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ON this the second anniversary of March 8, it’s time to take stock of what has transpired since that watershed event in Malaysian politics of 2008.
By all accounts, the hope that positive change would result from it has so far not been satisfactorily fulfilled. In fact, much has remained the same in Malaysian politics. There is corruption in both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR). There is in-fighting. And factionalism.
What’s most distressing is that the country is now even more divided along racial lines. Much of that has been due to the efforts of Umno and its mass media channels to repeatedly warn the Malays that they are under threat and stand to lose their land and privileges. Even as Prime Minister Najib Razak touts his 1Malaysia slogan, his own party – and even his own deputy – is taking a contradictory stand.
Meanwhile, both BN and PR are doing their best to discredit each other – with the aim of winning the next general election uppermost in their agenda. Instead of setting aside their political differences after March 8, 2008, and getting down to the business of working for the national interest, they are plotting each other’s downfall. In this, BN has had the upper hand. It inveigled Perak from PR, and, with the help of the courts right up to the apex Federal Court, managed to get it legally endorsed. Its mass media has been pushing PR into a corner with intensive negative spin. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) has been picking on a host of Opposition politicians to bring them to shame.
PR, on its part, has not turned out to be the cogent force many had hoped it would be. Although its administration of the states it holds has shown positive signs – for example, the Selangor State Government seems more transparent now and Penang is practising its CAT (Competency, Accountability, Transparency) policy – the coalition is riddled with internal problems. Most of these stem from PKR. Not only have its elected representatives publicly attacked coalition partners, like calling Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of the DAP a dictator and making a police report against PAS MP Khalid Samad, three of its MPs have recently resigned from the party. Another one, the troublesome Zulkifli Noordin, has just been sacked.
Last year, it was mainly PKR state assemblymen in Perak resigning from the party that caused Pakatan to lose Perak, resulting in the public’s loss of faith in the calibre of PKR’s elected representatives. This has been exacerbated by the recent exit of the three MPs. PKR may look on this as a process of cleaning out its rubbish but there could be more sinister ramifications surrounding this unseemly event. Talk is now rife that the renegades could eventually support BN in Parliament if the latter tables a Bill to redelineate the parliamentary constituencies for the next GE. A two-thirds majority is needed to pass such a Bill, so the support of the ex-PKR MPs – whom some already call “defectors” – would be essential. Such a redelineation exercise could spell doom for PR. It would likely favour BN to the extent that PR would find it much harder to win many constituencies.
Factionalism is unsettling BN as well. On the surface, Umno looks hunky-dory, but the talk going round is that there are at least three factions within it now. As for the MCA. although it looks like a deal has been struck to resolve the party’s crisis with fresh party elections being made possible, the party seems to be in for further strife as its president, Ong Tee Keat, has hinted he will fight on. The signs seem to indicate that Chua Soi Lek, his erstwhile bitter enemy whom he later made his friend so he could stay on in power, may go back to being his adversary again. Word has it that Chua is the frontrunner to become the next president, but Ong, who doesn’t seem to know when to quit, may yet show his bulldog attributes by contesting the presidency in the upcoming fresh party elections.
Even the PPP is going through a leadership struggle as two of its leaders tussle for the number one position. As for Gerakan, there could be discord if some of its members agitate for the party to leave BN. Its own former president, Lim Keng Yaik, has come out to say that Gerakan has lost Penang for good. More than that, I think he’s actually hinted that Gerakan should go with PR. “Don’t think in terms of numbers or try to still be in government,” he said in a recent interview. “Why don’t you follow your ideological path and choose partners which can fulfil your ideological base? After March 8, politics is going towards an ideological base that is multi-racial in approach.” The words he used are interesting. What else could he be talking about?
In terms of the national interest, what has the Government really done in the last two years? It’s quite obvious that many of the things it’s done seem calculated to winning the next GE. Pumping more and more money into Sabah and Sarawak is one such. Appeasing the Indians in order to win back their support is another. When Najib took over as PM, he released numerous ISA detainees, among them the Hindraf leaders. Wasn’t that done with the next GE in mind? What about the more important issue – the ISA itself? It seems that will be brought up at the next session of Parliament but all we’ll be getting is a review of the Act. That is surely not enough for the tens of thousands who took to the streets last August to clamour for its repeal.
Indeed, not enough is being done to bring about institutional reform. How about reinstating in the Constitution that all-important provision that recognises the separation of powers and returns judicial independence to the judiciary, that provision that was removed during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s premiership? How about repealing the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) that has contributed to the closing of the minds of our university students? And the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) which requires media organisations to renew their licences every year at the pleasure of the Home Minister, effectively denying them media freedom?
The mainstream media itself has been a disappointment for not standing up for media freedom. They should have built on the momentum after March 8 when they realised the need to bring out reports and commentaries that were relatively balanced instead of being obviously pro-Government as they had been. To be sure, they were also hedging their bets in case PR leader Anwar Ibrahim did manage to take over the government, as he had hinted he would do – on Sept 16, 2008. But then when Sept 16 didn’t happen, there was no need to consider that any more. So the mainstream media stopped being balanced. Months later, Najib took over as PM. Thereafter, the mainstream media went back to bashing PR.
The Government has not undone the damage that was inflicted on our country by the former leader who screwed up our institutions, created a culture of fear, fostered the negotiated contract, and invested our money in white elephants. Najib may have shown that he’s serious about economic reform and that he’s trying to make Malaysia more competitive and to attract foreign investors. And with the Government’s Transformation Programme which is expected to show results in a year’s time, he may be making some effort to improve the Government’s service to the public, but the effects of these are not yet discernible. Besides, right-wing elements are looking askance at his economic liberalisation efforts. They are worried that these might erode Malay privileges.
Crime is still rampant, and we have yet to see the setting-up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which could help reduce crime and police corruption, and promote better observance of human rights by the police. As it is, after March 8, public perception of the police has dropped substantially, especially in their handling and treatment of Opposition figures and events.
Public perception of the Government has also not been favourable, what with their several flip-flops on policy decisions and some of the laughable things public servants have been saying and doing. We just have to recall what then Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said when the journalist Tan Hoon Cheng was detained under the ISA – that it was for her own protection. And Hishammuddin Hussein’s embarrassing defense of the cow-head protestors who, he said, “felt victimised”. And Khir Toyo’s comment on that same incident: “There was no religious significance in bringing the head. The cow is a stupid creature and (the protestors) wanted to point out that the [Selangor] State Government was being stupid.” One dreads to think that before March 8, he was the Menteri Besar of Selangor. We just have to go into the A-G’s office and ask what has happened to the Lingam case, the PKFZ case, the RMAF case, the Hasbie Safar case, the Al-Islam reporters case, and whether the people who placed wild-boar’s heads in the two mosques have been arrested. Or recall what Najib said when he was asked if action would be taken if people protested against the “Allah” issue – oh, we can’t stop people from protesting, he said. What a change from before, when the Government used to say protesting was not in our culture.
As for the issue of racial integration, Najib’s 1Malaysia concept is generally regarded as old wine in a new bottle, and viewed with misgiving. Is there 1Malaysia when Najib says one thing and his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, says the direct opposite? The very day Najib publicly unveiled the 1Malaysia logo, Muhyiddin said Umno would fight to the last drop of blood to protect Malay rights. He has also said the Biro Tata Negara (BTN) courses are uniting Malaysians in line with the 1Malaysia concept. How? Is there 1Malaysia when Najib says one thing and his aide, Nasir Safar, says the Indians came to this country as beggars and the Chinese as prostitutes? And that “We can anytime revoke the citizenship of the Indians in Malaysia”?
Nothing much has changed in Malaysian politics. It’s still characterised by dissembling, shadow-play, race-baiting and all the unsavoury things one could think of. March 8 has not succeeded in cleaning out the dirt and the people who manufacture it. Malaysians may have to wait till the next general election to get rid of the scum. Once and for all.
 Kee Thuan Chye
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