Asia Times: Mahathir's opponents put on notice


	March 28, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Mahathir's opponents put on notice
By Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia - Faced with an erosion of support from the majority ethnic Malays, the dominant party in Malaysia's ruling coalition is hitting back, at times harshly and with a couldn't-care-less attitude, against those it perceives as pro-opposition.

But when the Chief Minister of Pahang state, Adnan Yaakob, vigorously gestured ''the sign'' toward supporters of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) during nomination day on March 21 for an upcoming by-election, many Malaysians were dumbfounded.

An open palm hit against the thumb and first finger of a clenched fist of the other hand is the ultimate vulgar gesture in Malaysia, one that you don't expect to see from mature Malaysian adults, let alone a senior politician.

Photographs of the chief minister in action were quickly posted on websites and spread like wildfire via e-mail. If that wasn't enough, more curious Malaysians can download an MPG video-and-sound file of the incident from the Internet and replay it to their hearts' content. In the video clip, three ruling coalition supporters, perhaps realising that such behavior could be potentially damaging, can be seen gently trying to push down the hand of the clearly buoyant chief minister.

The by-election on April 1 is the first big test for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's United Malays National Organization (Umno) since last November's general election. Although the ruling coalition retained its two-thirds parliamentary majority, Umno, the country's largest party, lost key ground to PAS. Alarmingly for Umno, analysts say the majority of ethnic Malays, who make up about half the country's 22 million population, voted for the opposition.

The latest round of retaliation against opposition supporters has centered on Malacca state, south of Kuala Lumpur. The state government there has blacklisted over 20 local contractors for supporting the opposition during the last general election. The list has been sent to all state agencies and their subsidiaries for them to exclude the contractors from tenders for state-funded projects and contracts.

Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam said the action was not solely due to the contractors' moral support for opposition parties but also because they had financially assisted these parties. ''It is only fair that priority is given to companies that support the government,'' he said.

Mohd Ali also confirmed that the state had taken action to end the services of 21 state panel doctors and close its fixed deposit accounts at two banks whose employees were said to be pro-opposition. He also called on federal agencies and privatized federal bodies to stop their business dealings with opposition supporters.

''It's confounding that they are doing this, all these repressive measures,'' says political analyst Dr Maznah Mohamad, ''How can these measures possibly win back Malay support?'' Others see the measures as posturing by Mohd Ali to win a higher profile ahead of Umno's party assembly and polls in May.

More repressive measures followed, this time from Kuala Lumpur. The Home Ministry has confirmed that the publishing permit of popular pro-''reformasi'' magazine Detik has not been renewed. The ministry gave no reason for the ban. The bi-monthly commanded a sizeable following among supporters of the reform movement, unleashed by the ouster of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

A ministry official, however, was reported as having told the magazine's editor that the magazine was banned because ''the original permit was handed over to another party''. Whatever the reason, Detik's management has incurred losses of over 360,000 ringgit following the magazine's suspension on December 1, when its permit expired.

The banning of Detik follows heavy restrictions on the sale of popular opposition newspaper Harakah, published by PAS. The government slashed the permitted frequency of the bilingual tabloid from twice a week to twice monthly, saying it had violated terms of its license. But the truth is, the publication had played a key role in boosting PAS's profile among Malaysians.

Mahathir's recent stewardship of Umno is likely to come under the spotlight during the Umno general assembly, during which he is expected to be returned unopposed as party president. Such is the tight control exercised over Umno that an attempt to put up a potential challenger for the presidency, Razaleigh Hamzah, has foundered. Razaleigh has gained only one nomination from Umno divisions, against 118 for Mahathir. Under new party rules, obviously aimed at making it difficult for an incumbent president to be challenged, a contestant for the party's top post needs to collect 50 nominations from the 165 Umno divisions nationwide to be eligible to contest the party polls.

''Forget about the Umno election; it's a non-issue,'' says Maznah. ''There's no question of reforming Umno. It's not happening in Umno.'' More significant than the Umno elections, says Maznah, are attempts to draw in the Malay sultans, who are regarded as the heads of Islam in nine states, into efforts to try to ''unite'' Malays.

A local daily reported that Mahathir had briefed the traditional Conference of Rulers (monarchs) last week on national matters including ''the extent of disunity among Muslims''. ''They take this matter seriously and have promised to take appropriate action to unite the Muslims here,'' said Mahathir.

''That is very scary,''' says Maznah, who feels that it could be the precursor of attempts to centralize Islamic law and make it uniform under the control of a ministry, instead of leaving it to the various states as is the case now. Already there have been rumblings in official circles that political parties should not be involved in religion - a veiled reference to PAS, which has ridden on its Islamic credentials to take control of two state governments.

''Mahathir is going to resolve the issue of Umno's loss of Malay support not by reforming the party but by overturning what's outside the party,'' says Maznah. This could also mean another round of constitutional amendments with respect to the control of Islam by the different states, she observes. ''The long-term objective might be to centralize Islamic laws and institutions.'' '

For all its efforts, Umno's attempt to recapture lost ground has won it few friends of late. Instead, its controversial moves - best exemplified by the Pahang chief minister's hand gesture - have only reinforced the widespread perception that the party is out of touch with the very people it is supposed to represent.

(Inter Press Service)

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