Royally-appointed Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir shakes hands with the public at the Chinese New Year celebration at the Kampung Simee Gerakan service centre in Ipoh today. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — Every new prime minister flatters to deceive.
For the first 100 days, they speak the language of reform and behave like healers, promising to nurse back to health the damaged psyche of the nation and its hollowed-out institutions.
They penetrate the cynicism and reignite hope in the most cynical of Malaysians. For a while, many become believers, believing that this time the talk has substance; that this time the man at the top really wants a better Malaysia.
And then they disappoint. It was the case with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It certainly was the case with Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Will Datuk Seri Najib Razak follow this same path of hope and despair like his predecessors?
Will he also roll out a grand sounding 100-day plan, spliced with slogans (work with me, don’t work for me) and then recoil at the first sight of his party faithful baring their conservative spine?
His supporters say that he should not be judged by the track records of Dr Mahathir or Abdullah, pointing out that Najib truly understands that the country he will lead will be the most polarised and divided in history.
They also note that Najib is aware that he will not have the luxury of the benefit of doubt, the same benefit of doubt Abdullah was given in March 2004 by many Malaysians who had grown disillusioned with Umno/Barisan Nasional during the Mahathir years.
Many of them would have voted for the Opposition in 2004 had it not been for the promise of change by Abdullah.
The change did not materialise and the postponed swing took place on March 8, knocking the wind out of BN and sealing Abdullah’s retirement plans.
Malaysians are not likely to be as charitable with Najib as they were with Abdullah. They have grown weary of prophets bearing false promises.
So Najib will start his premiership from a disadvantaged position, with more baggage than any other new leader and without the huge dose of benefit of doubt which voters are traditionally willing to give any new leader.
Yet, his supporters say that he is not sitting around with his heads in his hands.
During a closed-door meeting with Perak Umno leaders in the run up to the political crisis, Najib told them that he had ideas how to rejuvenate the party and country and will unveil them once he takes over as president of Umno and prime minister.
He has also been meeting politicians, Malay grassroots organisations, corporate captains to mine them for ideas to capture the imagination of Malaysians.
A word of caution: He and his team should study how Dr Mahathir and Abdullah flattered to deceive. And avoid taking Malaysians down this road, once again.
When Dr Mahathir became prime minister in 1981, there was considerable unease over what type of leader he would be. Would he wear his Malay ultra stripes on his sleeve? Would he act like a dictator and trample on all dissent?
There was a reason for this disquiet among Malaysians. As the Minister of Education, he tolerated no nonsense and put down student demonstrations in universities. He was also responsible for legislation which regulated foreign investments and equities in Malaysia.
He surprised many with a war against corruption and a revamp of the civil service, marked by the Bersih, Cekap and Amanah campaign. Civil servants had to wear name tags and clock-in for work while senior government officials had to declare their assets.
But there was always more form than substance in this more “liberal’’ phase of the Mahathir years. He did not empower the courts; was suspicious of the media and tired of having to subject his ideas and vision to scrutiny by his Cabinet colleagues and others.
He concentrated more power in his hands as he was challenged inside and outside Umno. Historians and political pundits argue that while he was successfully in turning Malaysia from agrarian society to one of top trading nations in the world, his era marked the death of the country’s vibrant institutions and the beginning of the culture of excesses.
The sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 followed by the loss of Terengganu in the general election a year later was probably the low point of the Mahathir administration. There were fears that the green tide of Pas would sweep across Peninsular Malaysia in the next polls because of residual anger among Malays against Dr Mahathir and growing pull of Islam here.
The tide did not come in 2004 because Dr Mahathir had left the scene. His successor, Abdullah, promised a sea change. He pledged to create a First World Parliament, restore the independence of the judiciary, tackle corruption, improve the police force and revamp the public delivery system.
Let us just say that he did not walk the talk. He will leave office in March with a mixed report card and the disappointment of many Malaysians.
His supporters say that he:
a) Meant well but did not have the support of Umno.
b) Was making progress and would have completed his reform agenda in the second term.
c) Underestimated the resistance from the Malay ground.
d) Was one man fighting against inertia and apathy.
Left out from that list is the simple fact that Abdullah may not have had the political will to make Malaysia a better place. He became a prisoner of what Umno wanted, and not what the country needed.
His 100-day programme became like an iron ball around his ankle, a constant reminder of his failings and of his limitations.
Will Najib suffer the same fate?
Yes, if he and his team focus on grandiose objectives. Yes, if he believes that he has to pander to what Umno wants.
Yes, if his vision of one Malaysia remains a hollow political slogan. Yes, if he does not move quickly to assure Malaysians that despite all that has been said and written about him; that despite the failings of those before him, he holds some promise.
A good start would be to adopt some of the views his brother, Datuk Nazir Razak, put out in the public domain this week.
Not adopt it as part of his lexicon but put it into practice — restructure the economy and relook the New Economic Policy.
Next stop: the Cabinet. Najib can only win over doubters if he makes substantial change to the Cabinet. A tweak here and there may have bought Abdullah some time but Najib will not have that luxury.
Today’s Cabinet invites despair and hopelessness. He may need to go beyond the confines of party politics to find the suitable men and women to serve in the Cabinet.
The point is this: Dr Mahathir and Abdullah have used up the Malaysian quotient for slogans, nice-sounding promises and pie-in-the sky ideas.
They know that every new prime minister flatters to deceive.
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