Ku Li, why are you still in Umno?

COMMENT Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah admits he is often asked why he remains an Umno member. His reply last Friday: “I’m still in Umno because I still have hope.”

Indeed, several senior leaders have left Barisan Nasional - Umno’s Zaid Ibrahim, MCA’s Chua Jui Meng and Dr Tan Yee Kew, SAPP’s Yong Teck Lee, and Gerakan’s Dr Tan Kee Kwong and Toh Kin Woon among others.

“People (ask) why don’t I leave Umno? I’m not one who wants to hop and change for the sake of changing parties,” Ku Li explained.

People are no less perplexed, regardless, because his ideas and aspirations appear misaligned with the present party ideology. I say ‘present’ because Umno Baru - and the Baru qualifier strangely erased from collective memory - was established by Dr Mahathir Mohamad in February 1988.

After Ku Li’s ‘reconciliation’ with Umno 2.0 founder Dr M (membership No. 000001), Ku Li was re-absorbed into the controlling Malay-Muslim polity, and Semangat 46 was dissolved.

On why he returned to the fold in October 1996, Razaleigh said he acceded to pressure from his supporters who did not want to see the Malays split any longer but hankered for ‘Malay unity’.

But Malays united against whom? This race imperative is a peculiarity of the Malaysian mindset, one steeped in a consciousness that has known no other paradigm.

In his March 9 press statement on the 2008 general election outcome the day before, Ku Li adhered to the concept of national unity, although one still premised on the communal power-sharing formula. But Umno in the main, in response to the electoral setback, chose to up its ethnocentric battle cry.

The party organised forums to warn Malays that their rights were being eroded. It created a ruckus in Penang to rock Lim Guan Eng’s fledging government. It raised anxiety that the increased strength of minorities in the federal and state legislative bodies was an existential threat to Malay survival.

Party’s dishonest dealings

In Selangor, outgoing menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo held secret talks with PAS to form a Malay state government.

Meanwhile in Perak, Umno desperately courted PAS to form an Umno-PAS state government. According to then PAS state commissioner Ustaz Ahmad Awang, Umno had approached him through an intermediary - Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria.

Of the 28 seats BN won in Perak, 27 were held by Umno with only one by MCA.

“This meant that if PAS collaborated with Umno/BN, there would be a government that is 97 percent Malay-Islam,” said Ahmad, revealing the calculations put to him by Umno.

Umno had used the ‘Perak Islamic state’ bait to lure PAS but the faction aligned to spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (right) put its foot down against the hook-up.

Ahmad recalled that Umno nonetheless persisted with its overtures right to the last possible minute when PAS representative Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin was sworn in as menteri besar.

When these plots by Umno (behind the back of its coalition satellites) later came to light, it finally put the seal on the Number 1 party’s dishonest dealings. Not that we didn’t know before, but here was conclusive proof.

Voice on the periphery

Nouveau riche Khir and ‘old money’ Ku Li are like chalk and cheese. The Umno of new had hand-picked Khir and installed him as chief minister of the most developed state whilst turning Ku Li’s home state into one of Malaysia’s poorest - to punish Kelantan which has been an opposition stronghold for several terms.

Umno is full of the likes of Khir, Zakaria Deros, and Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (of Pasir Salak fame).

Its permanent chairman is Badruddin Amiruldin, former Jerai MP until he lost his seat on March 8, 2008. This ex-backbencher has had several police reports lodged against him for uttering racial slurs … but see how his party rewards one who lost the election.

Yet Ku Li’s apologia: “I will stick by it (Umno) but I will want to see that common sense will prevail. And that people will one day accept my viewpoints.”

Sadly, his viewpoints do not gel with Umno’s ranks. The viewpoints of his arch rival Mahathir, on the other hand, are greeted like pronouncements handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Ku Li cited last week’s passing of amendments at the Umno general assembly as an instance where his views have been heeded.

At the Oct 15 EGM, vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein tabled a package of motions on party constitutional amendments (similar to those suggested in the past by Razaleigh) to address vote-buying in Umno.

The delegates, through a show of hands, agreed to and let the motions pass in just under an hour. The Umno body politic acquiesced to Hishammuddin without demur, unlike its studied indifference to Ku Li’s earlier efforts. It was really a matter of ‘who’ said it, not ‘what’ was said.

Ku Li has been sidelined for many years past, operating only on the margins. His desire that “people will one day accept [his] viewpoints” is the litmus paper indicating that he has little impact on Umno.

Minorities irrelevant to Umno

As someone appointed to the (Old) Umno supreme council at age 26, Ku Li more than any outsider should be aware of the extent of corruption in Umno today. The latter-day party is a different entity from its namesake - the party founded by Onn Jaafar that was driven by the spirit of nationalism and volunteerism.

On Umno’s projected renewal and rejuvenation, Ku Li said at his press conference on Oct 16: “We need a clean slate of people [credible leaders] to represent them. The people [grassroots] are sick and tired of having people hoisted even when they have bad records.”

The jubilation greeting Isa Samad’s win in Bagan Pinang belies Ku Li’s prognosis above.

In recent months, Umno has increasingly shown that it’s keen on garnering thick Malay support and the devil take the hindmost with minority interests. In other words, the political landscape running up to the next general election is either Umno vs PAS, or PAS coalescing with Umno.

The two Malay-based parties have been flirting with each other to the point of discussions on a ‘unity government’ at the PAS muktamar in June - a process which Najib had likened to “a marriage proposal”. Umno was the earnest suitor, and PAS the uncertain maiden being wooed.

But on the ground where the battle for hearts and minds is taking place, it is worthwhile to ponder on who is influencing whom.

Umno transmogrifies

Has PAS become more corrupt, similar to the allegation that Umno is corrupt? I don’t think so. But has Umno become more PAS-like?

A Penang delegate proposed at the just-concluded assembly that Umno should set up its own Dewan Ulama .

In an initiative one would more normally associate with PAS, Puteri Umno called on the government to ban the production of horror movies, claiming that films portraying supernatural elements could “weaken the faith of Muslims”.

At the same meeting, the Puteri movement also wanted Islamic Affairs Department to be empowered to take action against such productions. The motions sailed through without debate.

Meanwhile, PAS is trying to be more inclusive in mulling to turn its supporters club, which accepts non-Muslims as members, into a party wing.

It was Ku Li himself who recently observed, “There are signs that PAS, with the assistance of its partners, is taking up the middle ground vacated by Umno.”

There is a blur now with the party personalities easily overlapping in public perception of where they stand on principle. PAS’ Hassan Ali could just as well be an Umno man or PKR’s Zulkifli Nordin belong to the PAS ulama faction. On the other hand, Umno has moved away from what Ku Li terms ‘the plural centre’.

Where does Ku Li fit in this 1polity landscape? The answer is he doesn’t.

Politics in Malaysia have veered away from the Queensbury rules that he plays by. He has always behaved like a gentleman and been gracious in defeat. His public statements have been thoughtful and measured, unlike the Nazi bent of his nemesis.

Ku Li - who is a class act - has aptly identified one of the core evils in Umno as perangai dan kelakuan budaya, moral dan akhlak orang Umno perlu diadabkan (the behaviour and cultural norms, morals and character of Umno people have to be civilised).

Nonetheless, it is quite hopeless to embark on a mission to civilise the party, not with the calibre of leaders now within their ranks - not forgetting the cow head-stomping cadres running around in brown shirts.

Umno is simply beyond Tengku Razaleigh’s repair. The sweet prince is just being a martyr.