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UMNO GA 2003 - I: UMNO MPs in futile search of a political issue to beat PAS with

IT IS AN OPEN SECRET THAT no National Front (BN) members with any interest in their political future would be without their fortnightly fix, the PAS organ, Harakah. They want to know what happens in their country, which the mainstream media and government propaganda outlets, Radio Talivisyen Malaysia, and the ministry of information, ignores. It was Harakah which put fear into their re-election hopes when it wrote of the BN's commitment to gambling institutions in defiance of its insistence Malaysia is an Islamic state. The government is struck dumb, and mute. So, BN, especially UMNO, MPs would grab at any straw to turn the tables. So far not yet. In the current session of Parliament, which began this week, it thought it struck gold.

A cartoon by the inimitable Zunar, in the latest issue of Harakah, compared the SARS problem with SAR, the Sekolah Agama Rakyat (the People's religious schools), which was ordered integrated into the regular school system for they largely controlled, even the ones UMNO ran, by those aligned to PAS. The one is caused by 'khinzir' (the Malay for 'pig') and the other by 'Mahazir', depicted in the cartoon with the face of a pig without the snout. This was enough for UMNO MPs to rise up in high dudgeon. The UMNO MP for Sri Gading, Dato' Mohamed Aziz, with a poker face, asked the culture, arts and tourism minister, Dato' Paduka Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, if this cartoon, a national affront, had affected Malaysia's image overseas and its tourism efforts. He replied that Harakah resorts to cartoons libelling the Prime Minister, because PAS cannot win enough seats to govern the country.

That is not all. the UMNO MP for Larut, Raja Dato' Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, in a supplementary question, wanted to know how opposition smears, including the Harakah cartoon, had affected foreign investment to Malaysia. The answer: foreign investors are aware of the 'real' situation and know the government had made it profitable for their investment. Is this why then that foreign investment to Malaysia has almost dried up? Surely if it has, and the government is on the mark about attracting them, would it not have to look for a culprit other than its own inadequacies to blame. But there is nothing to worry. You know how disorganised the BN is when its parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister has to appeal to the home ministry, in Parliament, to review the Harakah permit.

That is enough for BN loudspeakers to hold forth. The MCA president, Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting, said "PAS has tooped so low to politically discredit a respected leader". It carried 'evil intention' to associate the SARS syndrome with pigs when scientists had yet to determine how it was caused. Pray, what has Dato' Seri Ong to say of BN leaders now engaged in politically discrediting the respected leader? Whose 'evil intention' would that be? The MCA Youth secretary-general, Mr Liow Tiong Lai, is not bothered about the political implications of the cartoon, only of the scientific inaccuracy. PAS is not scientific, he thunders, for it confuses the reality to imply that pigs cause SARS. The Gerakah deputy president, Dato' Seri Kerk Choo Ting, rides the high horse. 'As a party which claims to be religious, their thoughts should be clean'. Does he imply that since UMNO is not a religious party, its thoughts and actions are unclean? Now we know that however hard MCA, Gerakan - not to mention MIC, IPPF, PPP - tries to be in the mainstream, they fail. They are good at diverting political attention. And the MCA-owned Star is ever helpful to print the offending cartoon on its pages today. Most Malaysians would wonder what the fuss was about. If they read the Star, they know. And wonder why.

But is that the issue here? How did the UMNO MPs get hold of copies of Harakah? There is a law which says Harakah can only be sold to members. So, how did UMNO MPs get hold of it? Are these UMNO MPs secret PAS members? This is not as far-fetched as it seems. UMNO headquarters are looking through the membership list to find out about those who are also members of other political parties. That is not over yet, but of the first 1,000,000 members verified, 187,000, or 18.7 per cent - are also PAS members. It is a rule that if a PAS business man wants to bid for a government contract in BN controlled states, he must first join UMNO. And vice-versa. The BN had made it a fine art. If an Indian youth wants to apply for an MIC loan or scholarship for higher studies, his parents must produce evidence of party membership. So, it is today the norm that in PAS-controlled states - Kelantan and Trengganu, for now - UMNO business men must be PAS members if they want to survive in the state.

Could it be that some UMNO members join PAS so they could buy Harakah without fear of being caught? And as an insurance should UMNO Baru go the way of UMNO Lama? The government replies did not question how these pristine UMNO members had access to Harakah. Did you say it is openly sold at news stands? But that is not allowed, is it? Then why is it allowed? What happened to the law about it, that it can only be sold to members? Harakah does not sell as many copies as it once did, but it still outsells the mainstraim 'New Straits Times', 'The Star', 'Utusan Malaysia', 'Berita Harian' and 'the Sun'. The English section brings in the non-Malay and English speakers, and since many of them are also fluent in Malay, provides them with a window of the Malay world.

The government, I fear, has lost its marbles. I found it strange that not one cabinet minister got up to put the official government view on Harakah. No one would or could. Any statements they make, not just on Harakah, but on any contentious issue, is inimical to their political health and probable defeat in the polls. So they shut up. So, why is it that they are elected, in election after election, with the opposition running helter-skelter and not knowing what hit them.

Well, look at how Harakah reacted to the opposition to its cartoon. When it should have held its high ground, it apologised. Its chief editor, Mr Zulkifli Sulong, issued a statement last night (18 June 2003), that Harakah profusely apologised for the cartoon. "If it is true there are parties insulted by the publication of the cartton, Harakah offers its apology as it was not intentional." Why am I not surprised at this apology? When it had a good election issue in the casino at Bukit Tinggi, it pulled back rather than go for the kill. So why is this apology not unusual? It has a brilliant capacity to shoot itself on the foot when victory is in sight. Of that there is no doubt.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my