Amidst the excitement f the just-concluded Umno divisional elections, it is not difficult for ordinary people to observe that in Malay politics, the emotive remnants of families and pedigrees are still conspicuous. In this Umno party elections, the sons of all the four former prime ministers were involved. Let us also not forget that in English, the husband of one's daughter is called 'son-in-law'.

If there are no accidents or unexpected changes, Malaysia's next prime minister as well as his successor will most probably be sons of former prime ministers.

In MCA's early years, there was also the politics of families and pedigrees: after the death of Tan Cheng Lock, his presidential position was taken over by his son, Siew Sin. However, the practice was discontinued later because post-Siew Sin MCA presidents departed from their positions when they were still not old and also their family members were seldom involved in politics.

However, family politics or the son-succeeds-father pattern simultaneously happens in Malaysia and Singapore. In Singapore's People's Action Party (PAP), the son of Lee Kuan Yew, Hsien Loong (photo left) will become the next prime minister of the republic.

Its Malaysian offshoot, DAP will also hold its party representative conference which would most likely elect Lim Guan Eng (photo right)to a top party position. Guan Eng is the son of DAP chief and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

In Japan, politicians who come to power on the strength of family politic are termed as 'second-generation politicians'. This term has no negative connotation.

The 'princelings'

However, in China, there is an unique term for them, namely 'princelings'. In previous eras, 'princelings' referred to those who had blood ties with the ruling class and also succeeded in using the blood ties to secure high positions. Now, the term specifically and pejoratively refers to the sons, daughters or relatives of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.

Of course, there are sons, daughters and relatives of the top leaders of CCP who have succeeded by virtue of their own merits but there are also many who exploit the power and influence of their fathers to conduct illegitimate political and economic activities to secure private interests.

The 'princelings' practice is not exclusively East Asian. To a large extent , the achievements of US President George W Bush is also attributable to his father's influence and reputation.

However, in Western societies, political norms and constitutional system have been firmly established and as a result, whether it is the politics of 'princelings' or husband and wife teams, they have to go through the democratic examination of their parties and cannot escape public scrutiny.

In developing countries, familial politics is the product of authoritarian personalities and a feudalistic legacy. People who accept it usually do so as an expression of gratitude to what they see as great leaders of 'our race'.

In South Asia where the masses are not yet popularly educated or enlightened, there is the politics of daughters-in-law or/and politics of widows. In Southeast Asia, there is the political sentiment for daughters. Ordinary people usually do not bother whether these daughters, daughters-in-law or widows are really politically capable: they bow or kowtow before them simply because their fathers, fathers-in-law or husbands were, or have been, seen to be great and charismatic.

'Safe exit'

Another cause that has given rise to the politics of 'princelings' is 'safe exit'. In an undemocratic political environment, dictatorial or authoritarian leaders have to ensure that after their retirement or departure from top positions, their personal safety, legacies or policies are protected and preserved. They also have to ensure that their legacies or policies would not be criticised, reverted or negated after they have passed away physically. Hence, their careful planning for succession among trusted members of their own families. To them, it is only natural.

These were the calculations in the Kim's family in North Korea and Chiang's family in Taiwan.

A final cause for the emergence of the politics of 'princelings' has to do with the politics of oligarchy. In the founding stages of many modern political parties, their leaders were not seen to be overtly oligarchic but after the consolidation of the parties' organizations and powers, some leaders began to usurp their parties' decision-making powers, and having tasted power, they became increasingly oligarchic and conservative.

The succession plans of both Singapore's PAP and Malaysia's DAP certainly reflect oligarchic tendencies which would be detrimental to intra-party democracy as well as political modernisation as a whole. If its outward expression is too conspicuous, the politics of 'princelings' would create a feeling of 'exclusion' and 'exclusiveness' among other intra-party elites, retard the growth of party democracy and fair competition. At the same time, it does not serve the external images of the party well. Ultimately, it leads to disunity and instability.

Diplomatic row

For example, the recent diplomatic row between Singapore and China as the result of Lee Hsien Loong's visit to Taiwan has not only witnessed an unexceptedly strong reaction from China, but also motivated an eminent Chinese professor to publish a commentary publicly detailing all the

internal problems within PAP.

According to that professor, who is a heavy-weight of China's diplomatic strategy think tank and author of a book titled An Analysis of China's National Interests, there were multiple political objectives behind Hisen Loong's visit:

'To facilitate the succession of his son, Lee Kuan Yew has been shaping the political environment from various dimensions for that purpose, but as the result of the process of democratisation, the obstacles to Hsien Loong's succession have increased ... Although Hsien Loong will become the prime minister of Singapore in August this year, his political standing within Singapore is not high, especially in view of his frictions with leaders aligned to (outgoing) premier Goh Chok Tong ... Thus, the Lee family wanted to use Hisen Loong's visit to Taiwan to show his political charisma and courage'.

Obviously, Hsien Loong is a super-size princeling. To succeed smoothly, he has to adopt a hardline stand towards China. But by doing this, he may not be welcomed in an increasingly open Singaporean society. Evidently, China attempts to exploit the internal contradictions within Singapore and the PAP in its diplomatic polemics to overawe the Lees.

A similar situation may also arise in the case of DAP. If supremo Kit Siang has not taken into consideration the sentiments both inside and outside DAP in the coming party congress, or if his style of management is not subtle enough or overtly clumsy, the re-emergence of Guan Eng as a top leader would lead, first and foremost, to intra-party power contractions reversing the upward trend of the party after the 2004 general elections.

At this critical point of time when DAP is on the reform and rejuvenation mode, any mishandling of the politics of princelings would see it slide down the popularity chart once again.

PHOON WENG KEONG, a MA graduate of the Centre of East Asian Studies of Taiwan's Cheng Chi University, is a researcher of the New Era College, Kajang. This article, translated by malaysiakini, was originally written in Chinese and published in Oriental Daily on July 28