September 6, 2008
The Permatang Pauh by-election has rightly earned its reputation as Political Tsunami II. For it has not only confirmed that Political Tsunami I - General Elections on March 8, 2008 – is not accidental, but has also established beyond all doubts that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is a far superior political force than incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) to move Malaysia from the present quagmire of economic malaise and political shambles.
Contrary to BN leaders’ cavalier reference to Permatang Pauh as “just another by-election???, it is in truth a battle royale between the two protagonists, resulting in a drubbing for BN that some rightly nickname as the Waterloo of BN – a decisive defeat reminiscent of the famous battle that marked the eclipse of France in the Anglo-French war for supremacy two centuries ago.
How can it be otherwise when both had pooled in all their resources for this epic showdown, in the course of which BN was completely outclassed and resoundingly clobbered?
Against Anwar Ibrahim’s clarion call for sweeping political reforms and advocacy of a reviving economic agenda, BN/UMNO could only answer with vile personal attacks and ugly incitement of racial hatred and fear.
PAKATAN RAKYAT OUTSHINES BN
And the mismatch in campaign strengths was painfully glaring. Starting from the nomination day when the size of BN supporters was completely dwarfed by that of PR, the latter put up a dazzling campaign marked by buoyant morale, strong discipline, seamless co-operation among the PR partners (PKR, PAS, DAP) and convincing conveyance of its pro-rakyat agenda. In contrast, BN’s campaign was mired by paucity of cogent ideology, disarrayed teamwork, low morale, and resorts to vile tactics.
The great contrast in support from the masses can easily be seen from the stunning and increased majority won by Anwar Ibrahim who garnered two thirds of votes cast, despite BN having waged its dirtiest campaign to date including the many abuses of public resources to gain votes, such as impromptu dispensation of millions of public funds and incessant dissemination of vicious propaganda through government-controlled media, besides manipulating the partisan Election Commission.
An analysis of the polling results shows that PKR had made substantial inroads (since election Mar 8) in the polls among all the three races – Malays, Chinese and Indians – in addition to grabbing a lion’s share of votes from young voters of all races. That young voters have deserted BN in flocks is a clear indication of their detestation of BN’s antiquated politics and augurs a sunset scenario for this overstayed political power, keeping in mind that almost one third of qualified voters – most of them young - are yet unregistered in the electoral roll. Imagine the impact these young voters will have on future elections when they are registered as voters in due course.
From this by-election, we see that the migration of electoral support of all races away from BN has continued unabated since the landmark election on Mar 8. This phenomenon is attributed in part to yet another flounder by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to honour his reform pledges post-election, and in part to UMNO’s unaltered course of racial hegemony which embarrasses other racial parties and further alienates the non-Malays. Under UMNO’s business as usual stance of governance, deterioration in all fronts continues – political, economic, social etc – as exhibited by the quickening pace of public scandals of endless corruption and abuse of power that further undermine public confidence and trust.
ECONOMY MISMANAGED
Global economic slow-down and escalating inflation have hit many countries. Malaysia suffers more than its fair share of hardship due to gross mismanagement by an incompetent leadership. As a major petroleum producer and exporter in this region – Malaysia produces 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day - we should have ridden over these humps with relative ease compared to many other less fortunate countries which have no such oil fortunes. But instead, we are landed in a double whammer of hyper-inflation and stagnant growth, which have inflicted widespread economic hardships to the man-in-the-street and industries alike.
A case in point is the national Budget 2009 recently presented by Abdullah. Though there are some minor allocations to assist the needy here and there, these are far from adequate to overcome the sufferings of the general public caused by severe shrinking of our ringgit. The Budget tends to deal with surface symptoms but fails to address the root causes of our economic malaise. Shrewd political observers have rightly called it a populist budget aimed at giving life-support to a wobbly prime minister and his government desperately clinging on to power.
While the budget lacks policy direction based on a macro view of the economy, there is ample evidence of reckless spending galore. A glaring example is the alarming ballooning of operating expenditure in recent years. This allocation has doubled to RM154.2 billion during the four years of Abdullah’s premiership, and tripled since 2000. It really boggles the mind to imagine how on earth these expenses – wages, rental, maintenance, office supplies etc – could have expanded so swiftly. Part of the answer could perhaps be found in the Auditor-General’s annual reports which are unfailingly strewn with recurring cases of massive leakages that are caused by negligence, abuse of power and outright corruption.
Rapidly increasing operating expenditure (which is largely unproductive) in tandem with a correspondingly dwindling development expenditure – which has shrunk to one quarter of total budget by 2009 – is undoubtedly a negative development that has contributed to our sluggish growth.
It is really painful to note that, despite our fabulous oil wealth and booming prices in recent years – the contributions from which now account for a whopping 40% of our total revenue – Malaysia should have struggled through 12 consecutive years of heavy budget-deficit spending with lack-luster economic growth to boot. What reasons could we give for such phenomenon if not for the steering by a corrupt and inept political leadership that squandered away our wealth and threw away golden opportunity to build a solid base for our economy?
Prudent spending can of course improve our fiscal health; however, fundamental solutions to overcome our economic hardship can only be found through a hefty uplift to the income level of our people through an energetic revitalization of the economy. But such revitalization cannot be achieved without restoring investors’ confidence, liberalizing the economy by removing race-based and crony-driven protectionist policies, and upgrading education and public service by restoring meritocracy. All these measures should take place hand in hand with sweeping political reforms to restore confidence and competence to all the institutions of state – judiciary, police, attorney general’s chambers, ACA, election commission etc.
Only through such full-scale and simultaneous attacks on the ills that bedevil our entire political and economic fronts could we hope to nurse our nation to the healthy path of solid nation-building and strong economic growth.
PR MUST TAKE OVER NOW
There is not the slightest chance that the incumbent government of Barisan Nasional is capable of embarking on such a reform venture. This is the reason why Pakatan Rakyat under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim must endeavour to take over the reign of government without delay.
We can’t wait for another four to five years when the next general election is due. This is because the unwieldy BN coalition with its antiquated political philosophy and policy has long passed its validity period, and it is now in the final stage of disintegration with intensifying intra-party and inter-party in-fighting. At the rate these squabblings are proliferating now, in no time the satellite racial parties, which have already been hollowed out at the grassroots, will depart from BN, leaving UMNO to stand alone. And UMNO, already corrupted to the core, is plagued by an intractable leadership problem. No.l leader is unacceptable to the grassroots, and the anointed successor No.2 leader is too scandalized to fit into the shoes, and other potential contenders are barred due to the feudal autocracy in the party, thanks to the devious ingenuity of former autocrat Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Needless to say, the nation is now cruising on a rudderless journey, with its dire consequences on the economy.
Allowing nature to take its own course under these circumstances would be to invite irreparable damage to the nation’s political, economic and social fabric.
Another even more compelling reason why Anwar Ibrahim must succeed to win over sufficient Barisan Nasional members of parliament to cross over to form a new government now is that UMNO will not sit idly by for long while watching its empire crumble. The longer the delay in the take-over of power, the higher the risk of the political partnership of Pakatan Rakyat being sabotaged by a desperado dying power. Having seen how readily and ruthlessly UMNO has cast the repressive net over its political rivals in the past in order to preserve its hegemony, it is almost a certainty that PR will not be allowed to sail through smoothly to the next general election. And the hope of millions for a better tomorrow may then be dashed.
As for those who take the moral high ground to condemn the impending cross-over of MPs as betrayal of democratic principles, my simple answer is that Malaysia is not a democracy in the first place. If we were one, PR would have won the Mar 8 election, and there would not have been the necessity to engineer the present cross-over.
To skeptics who maintain that Malaysia is a democracy, may I ask them this question: Which democratic government in the world could steam-roll an ostentatiously pseudo sodomy case over a personage like Anwar Ibrahim and yet survive the wrath of public opinion? Do keep in mind that the corrupt system that put Anwar in jail for six years on similar pseudo charges a decade ago is still intact today.
