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Malaysia's ruling UMNO under pressure
ABC Radio Australia - September 29, 2011
Prime Minister Najib, who's widely expected to call early elections next year, earlier this month indicated he was reviewing the unpopular Internal Security Act, which allows for detention with trial.
The next general election is due in 2013 but recent handouts to the poor, coupled with moves to reform the ISA, have fuelled talk that the government is preparing for early polls, ahead of a deteriorating economic outlook.
S. Arutchelvan, secretary-general of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, says the government has also been unnerved by the recent Bersih Movement for free and fair elections.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: S. Arutchelvan, secretary-general, Parti Sosialis Malaysia
Arutchelvan: You see, when Najib made that announcement (of abolishing the ISA), he said that it was for survival (of the party), and looking at that, an early election is possible. But then, going by Najib himself, because of our experience of him, we find that under pressure, he normally postpones. So we don't think the government is really prepared to do (early) elections in November, which is what many people are expecting. It might be much later, but on the other hand, there's always this question that, if it's later, it may be worse off, so it may as well have early elections, rather than later.
If you look at the situation post-Bersih, the movement seems to have a life of its own. You see many young people getting involved, like perhaps wearing yellow every Saturday. So it's a continuous thing, rather than a one-off thing. And interestingly, Bersih is not led by the political parties. Many people are comfortable with it, getting more involved, getting more brave to come out to the streets, and I think it's a very new development in Malaysia. And it looks like the Opposition parties are the ones trying to get into that limelight.
Lam: But would you go as far as to say that being pro-Bersih does not necessarily mean anti-UMNO. In other words, are there UMNO members, actively or inactively supporting Bersih?
Arutchelvan: I think there're alot of people within UMNO, you know... UMNO is actually very weak now, and many are not very happy with UMNO. And of course, it's very hard to do it in the open, but you see, in many areas, we see alot of people getting involved (in Bersih) and alot of these people are actually former UMNO members. And I think that's what makes Najib now... you know, he's been having radio shows with younger people, he's been abolishing all the draconian laws. I think that itself shows that he's in a very desperate mood, to make reforms.
Lam: Malaysia is modern and prosperous as a nation, and yet, the Parti Sosialis has been talking alot about the urban poor and about the oppression of workers in Malaysia. Can you tell us about this "urban oppression"?
Arutchelvan: You know, actually Malaysia has the second highest income disparity in Asia, you know. Only second only to Papua New Guinea, and it's the highest in Southeast Asia. So we have a situation where the poor are quite, alot are finding it difficult to make ends meet, and many have double jobs. Recent statistics by the government say that thirty percent earn below the poverty line. So there is now alot of government aid like subsidies have now been taken away. We used to have subsidies for bread and sugar, but these have been taken away. So, there's alot of hardship faced by the people, and especially those in the urban poor, because they have to buy everything and they have to pay rental. And I think that's why there's alot challenges for the government – to implement the minimum wage – they're trying, but it's not happening.
You see, in the last few years, this issue of race is slowly diminishing, because previously, the non-Malays always say that the Malays are much better off, they're getting government aid, and all that. But in recent times, statistics have shown that the biggest number of poverty (the poor) is still with the Malay community, and er....
Lam: This is in spite of successive New Economic Policies favouring the Malays?
Arutchelvan: Yes, because the NEP favours.. er.. it escalated a new upper-middle class Malay community, but then, alot of Malays feel cheated, and they can't make it in society. So UMNO is caught in a... you know.. one part they say the NEP is successful, another part they have to show the Malays are poor, in order to maintain the NEP, the New Economic Policy.
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