tension within Pakatan is likely to rise.

The stability of the present government can be threatened if Lim’s warning turns into action.

And the dream of a New Malaysia may be dashed by the disintegration of Pakatan, which won the May election on a reform agenda.