Thursday, September 07, 2006
Tun faces a political tsunami
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, the man who single-handedly transformed Malaysia from a sleepy agricultural-based economy to a totally different entity in his 22 years as Prime Minister is set to be pushed aside by a political tsunami this Saturday in his bid to be a delegate in the Kubang Pasu UMNO division contest. He has even been reduced to an "orang kampung" by some UMNO members; surely a stark contrast from those heady days when Dr Mahathir was unanimously considered by many outside the country as one of Asia's strongest political strongmen. A man who rubbed shoulders effortlessly with some of the world's most powerful leaders is now facing an uphill battle, to avoid an utter, naked humiliation at the hands of his beloved UMNO in his own hometown of Kubang Pasu, Kedah.
I am not a fan of the old man as I believe under his administration, Malaysia lost her soul in Dr Mahathir's pursuit of a modern Malaysia dotted with his trademark developmental projects and material wealth. We as a nation, will pay a price for the foreseable future for his overzealous ways of wanting to fast-track the country's development to another plane. Dr Mahathir already has a formidable foe in history to contend with, a battle even he cannot win, when historians dissect his rule and the rot is exposed. But I also believe that he should not be humiliated, least of all by his own party even if he had made it his mission to force his successor out of office.
Dr Mahathir has a point when he says that UMNO wishes to shut him up for good when the party machinery is working at fourth gear to ensure he loses in his own home town. The Malaysiakini report indicates that Dr Mahathir is fighting a losing battle. Perhaps it is true when Dr Mahathir says the UMNO leadership is afraid of him speaking as a delegate at the coming party general assembly. I find the spin that the division should not elect Dr Mahathir as a delegate because that would reduce his status as a former Prime Minister, a little difficult to swallow. UMNO is tapping into the Malay sense of feudalism, disseminating the message that the well-being of the Malays lie in the hands of the current leader Abdullah Badawi and not his predecessor. Hence, the current leadership's messages must remain loud and dominant, superior to anything a 80-year-old man can muster.
But a humiliating defeat for Dr Mahathir at the divisional polls may also be damaging for the current leadership. Its grip on power may prove to be slippery if the UMNO ground is sufficiently outraged by the way the party had treated a man who is directly responsible for the rising Malay middle class and bringing some semblance of prosperity into their homes. This could be a scenario that the political strategists at PAS may be pondering at this very moment. ¶ 9:23 PM
I am not a fan of the old man as I believe under his administration, Malaysia lost her soul in Dr Mahathir's pursuit of a modern Malaysia dotted with his trademark developmental projects and material wealth. We as a nation, will pay a price for the foreseable future for his overzealous ways of wanting to fast-track the country's development to another plane. Dr Mahathir already has a formidable foe in history to contend with, a battle even he cannot win, when historians dissect his rule and the rot is exposed. But I also believe that he should not be humiliated, least of all by his own party even if he had made it his mission to force his successor out of office.
Dr Mahathir has a point when he says that UMNO wishes to shut him up for good when the party machinery is working at fourth gear to ensure he loses in his own home town. The Malaysiakini report indicates that Dr Mahathir is fighting a losing battle. Perhaps it is true when Dr Mahathir says the UMNO leadership is afraid of him speaking as a delegate at the coming party general assembly. I find the spin that the division should not elect Dr Mahathir as a delegate because that would reduce his status as a former Prime Minister, a little difficult to swallow. UMNO is tapping into the Malay sense of feudalism, disseminating the message that the well-being of the Malays lie in the hands of the current leader Abdullah Badawi and not his predecessor. Hence, the current leadership's messages must remain loud and dominant, superior to anything a 80-year-old man can muster.
But a humiliating defeat for Dr Mahathir at the divisional polls may also be damaging for the current leadership. Its grip on power may prove to be slippery if the UMNO ground is sufficiently outraged by the way the party had treated a man who is directly responsible for the rising Malay middle class and bringing some semblance of prosperity into their homes. This could be a scenario that the political strategists at PAS may be pondering at this very moment. ¶ 9:23 PM
