*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* { Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net } { Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] } { Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] } *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What has happened to UMNO? Rejuvenate UMNO and change yourself before you are changed By Musa Hitam Since my withdrawal after the election of the UMNO leadership in 1987, I have refrained from making any statements on the political developments in UMNO. Many have asked if I have really retired or if my silence is in reality a tactic or strategy. By the Grace of God, I have successfully disciplined myself from returning actively into the UMNO political arena. God willing, I will continue to do so; I do not plan to be active in politics again. It is difficult to accept and believe such a stand. But to me, this is the stand that is appropriate for UMNO as long as we wish to continue practising democracy and wish to represent the people in the true sense. I believe that as long as many heads and leaders are ready or willing to withdraw voluntarily and give way to young and new talents, we will continue to be supported by the people as their representative. Otherwise, our party will increasingly be divorced from society. The power that has been entrusted to us all this while is meant to be used justly, with full awareness of our responsibility, and for the interest of the people. If we violate these principles, we will eventually lose our mandate. When we lose our mandate, there will be disorder and chaos and finally we will sink. Power is indeed perplexing. The more powerful a person gets, the more power he covets. This is especially true in a society which measures success according to material attainments; power is increasingly used as a tool for material attainment and, subsequently, material attainment itself is used to maintain power or gain more power. As a result of the Malays being motivated by material advancement, the character of their leadership and the style of their politics has changed. Whereas the earlier UMNO leaders were teachers and the issues that lifted them up or brought them down were related to education, increasingly more businessmen and entrepreneurs have taken over the leadership. The issues have also changed to issues of business licences, contracts and so on. Questions of irrigation, drains, agriculture, schools and higher education have been drowned out by issues like Malay business "opportunities". During my entire political career, when I visited every corner of the country, at any gathering, I felt confident of the support of the Malay society for UMNO. On the other hand, it was difficult to be certain of Chinese support or even be sure of their stand. Now the situation has changed. On polling day during the recent general elections, I spent the whole day visiting polling stations in the Federal Territory and areas around Selangor. My experience was extremely peculiar, one that I had never experienced in my entire life. In Malay-majority areas, BN leaders and workers looked weary and exhausted as well as pressured. This was because in a very open, fearless and unhesitant manner, so many Malays - young, old, labourers, the learned, the rich, the poor - worked hard and earnestly for the opposition parties, no matter whether it was PAS, DAP, Parti Rakyat or KeADILan. Only in Chinese-majority areas were the BN and UMNO leaders and workers relaxed. "There's no problem here, Tan Sri," they told me jovially. What has happened? What has happened to UMNO? UMNO has become a Malay party that is dependent upon Chinese support? There's nothing wrong with the Chinese supporting UMNO. That is a good sign. But in the present political environment when so many Malays have deserted UMNO and support rival parties even the DAP UMNO members must reflect on and be conscious of our weaknesses, analyse ourselves. If the leaders don't want to do so and continue to blame others, it is definitely a bad sign - that UMNO will become irrelevant before long. The Malays have become so well educated, mature and bold, bold in taking a stand on all kinds of issues, whether it is politics, administration, economy, education, etc. This is undoubtedly a result of UMNO's own efforts. We should face this situation with pride and determination, but also adapt our thinking and action to it. If we only demand that they thank us continuously as before, they will regard us as being behind the times. So many Malay youths, when I'm exchanging views with them on current issues, complain to me that, "The trouble with the leadership is that whenever they try to explain issues to the public, they seem to insult our intelligence." In other words, they are no longer prepared to accept a statement wholesale without thinking critically. We have lost credibility; their trust in us has been eroded. We cannot dodge the issues they bring up with decades-old arguments. Let me raise frankly the issues that were used widely during the last elections with great deleterious effects on us: The Anwar Ibrahim issue >From the start, we said that the Anwar Ibrahim issue is not a big issue. But each time we hear our leaders speak in the campaign, Anwar Ibra-him is condemned more crudely and more frequently, without any restraint. To me, Anwar Ibrahim is indeed unimportant. The issue that was used very effectively by the opposition parties was how "cruel" the BN government was in the way it dragged Anwar to the lowest pit, and that too when he had just been idolised as a national leader. To the Malay community, especially those who feel "pity" for Anwar, "cruelty" and "pity" had become the source of anti-government arguments and a whisper campaign which had a great negative impact on us. The issue of corruption, cronyism and nepotism No matter what arguments our leaders use to counter accusations of corruption, nepotism and cronyism, the perception of many members of society is that it indeed exists. In politics, what counts is image or perception. No matter how we try and ask that such cases be brought to justice in the courts, reported to the police or other parties that are responsible, when the people see the extravagant and wasteful lifestyle of those in power and compare it against the actual income these people are supposed to get, they cannot accept our arguments. Religion In the early 1980s, there were two attractions that resulted in overwhelming acceptance of UMNO, especially among the Malays. These were the concepts of "Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy" and "Leadership by Example", both of which abide by the teachings of Islam. The practices that were demanded of UMNO of that time (I still remember how excited the UMNO Supreme Council was over these concepts!), seems to me, to have been forgotten while we are still trying to get close to the people. Finally, in the last few years, the leaders seem embarrassed to even mention the concepts of "Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy" and "Leadership by Example". In my opinion, the perception of the people is that PAS, as a party that rules in only one state, practises these concepts far more than UMNO does. By doing so, PAS has been able to prove its credibility and project a positive image. Don't UMNO members see all this? Aren't UMNO members who come from the grassroots, from among the ordinary citizenry, aware of all these issues? Of course they see it, of course they are aware! I'm sure they see and are aware. Some see so well and are so aware that they have become frustrated, so much so they quietly and secretly refuse to vote for candidates from their own party. Conditions inside the party Since UMNO was established on 11 May 1946 in Johor Bahru, it was a political party that was open, accessible and represented Malays from all segments of society. When I was serving the party then, there were no lack of members of the Supreme Council, PM, DPM, Ministers and Menteri Besar who were criticised vocally without hesitation. In the past decade, UMNO has changed. Its AGMs, whether at the divisional, state or national level, have all become highly organised and tightly arranged, so tightly that we have deviated from our original purposes. The speeches and statements are aimed more at attracting the interest and attention of those in power. The more powerful the person the speech is directed at, the higher the praise. The level of tolerance for criticisms and differences of opinion declines, the more powerful the leader becomes. Under such conditions, it is not surprising to see our party's meetings increasingly becoming "endorsement" meetings and not meetings to put forward the laments, criticisms and demands of the people. Not only that, whoever dares to criticise or give a different opinion is branded disloyal and faces all-out condemnation. Concept of Loyalty The concept of loyalty in our party has become confused. Loyalty to the party has become confused with loyalty to individual leaders or those who hold office. Only those who shout, "support and agree" are considered loyal. Those who give different or counter arguments are sidelined or branded troublemakers. This "support and agree" syndrome has killed the readiness to put forward constructive opinions. UMNO constitution In the chapter on elections, my opinion is that every member who wishes to offer himself for whatever position, whether it is the President, Deputy President, Vice President or Supreme Council, should be accepted and not be obstructed with conditions that are too stringent or be prohibited from contesting any position by a decision of the Supreme Council. In the process of choosing the top leadership, the widest opportunity should be given to anyone who wishes to offer himself. All members should be given the chance to record their stand through the electoral process. I am sure that no human in this world is 100% liked or supported. I don't believe Dr Mahathir is supported 100%. I don't believe Datuk Abdullah Badawi is supported by 100% of the members. What is detrimental when a contest is disallowed is that those who face no contest will feel "a false sense of popularity" and "a false sense of security" he will feel that he is so popular and will continue to enjoy full support for life! What is splitting our party is the political culture in UMNO now - both the winning and losing side realise that there will be attempts to finish off the loser's political career. The loser will be cursed, condemned and obstructed not only in their political activities but also to the extent of threatening their rice-bowl. This fate is not limited to those who contest, but also extends to their supporters. His job is jeopardised; his business, his loans, his children's scholarships are also threatened. Not surprisingly, the contests are so intense and finally divisive. Hatred continues, animosity continues and purging continues. Under such conditions, contest within UMNO has truly become a matter of life and death. In my closing speech in 1987, I asked all the delegates to "take good care of UMNO", but today, my plea is "rejuvenate UMNO" and "change yourself before you are changed". Excerpts of a speech by former UMNO Deputy President Musa Hitam when officiating at the annual general meeting of UMNO branches in the Johor Baru division on 19 February 2000. Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan ) ( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net ) ( Bermasalah? Sila hubungi [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pengirim: "Fawzi Bin Kassim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>