COMMENT The Doha Debate of Jan 28, 2011 broadcast by BBC World News had a very interesting topic of our time, "Is Wikileaks going to make the world better?" With 78 percent for and 22 percent against, the debate resolved that the world is better off with Wikileaks.

This non-profit organisation which whistle-blows on the Internet has the objective of "Making Governments more transparent".

Highlights of this sensational debate referred revelations of how presidents lied to Parliaments and cheated the people.

Those against the motion propounded that with Wikileaks, governments could not keep anything private. This caused arguments from the floor that democracy could not exist if the people did not know the truth.

Retorts flared on whether the handling the truth or no truth could be more disastrous than just the half truth.

Changing behaviour of political leaders

However, the debate did agree on the common consensus that Wikileaks tried to change the behavior of political leaders as what was kept as a secret yesterday might become common knowledge tomorrow.

Wikileaks thus acts as the hidden hand in forcing governments to be more transparent. As pros and cons are raised in debates over whether Wikileaks should be the road to greater transparency in governments, I would like to look into the possible role that counterparts of Wikileaks in the political environment may contribute towards desired change.

After more than half a decade of independence, political parties in Malaysia, particularly members of the ruling coalition, have arrived at a watershed of where renewal is imperative.

This need is not denied by the respective party leaders. The question is how?

I had delved into this in Greening Contentious Politics and other articles in ‘Political Sojourn' - an anthology of 35 of my mirror reflections for changes in a single political party.

Although they were random thoughts of an academician of management, I believe some of the arguments put forth had gathered a certain degree of agreement.

Managing Dino

My first impression that the MCA ‘looks like a dinosaur - with a small head where the cerebral powers are located, a long and narrow esophagus connecting to a huge body of some 4,300 branches where the 1 million members around the country interact.

azlan To a change management consultant, the biggest task would be aligning top-down the leader's vision to grassroots. Two former presidents had passionately vowed to transform the party.

Sadly, both left behind undone those transformational changes which were desperately needed - by the party members. The changes could not continue because the current president did not prioritise them.

Thus, the party president as an institution should be held responsible for hindering these changes from taking place.

Demands for participation and transparency

The university students at the Doha Debate voiced their support for Wikileaks because they saw it as a means to force governments to be more transparent.

They perceived that participation and transparency are the new order of modern democracy. The same applies here - the 1 million party members which gave the party its shape, form and stature to the president of the party, should be empowered with the same rights to action on the transformational changes in the party.

To begin with, ordinary members, like the citizens demanding for participatory rights to transparency voiced in the Doha Debate, should have a say to when to hold party elections and whether or not to postpone it just because other parties do so.

Observations of a party like MCA, current party leaders can drum up new tunes to boost personal images, but can these tunes make the members forget what changes were needed and which changes commenced under past presidents are not abandoned?

Self-denial of common knowledge

The structure of the MCA has been criticised as the root cause of ineffectiveness of all kinds. A leader with time on his hands can make phone calls to the over 2,300 central delegates.

But how much longer can inactivity and non-fulfillment of promises continue to buy their loyalty?

For the president to visit all the 4,300 branches to meet the branch leaders - branch office- bearers and that of the youth and women factions, and the branch bureau chiefs - even if he were to visit two branches a day 365 days in a year, he would need six years to complete the task.

Thus, party presidents had to bear the frequent comment that they live in a state of self-denial of what goes on within his party.

This also goes to show the magnanimity of the making changes top-down inside the party. Some leaders may choose status quo in fear of failure. In simple plain words, he does not know where to begin.

Being pro-Wikileaks

The Feb 5, 2011 issue of The Economist analysed the Italian leadership dilemma in ‘In Search of a Leader' that while the current leader was trying to dispel impression that ‘the government has been paralysed by sex scandals', the actual problem was identifying another politician with the magic of reaching out to a wider electorate.

If stem-cell technology can be called modern-day magic, politicians should be pro-Wikileaks to suggestions for changes to rise from the ground.

Political leaders should be sufficiently proficient in management. They should first become good listeners. They should then anlayse and act to execute changes suggested by grassroot members.

Wikileaks, or a similar mechanism by another name, can adorn the role of a yardstick of political leadership as to who politicians are, what they do and what they become.

 

DR DAPHNE LOKE is a senior lecturer in leadership.