OCT 16 — Khairy Jamaluddin’s maiden policy speech as Umno Youth leader is making waves, and rightly so. For the first time in living memory, the Umno Youth AGM is not a cacophony of racist, keris-waving rhetoric. We should commend Khairy and the Umno leadership for this, no doubt about that. But this remains a first step — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Khairy must deliver on their grand promise to work for all Malaysians. At the moment, while they may be nearing par with Pakatan Rakyat on rhetoric, they are still far behind in terms of a comprehensive programme to make this rhetoric a reality.
I laud Barisan Nasional for being bold enough to change, and I am sincerely glad to see a tangible difference in this year’s Umno assembly. Change is difficult, as I have always said — and it is even harder to change when you are the utter manifestation of all that needs to change, as Barisan is. Even these baby steps are better than nothing.
I really have no qualms about supporting Barisan if it can deliver the agenda I want as a Malaysian. If Barisan will guarantee my democratic freedoms, if Barisan will treat me as someone who belongs here as opposed to a mere pendatang asing, if Barisan will hold accountable those who abuse, murder and steal from Malaysians, then that is a Barisan I would be proud to have as my government. And that, my friends, is why I still support Pakatan.
After all, this agenda I have just outlined is Pakatan’s, stolen directly by Najib and the Barisan leadership. And for good reason too — if we had not elected Pakatan Rakyat to govern five states and denied Barisan its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament, would Umno truly have done anything different? The whole reason Barisan is changing its act is because it is scared of losing power.
This is why you suddenly see Barisan releasing the Hindraf Five. This is why the keris suddenly vanishes from the Umno Youth assembly. This is why Barisan is slowly tiptoeing towards prosecuting someone for Kugan’s death, slowly tiptoeing towards getting to the bottom of that multi-billion ringgit sinkhole called the Port Klang Free Zone. Barisan would not change its ways if it did not have to compete with Pakatan.
But unlike Barisan, Pakatan has a more credible platform for pushing this agenda forward. Unlike Barisan, they have real key performance indicators: they will introduce anti-discrimination laws, set up a basic socio-economic safety net, and abolish or amend several anti-democratic laws such as the Internal Security Act. Barisan talks about maybe amending some laws here and there, but any proposed changes are more stylistic than substantial.
I mean, look at Barisan’s supposed reforms. The most recent one I can think of is the trumpeting of how they granted citizenship or permanent residency to a hundred or so people who have been waiting years for the right to stay in Malaysia. This isn’t much consolation to the thousands, like my mother, who still subsist in legal limbo. The much-touted revamp of the Anti-Corruption Agency turned out to be nothing more than a renaming. Although Khairy is pushing for amendments to the ISA which I support, what I have seen so far suggests that the government is intent on keeping the power to lock up anyone it likes without any recourse to the courts for accountability or justice. Every supposed reform of Barisan’s is some one-off piecemeal change like the immigration issue, a complete whitewash like the ACA becoming the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, or nothing more than empty promises.
Pakatan actually has a real programme as opposed to piecemeal measures — Pakatan intends to set up systems and institutions of governance. Barisan grants a one-off change, such as the release of the Hindraf Five; Pakatan proposes systemic change, such as shutting down Kamunting and trashing the ISA. Barisan gives cash handouts and promises of development to whoever lives in the constituency with the latest by-election; Pakatan suggests a welfare system to care for all our poor instead. Barisan renames the ACA; Pakatan wants to make it directly accountable to Parliament for its actions. I can go on and on, but the point ought to be clear: despite all of Barisan’s lofty words, it has no real programme.
I’m glad that Barisan’s rhetoric increasingly sees eye to eye with the beliefs of ordinary Malaysians, but I am not pleased that it continues to avoid drawing up a real, concerted programme to make these promises a reality. Pakatan brings more than words to the table; it brings a credible history of multiracialism and democratic reform together with a distinct legislative programme. This is much more than anything Barisan has to offer, and this is why my vote would still lie with Pakatan in any election.
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