THE US IRAQ STUDY Group reported that the former Iraqi government, under President Saddam Hussein, alloted Malaysian prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, through a Malaysian company called Tradeyear, oil vouchers worth 2m barrels under the UN Oil-for-Food programme. Other Malaysian beneficiaries are a company controlled by a Sabah business man, the Malaysian petroleum giant, Petronas, a retired Malaysian ambassador, an Iraqi resident amongst others. This announcement came at an inconvenient time. Pak Lah had just called on Malaysian business men to eschew corruption as a way of life.

The government cannot fight corruption alone. All must join in, insist of ethical values and integrity. Or all will come to nought. Societies like the KLSTI works with the government to root out corruption. Pak Lah said what was expected of him. He went off to attend the ASEM meeting in Hanoi. It did not take long for his words to be challenged. The Iraq Survey Group, which for 18 months had investigated Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, found instead weapons of mass corruption. There were no WMD, they found, embarrassing the two totem poles who insist Saddam must be destroyed at any cost because they had. This report is causing political waves in the US and Britain. So, the spin moved sharply to what Saddam did with the UN oil-for-food programme, which allowed Baghdad to sell its oil to buy food for its people. The sanctions continued in the meanwhile, and the ISG, in its trawling of official documents, found countries and inviduals all over the world who allegedly benefited, for personal gain, by partaking in it. It provided the much need diversion from the political flak in London and Washington.

Is it a sect like Wahhabism, the return-to-the-fundamental faith of Sunni Islam rooted in Saudi Arabia? Wahhabism is not allowed in Malaysia, although its teachings have seeped into pratice of the Shafiee faith in Malaysia. No. If Wahhabism cannot, nor can Islam Hadhari. Is it a philosophical erudition of Islam in the modern world? No. Even those who praise it the most are hard put to define it. Is it Islam as defined by Pak Lah, this brilliant academic scholar, as defined by his spinmeister though all he has is a degree in Islamic studies and, until he became prime minister, his academic brilliance and Islamic erudition securely hidden from the outside world? No.

But this fig leaf or corruption is to draw the debate away from the real issues. It is hurting the leaders who cannot refute the allegations for fear of drawing attention upon them. The deafening silence is astounding. Pak Lah said he has spies to ferret corruption amongst candidates and delegates. They could not find a single case of corruption. The UMNO disciplinary committee cannot therefore act. But if the spies had on the eve of party elections visited every hotel where delegates stayed, they would have discovered the control rooms of the candidates where delegates (and others) had only to visit for RM1,000 and more. It is strange that these spies did not know of this. Unless, of course, they are as Gandhian in their personal habits as the elected leaders that they thought candidates only doled ang pows to those who want them, as it is at Hari Rayas, Chinese New Years and Deepavalis. How could they assume such good deeds as corruption?

It discussed nothing of importance. There were tall claims of what would be, but enthusiasm was kept high by a return to that old standby: Malay rights and the pre-eminent role of the bumiputera. Pak Lah was circumspect about it, but not the others. In between decrying Anwar Ibrahim and money politics, several leaders, notably the youth chief, Hishammuddin Hussein, revealed their bankruptcy of ideas to return to this emotive theme. It would once have received a standing ovation.

How else could one explain why Pak Lah is the major loser in this general assembly. His slate is overshadowed by that of his deputy, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, and others. Pak Lah promised that if indeed there was money politics, he would leave no stone unturned to sack those elected found to have indulged. Just send him the evidence, he would do the rest, he promised. At the same time, he insisted there is no evidence yet. In fact, with an eye to the future, UMNO would define money politics. It is vague now. In future, UMNO members would know how to steer clear of money politics, and save their souls. To define money politics should not be difficult. The other traitor is defined. All UMNO needs is adapt this to money politics. What could be simpler? This would allow UMNO leaders to speak loudly and clearly about the twin traitors ad nauseum, get the members to know who looks after their interests long after the tumult and shouting of the general assembly.

So few outside his inner circle were surprised at yet another drubbing he got from the UMNO he leads. However one looks at the party elections, he is caught in a bind. The delegate, fed up of being ignored and threatened, kept his own council – a dangerous sign in Malay society – who indulged in the excesses of the consumer society, but determined nevertheless to make known his distaste for being taken for granted. Ranged against Pak Lah were four irreconciliable factions: that of his deputy, Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak; that of Malay cultural hurt which turned the former deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, though not now a member, into an icon of dissent in UMNO and the Malay cultural world outside; that of the mentris besar riding on a platform of evental constitutional confrontation; that of the newly marginalised. The disparate groups worked alone, often at odds with each other, but they had a common focus: Pak Lah and his coterie.

If you think this anti-Anwar campaign appears to be deliberately and cynically planned, you are right. Pak Lah last week met the youth, wanita, puteri councils to insist Dato' Seri Anwar is a sodomite whatever the Federal Court said, that he must be attacked as vilely at the general assembly, and they fan around the country explaining this to the members at the ground. He treads of dangerous ground here. But the gloves are off. UMNO has decided it would not rest until Dato' Seri Anwar is retired for good from the political scene, that he should not be allowed to resume his political career in the Opposition, that his continued presence in politics is an unmitigated disaster for UMNO, especially that he is the yardstick UMNO looks up to. When UMNO leaders were told last night that CNN is broadcasting a 30-minute television interview tomorrow (25 September) and 11 am and repeated four times during the day, it shocked as many as it pleased them. This ill-thought out attempt to blot him from the political landscape boomerangs. Dato' Seri Anwar has, by keeping quiet and staying out of the fray, frightens UMNO into mortal fear. As the political secretary of a cabinet minister closely aligned to Pak Lah said: "Anwar Ibrahim belum jentik, UMNO sudah hancur." Loosely translated it means, UMNO disintigrates when he snaps his fingers. To prevent it, it must first destroy its own past leaders.

The biggest problem facing UMNO is that it has few men of vision amongst its leaders, nor men who would speak out for the changes needed to survive. The party is hostage to its president of the day. But what happens to the party when the president is held hostage to his own insecurities? UMNO fractures from within as the weak president and the weaker deputy president (both to confirmed today) want to edge the other out. For the first time, the leaders do not know how or what the ground thinks. Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi bent the rules to lead the BN into power with a 90 per cent majority, and to be returned unopposed as UMNO president. He – or his handlers – did not understand or expect the cost. The cynicism of the UMNO delegates is so overpowering this year, that Pak Lah would be weaker still after this assembly is over.

WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's triumphal grand entry at the UMNO general assembly this week (from 23 September 2004) descends rapidly into a nightmare. His overwhelming March general elections victory, the ousting of PAS from Trengganu, his more than 99 per cent anointment as UMNO president – each of doubtful provenance – should be enough to welcome the conquering hero. He could not; not that he would not but that he would in an atmosphere of fear and loathing, which resides in the Malay mind beneath the surface and tightly controlled, but which could run amok at an instant's notice. Pak Lah and UMNO misjudged and misunderstood the mood outside, that the Malay ground, even in UMNO, had moved sharply away from the party, the anger nurtured to breaking point by its arrogant assertion that UMNO knows best for the Malays, that it could manipulate the Malay mind at will, that they would not ever rebel, that Malay culture is sustained by an absolute respect for the fuedal lord. This belief is sustained in UMNO even as it dismantled the feudal structure to replace it with one which owed loyalty not to the sultans but to the UMNO president.

Pak Lah's dreams and challenges are the stuff of dreams. "These are great challenges: and equally great obstacles. I am not only expected to guide the Malays but also to generate changes that can make them more successful. [But] I also know that as UMNO president and chairman of the Barisan Nasional I am leader of all Malaysians. They [other ethnic groups], too, have expectations of me. The president of UMNO is expected to chart the future of country and Bangsa Malaysia. This is my greatest challenge," he told the UMNO-owned Mingguan Malaysia. This is how the New Straits Times reported it today (20 September 2004). Instead of spelling out what the challenges and obstacles are, it goes on to speculate what he would talk about at the general assembly.

The first is the deputy prime minister and UMNO deputy president, Dato' Seri Najib. He is shaken in terror to his toe nails about a free Anwar. He believes, rightly or wrongly, that Dato' Seri Anwar is free because a deal had been struck between Pak Lah and him. Why else, his aides and supporters ask, would Mr Khairy Jamaludin, Pak Lah's son-in-law, turn up at Dato' Seri Anwar's house on the night of his release to commiserate and chat? It does not matter to them that both Pak Lah and Dato' Seri Anwar have denied a pact. When paranoia strikes, reason and reality flies out the window. He could not be prime minister if Dato' Seri Anwar is re-admitted to UMNO. It is not only he who does not want that. His cabinet colleagues, Datin Paduka Rafidah Aziz and Dato' Seri Rais Yatim, equally do not want him either. Even if Pak Lah did stay above this political fray – he did not since he is as determined as the others that Dato' Seri Anwar must be consigned to the darkest corner of Hell – he could not mediate or mollify the political concerns of these frightened UMNO leaders.

But the reality is that Dato' Seri Anwar's release has split the top UMNO leaders. Many, if not most, were in the conspiracy that lead to Dato' Seri Anwar's dismissal, arrest and conviction. The UMNO deputy president, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak, headed the "Destroy Anwar" committee, which manufactured a videotape which showed Dato' Seri Anwar in compromising homosexual positions. But when the supreme council was shown it – at which both Pak Lah and Dato' Seri Najib were present though not Tun Mahathir Mohamed – several pronounced it so badly done that few would believe it. It was shown nevertheless – to senior civil servants, armed forces generals, ambassadors and others of high rank. At several showings, similar questions were raised. One ambassador asked, after he saw the video with others flown in to watch it, why Dato' Seri Anwar had long hair "on the job", but not when he was tired and resting after. Few remembers the botched effort but the perpetrators, now in high political and cabinet office, fear an Anwar backlash now that he is free.

All are frightened of this. The newspapers went to town on his release for no altruistic reason than that he sells newspapers. For a few days, he was all over the media. Reporters camped outside his house so they could report on the goings on. Then as quickly he disappeared into the shadows where he had been since his arrest, conviction and imprisonment for corruption and sodomy. His release was seen as yet another example of the liberal government now that the hated Dr Mahathir is no more in office. The press, here and overseas, praised Pak Lah for his maganamity, his refusal to interfere with the judiciary, the superficial signs of an independent judiciary and media. But that is a mirage. The iron-first control remains, but the man with the iron fist is not strong enough to enforce it. All the means of control are in place. The press is firmly in his grip. His key men are all appointed to ensure it. He controls internal security. But he does not have the iron control his predecessor had. His ascension to office is flawed, and every attempt to right it has gone awry: he allowed factions to reassert in UMNO, he tried too hard to be returned in the March general elections, he tries too hard to control UMNO after its general assembly and elections later this month, but with the wounded Anwar on the loose, he is forced into a corner. In a nutshell, he took office as the weakest prime minister yet, tried too hard, and fudged the rules, to make him strong, but failed.

Normally, with the UMNO general assembly and elections three weeks ahead, the mainstream newspapers would have little of note to report except the incestuous infighting to be elected, with space only for those who are linked to the UMNO president. All others are all but pariahs, there to prove democracy exists in UMNO and lose. The creative interpretations of its code of ethics is a scandal that candidates now request a tutorial on what is allowed and not. No campaigning, it said; but it is now allowed. No bribery aka money politics, it said; but those caught for it, especially if in the government, are told to go forth and sin no more. Three vice-presidential candidates are thought to have indulged in it with an abandon and face disqualification. Or at least that was the intention so the Pak Lah nominees could romp home without a contest. There is no talk of that although several UMNO leaders insist they would be at the postponed supreme council meeting this week. More frightening is a move by some delegates to ensure the supreme council members elected do not hold any official posts. Whether it would succeed is beside the point; that it has much support should worry the UMNO leaders.

Suddenly, all stops were off. Dato' Seri Anwar is welcomed like a conquering lion. The newspapers could not do enough to report on him. TV3 alloted 12 minutes of its 30 minutes prime news to the Anwar release. The mainstream newspapers, in which he lurked occasionally in the corners of their inside pagers to reflect his irrelevance in today's Malaysia, now pulled all stops to welcome him on their front pages. The reports were slanted to an official line but Anwar sells newspapers, which is after all why newspapers are printed in Malaysia, so let principles go hang; if the devil on the front page could sell newspapers, why not? Political officialdom gritted its teeth to find its nemesis the talk of the town and country. UMNO and its general assembly is forgotten. Pak Lah and his vision for Malaysia got lost in the confusion. It was Anwar, Anwar, Anwar. If you wanted to read news of the UMNO general assembly, you could not; news of it could not match the newspaper selling qualities of an Anwar on the front page.

But the truth is far from this. Pak Lah opposed Dato' Seri Anwar's release until the end. On the morning of Thursday, just as the judges were getting ready to go into the Federal Court, a final futile attempt was made to deny him his freedom. The judges independently had decided that enough is enough, but they must act to restore the politically-castrated judiciary of the past two decades into the independent body it once was. Their self-respect is now questioned, and Dato' Seri Anwar would have been a free man no matter which coram sat. The National Front (BN) government was, to put it mildly, caught flatfooted. Except for the former prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, who insisted Dato' Seri Anwar was guilty, every one else rushed to take credit for his release. The public comment and the reports entrenched this view but the judiciary aside, what forced this change was the long term dangers of continuing to defy Saudi Arabia, which had requested Malaysia to take charge of Dato' Seri Anwar's surgery overseas, with a promise to return him to his prison cell. The Malaysian government ignored that. A fortnight ago, the request was renewed. It was ignored until the court decision.

THE MORE ONE LOOKS into Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's dramatic release from prison yesterday (02 September 2004) the more one realises politics, not law, that ensured it. He was charged, humiliated, convicted in a political vendetta. The only way he could be released ahead of time only by political intervention. The prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, like his predecessor, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, wanted him in jail for as long as possible. The rules were stretched so he could not get what others charged for similar offences would as a matter of right. The judges, their hands tied, could do little but convict. The speed with which he goes for his surgery – he leaves tonight – raised many an eyebrow. That appears to be part of the deal, that he would leave immediately after his release, and not return for a while as Pak Lah tried to firm his rule. What forced Pak Lah's hand was the fear Dato' Seri Anwar might die on him – horror of horrors – before the UMNO elections in three weeks. Dato' Seri Anwar held his ground, and did not want a deal in which he would lose out politically.

Dato' Seri Anwar insisted on microscopic surgery in Munich. The government would not budge from its position that he is a common prisoner, he cannot decide where and how he ought to be treated. But it informed Parliament of this, twice, to turn it into a political confrontation. Pak Lah had no choice but sue for peace: his legitimacy as UMNO president is suspect, and his attempts to be a leader in his own right failed through his political machinations. Dato' Seri Anwar had turned the tables on the government by his brilliant political manouvres and leading the National Front government into a trap of his making. Finally what forced the government's hands is the fear that he might die – and that would make matters worse. And it now appears the five weeks in hospital came when talks began. What the deal is is unclear, but if the rumours have any basis, he would leave Malaysia immediately on his acquittal, not return awhile, but not that he would not return to politics.

THE NATIONAL FRONT (BN), AS only to be expected, was returned in the Kuala Berang by-election. In today's political circumstances, it could not have been otherwise. The stake in this by-election was too high. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, still struggles for a role in BN, and its main component, UMNO, since assuming office ten months ago, and could not face the UMNO general assembly with a by-election defeat. UMNO has rarely lost a by-election; when it has, it reflected deeper problems within. In Kuala Berang, it was Pak Lah's legitimacy as Malaysia's and UMNO's leader. Those UMNO leaders who campaigned for the BN candidate had their own agendas: they were positioning for a crucial role in UMNO for the battles ahead.

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