POLITICS: Badawi Ushers in New Era for Malays and Malaysians

By Baradan Kuppusamy Reprint | | Print |

Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 25 2005 (IPS) - A new man brings a new style. But beyond the style – softer, less parochial and more consensus-seeking – Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has also brought in a new vision for Malaysians.

Badawi outlined his vision at last week’s five-day, annual assembly of the ruling United Malays National Organisation or UMNO, the leading partner in the ruling 14-party, National Front coalition.

An UMNO general assembly, especially one that is five days long, turns into a bazaar – for goods, political support and for ideas.

In the area of political support and ideas for the Malays and for the country û Badawi has finally come into his own after staying in the shadow of the mercurial and outspoken veteran Mahathir Mohamad.

This time Mahathir was physically absent, holidaying in Columbia, and more importantly, intellectually he did not dominate the annual assembly as he had done over the last 30 years.

”Abdullah has come out very well,” said Murugesu Pathmanaban, analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies.

”His style is different but he has demonstrated purpose and given a new direction for the party and country," he told IPS. – He has finally come into his own”.

”His speech at the annual meeting had one single overriding message – change or be left behind,” Murugesu said.

UMNO, which has three million members and was founded in 1948, held its 56th annual general assembly last week.

Banners, strung up all over the PWTC convention centre, the venue of the assembly, proclaimed the two words that encapsulate Badawi’s vision û ‘Towering Muslims’.

The two-words greeted some 20,000 delegates and observers from across the country.

A Towering Muslim, Badawi explained, is skilled, successful and devout and also a secular and open-minded Muslim. He is also decisive and ever prepared to seize the moment û an ability Badawi demonstrated midway during the assembly when China suddenly un-pegged its currency from the US dollar.

Within two hours of that decision, Badawi gave the green light to the Central Bank to free the ringgit from its seven-year peg to the greenback, a legacy of Mahathir’s rule.

‘I am my own man now’ seemed to be the image Badawi wanted to project here and abroad with the swiftness of his decision to un-peg the ringgit along with his new vision for Malaysia û a multi-racial and multi- religious country where race and religion can be explosive issues.

He spelled out his vision in his opening speech at the assembly – moderate Islam, firm rejection of corrupt practices, self-reliant, highly skilled and able to compete with other races.

He spoke for more than two hours and not once did he mention Mahathir Mohamad, the man who had handpicked him and propelled him to the very top.

It was a parting of ways.

”Abdullah not only un-pegged the ringgit but he also un-pegged himself from Dr Mahathir’s legacy,” said a political commentator.

In last year’s maiden speech before the same UMNO delegates and with Mahathir, recently retired and in attendance, Abdullah was full of praise and gratitude for the veteran leader.

Repeatedly, he urged the need to change from a corrupt UMNO and an apathetic community fattened on handouts to a dynamic party and race respected and admired by all.

”It is a jihad to make the change àto transform ourselves,” Badawi said.

”I am determined to cleanse UMNO of political corruption. I may be climbing a steep slope, but I will not be deterred nor will I lose faith. As long as there is life in my body, I will seek strength from the Almighty to continue my battle to eliminate corruption,” Badawi said to standing applause.

The speech titled ‘Leaping to Strengthen the Race’ also blamed ”greedy Malay rent-seekers”, who sell government tenders cheap to other races, for the failure of the affirmative action programme, begun in 1970 to help Malays own 30 percent of corporate equity by 1990.

Malays form slightly more than 50 percent of Malaysia’s 23 million people. Ethnic Chinese are the next largest racial group with 22 percent while Indians form another seven percent of the population.

That year the Malay equity ownership had risen to 19 percent but has since fallen as the gap widened between Chinese and Malay equity ownership, especially after the 1997 Asian financial crisis when some Malay- owned businesses went bankrupt.

Badawi also charged that ôpreviously" some favoured Malays received excessive government assistance while others received none.

”This is unfair. It is grossly unjust. This should be stopped totally. This must be eliminated from the dictionary of our practices,” he said.

Badawi is urging people to face the realities of the times û slower growth, human rights, transparency and knowledge growth.

After taking office in November 2003 Badawi scrapped expensive projects approved by Mahathir and announced that the fight against corruption is his top priority.

”We cannot any longer play Santa Claus and give out awards (business contracts) in all seasons,” he said, adding that priority was to cancel big projects and reduce the budget deficit.

One worrisome outcome, for Malaysia’s minority Chinese and Indians and foreign investors, of the assembly is a decision to revive the New Economic Policy- a policy started in 1970 after race riots gripped the country.

Its aim was to eradicate poverty, abolish the identification of race with occupation and for Malays to own 30 percent of the country’s wealth by 1990.

The policy, in the first 20 years of its implementation, until 1990, gave the community its first massive economic and educational uplift but later stagnated.

Although the NEP was ended but its three objectives were continued under another name û the National Development Plan.

Now UMNO wants the old NEP revived.

Because the NEP was linked to race riots in which Chinese and Indians suffered the most, the proposal has caused inter-racial unease.

However, Badawi said the NEP’s revival is just finishing ôsome unfinished" business and that other races have nothing to worry about.

”We are not going to take away from one race and give it to anotheràwe work on the basis of an expanding economy ûthat is expand the economic cake and distribute wealth more equitably,” he said.

”We will be fair to all Malaysians. We will not take away the rights of any race. We have never done it and never will”.

However non-Malays do express fears.

”We are concerned that the issue could develop into a racial confrontation if the Malays continuously fail to address their weaknesses in the economy,” said Lim Kheng Yaik, a government minister. ”If they keep failing to achieve the quota and then ask for more, it will go on,” he said, adding that the other races would not be able to accept it.

Lim said the government should focus more on economic growth and wealth creation.

”Without wealth we can only distribute poverty, and poverty leads to chaos,” he said.

That is Badawi’s challenge û to expand the economic cake, help Malays get a fair share of it and keep other races happy enough to support the government and keep him in power.