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PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
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What has happened to UMNO?
Rejuvenate UMNO and change yourself before you are changed
By Musa Hitam
Since my withdrawal after the election of the UMNO leadership in 1987, I
have refrained from making any statements on the political developments in
UMNO. Many have asked if I have really retired or if my silence is in
reality a tactic or strategy.
By the Grace of God, I have successfully disciplined myself from returning
actively into the UMNO political arena. God willing, I will continue to do
so; I do not plan to be active in politics again.
It is difficult to accept and believe such a stand. But to me, this is the
stand that is appropriate for UMNO as long as we wish to continue
practising democracy and wish to represent the people in the true sense. I
believe that as long as many heads and leaders are ready or willing to
withdraw voluntarily and give way to young and new talents, we will
continue to be supported by the people as their representative. Otherwise,
our party will increasingly be divorced from society.
The power that has been entrusted to us all this while is meant to be used
justly, with full awareness of our responsibility, and for the interest of
the people. If we violate these principles, we will eventually lose our
mandate. When we lose our mandate, there will be disorder and chaos and
finally we will sink.
Power is indeed perplexing. The more powerful a person gets, the more power
he covets. This is especially true in a society which measures success
according to material attainments; power is increasingly used as a tool for
material attainment and, subsequently, material attainment itself is used
to maintain power or gain more power.
As a result of the Malays being motivated by material advancement, the
character of their leadership and the style of their politics has changed.
Whereas the earlier UMNO leaders were teachers and the issues that lifted
them up or brought them down were related to education, increasingly more
businessmen and entrepreneurs have taken over the leadership. The issues
have also changed to issues of business licences, contracts and so on.
Questions of irrigation, drains, agriculture, schools and higher education
have been drowned out by issues like Malay business "opportunities".
During my entire political career, when I visited every corner of the
country, at any gathering, I felt confident of the support of the Malay
society for UMNO. On the other hand, it was difficult to be certain of
Chinese support or even be sure of their stand.
Now the situation has changed. On polling day during the recent general
elections, I spent the whole day visiting polling stations in the Federal
Territory and areas around Selangor.
My experience was extremely peculiar, one that I had never experienced in
my entire life. In Malay-majority areas, BN leaders and workers looked
weary and exhausted as well as pressured.
This was because in a very open, fearless and unhesitant manner, so many
Malays - young, old, labourers, the learned, the rich, the poor - worked
hard and earnestly for the opposition parties, no matter whether it was
PAS, DAP, Parti Rakyat or KeADILan. Only in Chinese-majority areas were the
BN and UMNO leaders and workers relaxed. "There's no problem here, Tan
Sri," they told me jovially.
What has happened? What has happened to UMNO? UMNO has become a Malay party
that is dependent upon Chinese support?
There's nothing wrong with the Chinese supporting UMNO. That is a good
sign. But in the present political environment when so many Malays have
deserted UMNO and support rival parties even the DAP UMNO members must
reflect on and be conscious of our weaknesses, analyse ourselves.
If the leaders don't want to do so and continue to blame others, it is
definitely a bad sign - that UMNO will become irrelevant before long.
The Malays have become so well educated, mature and bold, bold in taking a
stand on all kinds of issues, whether it is politics, administration,
economy, education, etc. This is undoubtedly a result of UMNO's own
efforts. We should face this situation with pride and determination, but
also adapt our thinking and action to it.
If we only demand that they thank us continuously as before, they will
regard us as being behind the times.
So many Malay youths, when I'm exchanging views with them on current
issues, complain to me that, "The trouble with the leadership is that
whenever they try to explain issues to the public, they seem to insult our
intelligence."
In other words, they are no longer prepared to accept a statement wholesale
without thinking critically. We have lost credibility; their trust in us
has been eroded.
We cannot dodge the issues they bring up with decades-old arguments. Let me
raise frankly the issues that were used widely during the last elections
with great deleterious effects on us:
The Anwar Ibrahim issue
>From the start, we said that the Anwar Ibrahim issue is not a big issue.
But each time we hear our leaders speak in the campaign, Anwar Ibra-him is
condemned more crudely and more frequently, without any restraint.
To me, Anwar Ibrahim is indeed unimportant. The issue that was used very
effectively by the opposition parties was how "cruel" the BN government was
in the way it dragged Anwar to the lowest pit, and that too when he had
just been idolised as a national leader.
To the Malay community, especially those who feel "pity" for Anwar,
"cruelty" and "pity" had become the source of anti-government arguments and
a whisper campaign which had a great negative impact on us.
The issue of corruption, cronyism and nepotism
No matter what arguments our leaders use to counter accusations of
corruption, nepotism and cronyism, the perception of many members of
society is that it indeed exists.
In politics, what counts is image or perception. No matter how we try and
ask that such cases be brought to justice in the courts, reported to the
police or other parties that are responsible, when the people see the
extravagant and wasteful lifestyle of those in power and compare it against
the actual income these people are supposed to get, they cannot accept our
arguments.
Religion
In the early 1980s, there were two attractions that resulted in
overwhelming acceptance of UMNO, especially among the Malays. These were
the concepts of "Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy" and "Leadership by
Example", both of which abide by the teachings of Islam.
The practices that were demanded of UMNO of that time (I still remember how
excited the UMNO Supreme Council was over these concepts!), seems to me, to
have been forgotten while we are still trying to get close to the people.
Finally, in the last few years, the leaders seem embarrassed to even
mention the concepts of "Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy" and "Leadership
by Example".
In my opinion, the perception of the people is that PAS, as a party that
rules in only one state, practises these concepts far more than UMNO does.
By doing so, PAS has been able to prove its credibility and project a
positive image.
Don't UMNO members see all this? Aren't UMNO members who come from the
grassroots, from among the ordinary citizenry, aware of all these issues?
Of course they see it, of course they are aware! I'm sure they see and are
aware. Some see so well and are so aware that they have become frustrated,
so much so they quietly and secretly refuse to vote for candidates from
their own party.
Conditions inside the party
Since UMNO was established on 11 May 1946 in Johor Bahru, it was a
political party that was open, accessible and represented Malays from all
segments of society.
When I was serving the party then, there were no lack of members of the
Supreme Council, PM, DPM, Ministers and Menteri Besar who were criticised
vocally without hesitation.
In the past decade, UMNO has changed. Its AGMs, whether at the divisional,
state or national level, have all become highly organised and tightly
arranged, so tightly that we have deviated from our original purposes.
The speeches and statements are aimed more at attracting the interest and
attention of those in power. The more powerful the person the speech is
directed at, the
higher the praise. The level of tolerance for criticisms and differences of
opinion declines, the more powerful the leader becomes.
Under such conditions, it is not surprising to see our party's meetings
increasingly becoming "endorsement" meetings and not meetings to put
forward the laments, criticisms and demands of the people. Not only that,
whoever dares to criticise or give a different opinion is branded disloyal
and faces all-out condemnation.
Concept of Loyalty
The concept of loyalty in our party has become confused. Loyalty to the
party has become confused with loyalty to individual leaders or those who
hold office. Only those who shout, "support and agree" are considered
loyal. Those who give different or counter arguments are sidelined or
branded troublemakers. This "support and agree" syndrome has killed the
readiness to put forward constructive opinions.
UMNO constitution
In the chapter on elections, my opinion is that every member who wishes to
offer himself for whatever position, whether it is the President, Deputy
President, Vice President or Supreme Council, should be accepted and not be
obstructed with conditions that are too stringent or be prohibited from
contesting any position by a decision of the Supreme Council.
In the process of choosing the top leadership, the widest opportunity
should be given to anyone who wishes to offer himself. All members should
be given the chance to record their stand through the electoral process.
I am sure that no human in this world is 100% liked or supported. I don't
believe Dr Mahathir is supported 100%. I don't believe Datuk Abdullah
Badawi is supported by 100% of the members.
What is detrimental when a contest is disallowed is that those who face no
contest will feel "a false sense of popularity" and "a false sense of
security" he will feel that he is so popular and will continue to enjoy
full support for life!
What is splitting our party is the political culture in UMNO now - both the
winning and losing side realise that there will be attempts to finish off
the loser's political career. The loser will be cursed, condemned and
obstructed not only in their political activities but also to the extent of
threatening their rice-bowl. This fate is not limited to those who contest,
but also extends to their supporters.
His job is jeopardised; his business, his loans, his children's
scholarships are also threatened. Not surprisingly, the contests are so
intense and finally divisive. Hatred continues, animosity continues and
purging continues. Under such conditions, contest within UMNO has truly
become a matter of life and death.
In my closing speech in 1987, I asked all the delegates to "take good care
of UMNO", but today, my plea is "rejuvenate UMNO" and "change yourself
before you are changed".
Excerpts of a speech by former UMNO Deputy President Musa Hitam when
officiating at the annual general meeting of UMNO branches in the Johor
Baru division on 19 February 2000.
Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com
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