It's not the party, but a leader with high magnanimity that matters

It’s not an easy undertaking for BN of the day to administer this nation without achieving clear and comprehensible victory like in the recently concluded General Election.. This is the second consecutive term BN be given the mandate with very lean majority. This time around BN secured lesser number of seats of just 133 and it is almost as good as having a hung Parliament. BN, in particular UMNO will soon be proven irrelevant completely in another round of election.

The other component parties in the coalition are already unrecognizable, especially to the young and first time voters. The parties have turned out to be an oversized and heavy baggage for UMNO as the Chinese voters have deserted the parties (MCA and Gerakan) they used to dominate. MCA retains a negligible number of seven seats altogether while Gerakan is wiped out with one consolation seat in Simpang Rengam, Johor.

The truth remains, UMNO is facing very severe leadership crisis, both from the ordinary public like us and from within the party itself. UMNO just cannot sustain its existence anymore. BN is beleaguered by deteriorating support of the rakyat in addition to their intra party problems within individual parties in the coalition. If there is no immediate solution taken by their leaders, similarly by their members, BN will soon be history.

Who, what and how to solve these perennial problems faced by BN, in particular UMNO as the back bone to the coalition?  If these problems are not addressed and mitigated instantaneously, there will not be any moral likelihood that the current PM should be anywhere around power anymore. He is a failed leader, a failed administrator, a failed politician and of course that will lead him to be a failed Prime Minister.

Let us ask ourselves, who should be the alternative PM? Can the customary mode of finding the alternative by endorsing the next in line leader, in this case Muhyiddin, to be an automatic choice? To me, if that is the option, we might as well don’t change at all. It is not going to change anything.

Let us all get alerted that these leaders within the UMNO Supreme Council members are those who come from the same mould. They have the same political culture, similar attitude and of course with same aptitude. All those so-called leaders in the party’s supreme council are akin to each other.

If anyone of them becomes the alternative to Najib they will together work hand in glove to enhance corrupt practices in the government. We will witness recurrence and reappearance of the same kind of federal government we despise. So if Najib succumbs to pressure within the party to hand the power to his next of kin (Muhyiddin), then Najib is committing another full-size blunder and transgression to the people.

Realistically the person to replace Najib should be a non-controversial leader with high magnanimity and gratifying experiences. That leader may hail either from UMNO or Pakatan Rakyat. Choosing an alternative based on party line is no longer feasible, as both sides of the divide are having more or less the same idiosyncrasies that may be nonconforming to the needs of the current political situation.

We should not be asking which party rules. We should now ask for the most viable individual to lead and restart the nation all over again. Now all efforts should be in search for, which individual is the fittest to kick start this huge national plan for the future? He should be an individual who is capable of bringing everyone at a negotiating table to restart the nation anew.

The man or individual must not be a leader who is impregnated with moral issues from any side of the warring parties. It has to be someone who is truly magnanimous who can command reverences and regards from the cross-sections of our multiracial Malaysians.

Once done we will be able to bring the mind of everyone in a new facets of the nation's politics. The new politics will be a true alliance of all Malaysian to move forward with united spirit for progress and above all that, our ultimate for national unity can be accomplished.

Bilakah 'divine intervention' akan sampai?

Untungnya tak seberapa, ruginya yang lebih. Itulah dialami oleh kedua-dua belah pihak, Pakatan Rakyat dan BN. Masing-masing mendapat keuntungan, tetapi lebih pula kerugian yang dialami. UMNO mendapat untung 11 kerusi lebih daripada PRU 2008 yang lalu iaitu 88 kerusi kesemuanya, tetapi kerugian sebanyak 7 kerusi keseluruhan yang diperolehi BN. Hendak bergembira tidak cukup keuntungan dan sebaliknya untuk bermenung tidak juga boleh kerana tidak pula banyak kekalahannya.

Tetapi jika dikaji dengan rapi, BN mendapat kerugian yang besar kerana begitu banyak usaha yang dilakukan oleh BN keuntungan tidak juga diperolehi. Entah berapa billion wang kerajaan dibelanjakan oleh pihak BN secara ‘direct’ atau ‘indirect’, kerusinya tetap berkurangan sebanyak tujuh jumlahnya daripada pilihanraya sebelumnya. Itu kalau dikaji dari kos yang melibatkan wang ringgit.

Tetapi harga yang paling mahal ialah perpecahan di antara kaum yang sangat ketara hasil permainan media masa dan kata-kata pihak yang berkuasa semata-mata untuk pengekalan kuasa itu. Orang Melayu dipecahkan dengan orang Cina dan India dan perpecahan di antara yang beragama juga tidak kurang parahnya. Dilagakan kita di antara kaum dan agama untuk tujuan politik tetapi tidak juga ada untungnya.

BN tetap kekurangan kerusi yang diperolehi jika dibandingkan jumlah yang mereka perolehi dari PRU yang sebelumnya. Ia ibarat berniaga buluh kasap, hujungnya hilang pangkalnya lesap. Sudah selesai pilihanraya sikap pimpinan yang berkuasa masih tidak semenggah. Ada pula pemimpin yang meminta kita semua untuk berhijrah ke negara lain jika tidak bersetuju dengan keputusan pilihanraya.

Sudah jelas parti pemerintah semakin lemah, yang bernasib baik diberikan kemenangan masih bercakap seperti orang yang terencat akal. Tidak termasuk akal bagi semua yang pernah ke sekolah atau yang tidak pernah masuk sekolah mendengar pemimpin kita menghalau rakyat kerana tidak berpuas hati dengan sesuatu isu besar. Itu belum lagi menang dua per tiga kerusi di Dewan Parlimen lagi tu. Bagaimanalah agaknya jika BN memenangai dua per tiga kerusi dalam pilihanraya yang lalu?

Sesungguhnya sangat mahal untuk mengekalkan BN khususnya UMNO untuk berkuasa. Semuanya tergadai. Perpaduan kaum yang terjalin telah tergadai, maruah parti UMNO pun jelas tergadai. Seterusnya maruah Perdana Menteri yang melaungkan usaha transformasi dalam ke semua bidang pun tergadai. Malahan semuanya tergadai.

Bagaimana pula usaha untuk menebus gadaian yang terlalu besar semasa kempen pilihanraya yang lalu itu? Kalau bengkok boleh diluruskan. Bagaimana pula yang patah? Bagaimana hendak menyambung yang patah itu. Perpaduan kaum sudah tergadai, bagaimana hendak menebusnya? PM Najib telah melahirkan hasrat untuk melakukan ‘national reconciliation’ sejurus selepas mengumumkan BN membentuk kerajaan. Tetapi keesokan harinya pimpinan UMNO dan akhbar media perdana bertanya, “apa lagi orang Cina hendak?’

Ali Rustam sehingga hari ini marah kepada kaum Cina dan menuduh Cina tidak berterima kasih kepadanya. Apa ini semua? Kenapa Ali tidak bertanya kenapa semua kaum khususnya orang Cina tidak menyokong beliau. Ini bukan kali pertama kes seperti ini berlaku. Dr Mahathir pernah kalah kepada Yusuf Rawa, mursyidul am PAS pada tahun 1969 dahulu di kawasan Kota Setar kerana Mahathir berkata dia tidak perlu undi Cina untuk menang.

Kali ini berulang lagi sejarah lama. UMNO dan penyokongnya menganggap Cina kaum pendatang dan tidak boleh diberi muka. Tetapi kaum Cina sekarang sudah sampai ke generasi keempat, bagaimana kita katakan mereka kaum pendatang. Kalau begitu adanya kenapa kita tidak bercakap tentang Dr Mahathir sebagai generasi pendatang. Mahathir baru generasi kedua sahaja, tetapi telah menjadi Perdana Menteri yang paling lama di sini.

Kadang-kadang mahu juga menyebut Mahathir sebagai seorang yang mempunyai mentaliti pendatang atau disebut dalam bahasa Inggeris sebagai ‘migrant mentality’ kerana sikapnya yang tamak dan haloba yang keterlaluan. Hendak memerintah mesti berdekad-dekad lamanya. Hendak mendapat laba sampai tidak tentu sempadannya. Kalau berkuasa hendak lama-lama, wang ringgit hendak berkoyan-koyan dan kalau boleh semuanya hendak ditinggalkan kepada keturunannya semua harta dan kuasa yang setinggi gunung. Itu semua adalah sikap orang yang mempunyai mentaliti ‘migrant’ tadi.

Budaya dan sikap itu telah tertanam begitu dalam  pemikiran dan kepercayaan pimpinan hari ini dan ia tidak dapat diatasi lagi. Ia hanya boleh diatasi dengan memulakan negara baru dengan kumpulan pimpinan yang baru keseluruhan dalam parti itu.

Keadaan politik sekarang amat meruncing pada hakikatnya, seolah-olah kita sudah hilang keyakinan untuk mencari penyelesaian yang betul itu tidak mungkin tercapai lagi selain dari kita mendapat ‘divine intervention’.

Kita wajar memahami yang pencarian kepada penyelesaian ini memerlukan kesabaran dari setiap pihak. Semua pihak sepatutnya memulakan politik baru dari sekarang. Mungkin ia memakan masa yang panjang, tetapi kata orang tua-tua, kerja beransur itu tidak bertahan. Ia akan tetap sampai kepada penyelesaiannya.

Zahid's atrocious political language

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the new Home Minister yesterday issued a depraved statement by asking Malaysians who do not believe in the system of democracy practiced here to migrate. He was referring to the claim by certain quarters that BN have morally lost the mandate of the rakyat since the coalition only managed to secure 47% popular votes in the last GE. Unambiguously Zahid took the claim incorrectly as if Pakatan Rakyat is putting up a claim to govern the country just by the popular votes secured by them in the just concluded GE.

PR was just referring to the crude fact that BN have lost moral legitimacy as a truly mandated government by the rakyat as it secured less than the percentage earned by Pakatan Rakyat. By the number of seats, no one in the correct state of mind would deny the fact that BN have earned marginally supplementary seats of 133 altogether. To Zahid, let’s be a bit more grown-up and the emotional reaction should not have come from a senior member of the Cabinet.

Hundreds of thousand rakyat nightly assembled in various locations nation wide lately were against the election results which Pakatan Rakyat alleged were marred by massive fraud and rigging of the votes by UMNO and BN country wide during the GE.

Ahmad Zahid called upon those who believe in the single transferable vote systems which is normally practiced in the Republican countries should leave for those countries and suit themselves with their system. Ahmad Zahid said that we don’t practice that system here.

I am not incompatible with Zahid over the issue of differences of system adopted between those in republican countries and our country here, but to the astonishment of many, Zahid issued a statement which palpably reflects his arrogance and conceit. “His statement suits and tallies with attribute of illegitimate leaders who hang on to power derived form illegitimate prop up,” said a friend who lives within my neighborhood.

Zahid's statement yesterday is the worst ever after the GE and this statement is more or less of the same quality with statements issued by Zulkifli Noordin and Ibrahim Ali from Perkasa. I reckon Zahid should join Perkasa and he can be rest assured to be the one who will succeed Ibrahim Ali who is now having some thoughts of retiring from the right wing Malay political NGO.

A weak and feeble leader will cover their undernourished leadership reliability with offensive and abusive dispositions and that is natural feature in UMNO. As one of the PR leaders rightly said, the kick-start for the termination of UMNO as ruling party has started.

In actuality it’s not just Zahid who is suffering from this ‘terminal’ disease. There are many more...

Want a change, but what and how to change?

UMNO is almost in oblivion in Selangor albeit all the big huha, claiming that BN was just on standby ready to topple Pakatan Rakyat in the state in the just concluded mother of all elections. The crash of BN in Selangor was unimaginable as the UMNO state liaison chairman was PM Najib himself. The absence of Selangor representatives in the Federal BN Cabinet announced by PM Najib yesterday reflects the notion that UMNO has given up all hopes to recuperate in Selangor.

The pricey defeat of BN in the nation's richest state would immobilize the party for at least another decade or until the real and leaders with consequence replaces the current set, which ever comes earlier. The Selangor voters courageously went all out against the power, command and supremacy of the Federal incumbency of Barisan Nasional. They managed to drive home a point that no one leader in the state can match Khalid Ibrahim's comparability in managing the state government to an optimum of competency and capability.

The absence of Noh Omar, one of the handful surviving Selangor BN Parliamentarians in the newly announced Federal Cabinet lineup is also a strong allusion that the state most senior leader should start counting his days in the Federal and State level politics. He is now measured as a spent force and can do no impairment to Tan Sri Khalid’s immovable and unbending existence in the state. Noh and his team is now compelled to own up their defective and malfunctioning leadership. Noh and gang has no merit to equate their capability with Khalid’s strong capacity as the CEO of this wealthiest state.

To add more injury to UMNO, a number of known recycled leaders are in the Federal Cabinet, among the many are Shahidan Kassim and Mahadzir Khalid. How on earth can UMNO keep abreast with the change of time? UMNO fails to realize that the party is managing people and human beings who have progressed miles ahead of UMNO leadership’s mental and moral capacity. To catch up with their pressing demands and needs UMNO has to transform for a total change. UMNO just refuses to change and even they want to, the party leaders and members in a similar way, do not know what and how to carry out the change.

Many take the inclusion of the current brand of leaders in the cabinet as an ‘insult’ to Malaysians who are still in the process of soul searching and this bigotry acts of the current leadership will help them to uncover the solution, ie to continue efforts to displace or replace the government with an alternative leadership.

UMNO and BN should realize that the muscle of federal incumbency can no longer hold them in power any longer. It looks like Selangor UMNO is now squatting quietly at a lonely corner licking its own wound after the heavy bashing by its opponent on the last 5th of May.