What the political comeback of a convicted criminal for corruption as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia would mean?
When I asked yesterday who will be UMNO’s Prime Minister-designate after the 15th General Election, I was accused of being too obsessed with Najib Razak.
I was not.
The political comeback of a convicted criminal for corruption as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister would have serious implications for the future of Malaysia.
In four decades, when Malaysia gets ready to celebrate its Centennial in 2063, many of the burning questions today would have faded into the mists of history.
But one question which will stand out as the leading question of the day in four decades’ time, and which should be the concern of all Malaysians today, is whether Malaysia could buck up as an united plural society to reverse the national decline of the past half-century, losing out to one nation after another – Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam – to fulfil Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Merdeka and Malaysia’s aspiration to be “a haven of peace, harmony and happiness” and “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.
Whether Malaysia will be a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state when we celebrate our Centennial in 2063 will be decided by Malaysians now, particularly in the 15th General Election and its rehearsal in the Johore state general election as to whether the national decline of the past half-a-century would continue in the coming decades.
Next Tuesday will be Tunku Abdul Rahman’s 119th birthday anniversary. I have the privilege to share Tunku’s aspiration in the last decade of his life.
Has his aspiration for national unity and inter-racial and inter-religious harmony become an impossible dream?
It is a sad commentary on the nation-building process that after six decades, many Malaysians still think of themselves as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans first instead of as Malaysian first and it was so easy to spark inter-racial or inter-religious suspicion, distrust and hatred.
We have veered away from our founding fathers on the question of ethics and integrity.
There was no question about the commitment of the first three Prime Ministers of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn in the battle to fight corruption but today Malaysia is struggling to have a clear break from kleptocracy and no help is coming from the party of Tunku, Razak and Hussein.
If a convicted criminal of corruption could succeed in a political come-back to become the 10th or 11th Prime Minister Malaysia, then the vision of Tunku Abdul Rahman for Malaysia to be “a haven of peace, harmony and happiness” and “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world” have become an impossible dream.
The 15th GE must signify the continuation of the 14th GE aspiration of Malaysians for institutional reform to restore the dream of the nation’s founding fathers for Malaysia to be world-class great nation
As a Johorean, I want to see the forthcoming Johore state general election to be the start of the process to reverse the national decline of last half a century from a nearly an economic “tiger” to the trajectory of a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state.
This is the Johore Dream.
We must make the Johore Dream the Malaysian Dream to restore strong institutions by upholding the Rukun Negara principles of constitutional monarchy, vibrant parliamentary democracy, doctrine of separation of powers, the rule of law, a free press, respect for human rights and the multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious character of Malaysia, least corruption and an accountable public service with integrity and efficiency.
If a convicted criminal of corruption could make a political comeback to become the nation’s 10th or 11th Prime Minister, then it means that the second effort to save Malaysia from becoming a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state has failed.
The first Save Malaysia effort was sabotaged after 22 months by the Sheraton Move conspiracy, which ushered in two backdoor and illegitimate governments.
We must not falter and surrender to the Sheraton Move conspiracy and patriotically mount a second Save Malaysia campaign.
Let us start this second Save Malaysia campaign in the Johore state general election.