Food for Thought by Zaid Ibrahim
Zaid Ibrahim
In 1962, after 15 years of independence, Burma became a reclusive military
state under general Ne Win. Once the economic powerhouse of the region, it
then became a pariah state. The reasons given for the military takeover
were plenty but useful to recollect.
The experiment to form the union of several states to secure independence
was believed to be a “mistake”. The union of many different ethnic
groups were seen as a sellout and detrimental to the largest ethnic
group, the Burmans who comprised 60 per cent of the population. The economy
was under the tight grip of ethnic Indians and they were blamed for the
lack of business opportunities for the Burmans.
Democracy was seen as a foreign instrument to weaken and disenfranchise the
people. 50 years later, after the loss of thousands of lives involved in
the civil strife, Myanmar –as it is now known – is trying slowly to
return from poverty and world isolation by embracing real reforms. It
has taken them 50 years to realise that they have to be part of the
world community, or both the oppressor and the oppressed will perish.
Malaysia is the next Burma. Umno believes that a non-Umno party ruling the
country would be a betrayal to the motherland. So all things
are permissible and morally justified to ensure Umno’s continued rule.
If by some miracle, BN/UMNO fails to win despite new voters being added to
the roll, then an emergency will be declared and a civilian dictatorship
backed by the military will take over.
Democracy will not survive in this country, regardless of the outcome of
the election.The general election will never be fair. Bribery is
now institutionalised. Media will continue to be owned by the ruling
party to parrot lies on the opposition. The Election Commission will not
be allowed to do its job properly and because the government can
always confer citizenship to whoever they want and thus the right to
vote; it’s impossible for the Opposition to win an election. There
are millions of Indonesians and Bangladeshis waiting in the queue. For
this reason, it’s difficult to understand why the Pakatan States could not
speak with one voice that they will not dissolve their
respective Assemblies unless they are satisfied with the electoral rolls.
The signs are all there. When Perkasa declared last week that Malaysia will
become a republic if the Opposition wins, none of the country’s top leaders
made any comment, let alone take any action to distance themselves from
this seditious remark. The way in which Utusan is being used to potray the
opposition as anti-monarchy is an indication that if the Opposition wins,
the UMNO machinery will go into high gear to call for a military takeover
to save the country, the King and the Malays.
The mad rush in Parliament to pass laws (of which Parliamentarians have had
no time to read) will give BN the appearance of a reformist and democratic
government, but they will disown democracy if they lose the election.
Are these ramblings of mine unjustified and misconceived? Only an explicit
statement from the PM that the electoral roll will be cleaned before the
general election; and from the Armed Forces Chiefs that they will respect
the decision of the people in the next general election will do for me and
many Malaysians. They must expressly declare their support for the new
leader regardless of who that might be. Only such statement will placate
the fears expressed by many people about our country’s future. Will such
statement be forthcoming?
No. Definitely not. Unfortunately, that’s exactly my point.
