However, I really believe that this Badawi bashing is really going too far and that the man should be given the space to push through the reforms he has proposed to the judiciary, the ACA, higher education and so on. Blaming should STOP for the purposes of GOVERNING and REFORM. Please stop whining!
One may argue that Anwar as the leader of Keadilan and the opposition may be a better prime minister, but at the moment, we still have an elected BN federal government that is led by UMNO until the next general election (unless cross-overs really do occur, which I strongly object to and consider to be non-democratic). Hence the current leaders of UMNO are the ones that are governing the country. Of the UMNO leaders that could be governing the country, my vote would be for Abdullah.
I am not an UMNO expert, but it seems to me at the moment that UMNO is split into a racist/Malay nationalistic camp and a reform oriented camp. Again I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the more reform oriented, less corrupt and less Malay nationalistic and racial camp is the one that is behind Abdullah. The alternative camp is one that send shivers down my spine if they come in power, even if they have just a few years to rob the nation until they are thrown out of power in the next election. Furthermore, they also seem to be the ones who are more likely to "violently" object against being democratically thrown out of office than the UMNO camp siding with Abdullah. If Abdullah falls, I am almost sure that we will see more racism, more corruption and less freedom of speech from UMNO and hence in government. I really hope that Abdullah will lead UMNO until the next GE.
I think that Malaysia is a strangely blessed country. If Mahathir had not ejected and jailed Anwar, we would not have a healthy opposition and a generation of people who are inspired, idealistic and motivated as a reformasi movement moving the country towards a two party system. If Mahathir had not chosen Abdullah as his successor and Anwar had become PM, I am not sure that this would ever have happened and the old Anwar (and his old cronies), would not have been as open as Abdullah to open discourse and greater democracy. Perhaps the new Anwar is different, but there is no way yet to tell.. I shall keep an open mind, since I know so little about this man. My impression is that if UMNO had gone from Mahathir to Anwar, I think that we would still be in the same status quo as the Mahathir years... Now, instead, we have a REAL democracy and we have transitioned peacefully. I did not dream of seeing this in such a short period in my lifetime and I think many others are also surprised. Be it circumstance or character, Abdullah has contributed towards Malaysia's move in this direction. He was given a message, but he was not voted out, so he now deserves a chance to try again to prove he can deliver reform from within UMNO and BN. If not, then reform will have to come from outside BN and this will be from PR.
I think that instead of plotting to come into power, PR, should be working out what type of Federal Government they would look like in the future. How would the constituent parties divide up the ministerial portfolio's? How many ministers from which parties will be given what portfolios? Who would be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, of Trade, or Science and so on.. These are the things I really care about. The only way that I can tell, is if the three component parties of PR sit down and divide up the ministerial portfolios among themselves right now and form a shadow cabinet. PAS would probably want the Minister of religious affairs. Do I want a PAS Minister of Religious Affairs? I guess it depends on who it will be.. Will Lim Guan Eng concentrate on running Penang, or will he dabble in a Federal Ministry? WIll Khaled Ibrahim concentrate on Selangor or will he be shadow minister of Finance? These are able people, but they cannot possibly hold both State and Federal positions of power if they are in government. What type of policy changes are these "shadow" ministers likely to bring? Which key portfolios will be held by PKR and which ones will be held by DAP? At least the 3 parties have been practicing at doing this at the State EXCO level in the 5 party states.. But this is going to be much much harder at the Federal level! I think that PR has enough talent to come up with a Shadow Cabinet in Parliament, with lots of young faces.. Who will these be?
There is an opportunity right now for an orderly transition to a two party system and a choice of two types of government. I hope that in the next general election, there will be a real choice... Anything else will just be a road towards greater uncertainty, chaos, dirty politics and NOT what the Rakyat have chosen.
So, please, I think that everyone should stop playing politics (for crossover in PR), stop blaming everyone else (in BN), and get to work in governing (BN) or practicing to govern (PR). There is a lot of work to do by every party from PR and BN.
By P'ng
Extracted from Malaysia Today
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