Has UMNO Learned Its Lessons?

KUALA LUMPUR: The calls for unity, pledges of loyalty, the “treasure hunt” for the “elusive” winnable candidates and the attacks against the Opposition during the Umno General Assembly are an obvious precursor that the Malay-based party is preparing itself for the 13th general election, expected next year.

But whether or not the most dominant of all the Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties has learned its 2008 lessons is still questionable, especially in light of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal, the slander of DAP secretary-general and Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s son and the shameless use of vulgarity during some of the speeches at the assembly itself.

In a nutshell, one could say that Umno’s excessive finger pointing and attacks against its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rivals shows that the party still refuse to accept the mistakes it has made despite the fact that — quoting its president — it will be a do-or-die mission in the upcoming elections.

REGAINING PEOPLE’S CONFIDENCE: Najib (raising the party flag) has his work cut out for him

Instead of taking the honourable path of apologising for past mistakes, the party has used its “time-honoured tradition” of pulling wool over the public’s eyes, diverting attention by finding fault amongst its political opponents and its favourite bogeyman, the DAP.

Instead of promising to do better for the rakyat — a majority of whom have loyally backed the party with its warts and all — serious issues pertaining to public funds were still sidelined and barely spoken of.

For instance, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was expected to get some heat over the NFC issue involving her family.

However, the issue was treated with silence with the exception of Shahrizat herself who rolled up her sleeves and called for the resignation of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Her logic? The NFC involves her husband, so how could she be expected to pay for his alleged shenanigans?

As expected, the Wanita wing gave her full support just as they gave the same support to her predecessor, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, over the AP scandal in 2006.

Not surprisingly, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin gave Shahrizat his support. After all, it was during the premiership of his father-in-law Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that the contract was awarded to Shahrizat’s husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail.

Same goes for Umno deputy president and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who was the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister back when the soft loan was approved.

The only Supreme Council member who dared to call for her head was the always outrageous Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin.

The fact that there were requests from the grassroots for Shahrizat to explain in detail, at a separate meeting, on the feedlot issue instead of deflecting it to PR, speaks volumes of the new mindset of Umno members — that the days of blind loyalty and following the leader are long gone.

But hers is a mere reflection of what ails Umno as a party — the inability to look towards oneself. As in the adage, you point one finger at someone, four fingers point back at you.

The fact that everyone, including the foreign media, online media and foreign powers, were blamed for the deteriorating state of the nation’s economy and the drop in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index is reflective of this and the party’s refusal to accept any blame for the current state of affairs.

Never mind the non-Malays, but continuous use of extremist Malay rights and the “us versus them” mentality still plaguing the party’s leadership might also alienate the liberal Malays who are fed up with such a narrow minded perspective.

This time in particular, it would be the Christians who are perceived as “the enemy” by information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan. It would seem that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s search for the winnable candidate may take awhile as they seem to be an endangered species.

Fresh faces as acknowledged by the leadership are the key. And those who put party above self, such as former Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh who announced he was making way in Besut for a newbie, gives a glimmer of hope that there are still people in Umno who think of the big picture.

Whether this sliver of hope will translate into a full-blown Umno tsunami to win back public confidence in the next general election is still doubtful unless a truly miraculous “Red Wave” happens.

As for Shahrizat, she has been rejected once by the voters and her backdoor entry into government as a senator only to be embroiled in a financial scandal definitely means the political days of this Wanita Chief are over — irrespective of whether she was a victim of circumstance. Although one may argue that it was her advantageous circumstances that allowed her family to secure the RM250 million NFC soft loan in the first place.

Frankly speaking, for the good of the party, the honourable thing for her to do is to voluntarily step down. Doing so will prove to the rakyat that real transformation for the better is occurring in the party.

And party leaders like Ahmad Maslan should also realise that out-dated racial rhetoric, fear mongering and playing with fire will only burn Umno in the long run. It is imperative for the party leadership in its post-mortem of the assembly to address these concerns and haul up rogue members such as Ahmad Maslan for defying the president’s call to refrain from making racist and seditious statements.

Ahmad Maslan’s Christian bashing to get back at DAP makes a joke of Muhyiddin’s declaration that Umno is not a racist party.

In the words of Abdullah, it is the responsibility of Umno as the mother party to protect the rights of the minorities. What an honourable role.

It is time to return honour to Umno. This is the honour that the public is looking for in the party that developed Malaysia to where it is now.

The same honour that the nation’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and his compatriots had: the integrity to acknowledge one’s mistake, be accountable and find a solution to problems and issues that need to be addressed.

This is the honour that will win BN its badly needed votes and regain its public confidence and its customary two-thirds majority.

Source : MalayMail