Press statement
Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
Director, Centre for Policy Initiatives
The unsurprising verdict from the recent by elections in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau is resoundingly clear – that the majority of Malaysia’s voters – rural and urban, Malays and non-Malays, rich and poor – no longer have faith in BN rule. These are several key messages that BN leaders and their supporters have to take to heart if they want to win back the support of the electorate.
1. The Malaysian electorate clearly sees through electoral charm offensives and political sloganeering and can distinguish between what it perceives to be truth from falsehood, honesty from deception and sincerity from hypocrisy. The continued political spinning and unashamed partisanship of the official mass media is now no longer a plus for the BN. It is a disaster. When the new Prime Minister in one of his first official functions has to go on record to remind the media to be a critic of government so that leaders would not be arrogant and abuse their power as well as to ensure that BN leaders do not feel that they are “invincible???, it is a loud wake up call to our media editors and their senior staff to go back to class to relearn their basic journalism ethics 101 and to begin practicing reporting “without fear of consequence???.
2. A second key message is that there is such a thing as “overkill??? in trying to attain power through fair or foul means. The vicious and racist campaign to demonize Nizar, Anwar and the opposition backfired not only because many Perak voters – including many Malays – feel that the BN have unfairly toppled the legitimate state government from power but also because the tactics employed by the BN went well beyond the limits in terms of public notions of decency and acceptable political behavior. One would have expected that the BN would have learnt this lesson from recent past elections but there appears to be an almost automatic and mechanical response amongst BN leaders in reaching out for the nearest grab bag of the most opportunistic political tricks and rhetoric to ensure staying in power.
3. The third key message is that most Malaysians want real change now and not in the distant future. The more the BN leaders engage in the wayang kulit of rhetorical promises and false reform, the more Malaysians will become cynical and will refrain in voting in support of them. Tee Keat, the MCA leader, in his post elections statement has acknowledged that there is a long journey ahead for the BN and conceded that “much to be done as well as undone before we can firmly say BN is well grounded with the people and to know how to serve the people.??? The problem with this statement is that it comes more than one year after the momentous March 08 results when the tide of popular opinion was already clearly in support of reform. During that one year when the window for reform and change was wide open, BN leaders – collectively, and not UMNO alone – have not only slammed the door shut but have taken the country backwards, especially through the opportunistic seizure of power in Perak, and through the enactment of watered down and illusionary reforms.
In summary, the electorate wants the BN to stick to its promise of reform now not later. It wants the BN to walk the talk on accountability, the fight against corruption, the protection of basic rights and freedoms, and scrupulous adherence to the norms of a developed and not mutant democracy. Finally, it wants the BN to fight the elections fair and square and not attempt to rig the contest for the right to lead the country through underhand tactics such as cooptation of what should be neutral agencies of the state. There is for all political organizations – even the most entrenched ones – a certain moment in time when they can act to change direction and salvage their fortune before it becomes too late and they become irretrievably consigned to the dust-bin of history. That moment is now before the BN.
Kuala Lumpur, April 8, 2009