I refer to the Malaysiakini report Abolish all Umno wings to stop money politics

Tengku Ahmad’s Rithauddeen’s call will not make a significant impact on removing corruption in Umno. A more radical proposal will be to change the Malaysian system of government to one more like the US.

Malaysia and many Commonwealth countries inherited the Westminster model of governance. This has led to many countries coming to grief in Africa and Asia, whether its Nigeria, Zimbabwe or Pakistan. In Malaysia, the system has bred corruption, especially when tied in with special rights and racial supremacy.

How may a US-style of government help the country? We have all witnessed the US primary campaigns and how lesser candidates were weeded out early in the process. In the US primaries, tough questions are asked and when poorly responded to, the candidate is out.

This comes even more to the fore in the general election debates at the later stages. Questions on the candidates' background (including suspicious wealth) will be asked and answers demanded. Many will not even contemplate entering the race and few will survive the early stages.

Compare this selection process with that which prevails in Umno where money changes hands to buy a branch division-ship and then when elected, losses have to be recovered through various means.

This is merely for a branch division-ship. The stakes multiply as one goes up the slippery ladder.

When the US presidential winner forms government, his candidates for ministerial positions will have to appear before a bipartisan select committee. The candidates will be grilled not only on their policies but also on unpaid income taxes, suspicious sources of income and of course, their competence.

Best of all, one does not need to be a party member to be made a minister (or secretary as they are called in the US) and candidates came come from any party or no party at all. The president can choose the best in the land rather than from politicians who have come up the same way as he, through patronage.

Compare this with the constant infighting and joggling for positions in the BN coalition, a process where huge sums of money change hands. It is an exhibition of men of limited talents and unlimited ambitions.

While in office, the US president does most of the politicking while the ministers (or secretaries), do the work. Ministers will have to appear before the congressional committees to answer for their performance.

Compare this with Malaysian ministers who spend so much of their time politicking instead of running their ministries. The pace heats up to a feverish level when there is an Umno assembly with the election to the Umno supreme council. Racial speeches abound, the keris is shamelessly drawn as the candidates try outdo each other for their 'race' and severe damage is done to the country.

Our ministers are politicking full-time. The PM, being head of Umno as well as the BN coalition, has to spend time and resources maintaining the peace between the parties.

At times, one gets the impression that the country is run by civil servants. When ministers are incompetent or do not spend time mastering the affairs of their ministerial mandate, the civil servants lose respect for their supposed masters and hold the upper hand.

But tough decisions have to be made and these cannot be made without a forceful and knowledeagble minister in charge. So in the current Malaysian climate, the country is poorly served.

While the US secretaries answer congressional committee questions, we see how our ministers (even the finance minister) often ignore questions posed by the opposition in Parliament out of sheer incompetence. The partisan speaker also gets in on the act.

In Malaysia, assuming against all odds that the PM desires change, what then? His position will instantly come under threat from party members who have benefitted and are benefitting from the system.

This is because the PM is elected by his party to be the head and therefore dependent on them for incumbency. The president in the US, on the other hand, owes his allegiance to the people who have voted him directly into power.

So, he can appeal directly to the voters for change as did Ronald Reagan and now Obama.

Will the Malaysian political system change? Not likely. Even assuming BN has a two-thirds majority to change the federal constitution, it is very doubtful for the powers-that-be will not give up their entrenched interests.

More realistically, what the people can hope for is for the king not to appoint Najib Abdul Razak the next PM. That single act will send shockwaves throughout the country and will be seen as a demand for change by the royalty.

This act will gather momentum in the towns and villages that may ultimately result in a clean political culture.