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| “Next Change”
Or Re-Run? Will we get the transition we want to see? by P Ramakrishnan Aliran Monthly 2003:9 Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. We also welcome donations.
Well, unless there’s a very deep sandiwara going on that’s invisible to me and you, I’m sure we’ll see Dr Mahathir’s departure from political office in two weeks. Let me take this opportunity, on behalf of Aliran, to assure Dr Mahathir that we Aliran people are not vindictive people. During Dr Mahathir’s premiership and his tenure in the Home Affairs ministry, Aliran suffered many kinds of harassments. Aliran was the target of numerous lies spread about us by the regime’s politicians and servants. Despite that, let it be recorded that at our AGM today we sincerely wish Dr Mahathir ‘Happy Retirement’ – but, in fairness, we leave it to him to see if he can, with good conscience, retire happily while his erstwhile friend, Anwar Ibrahim unhappily languishes in jail. Unless there’s an even deeper komplot afoot, completely unknown to you and me, we can be certain Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will assume the premiership of Malaysia after October. Talking point Between Dr Mahathir’s departure and Abdullah’s ascendancy is a transition. It is transition of power and leadership that has been the talking point for several months. Since the transition is a significant political development, they talk about it in coffeeshops. Even the international media love to write about it. For the record, we in Aliran have also been talking about it. Indeed the current issue of Aliran Monthly is a special issue on the transition and related matters. But whereas certain people only talk about how faultless and beloved a leader Dr Mahathir has been, and how suitable and beloved a successor Abdullah will be, Aliran has critically yet fairly talked about Dr Mahathir’s legacies, the transition, the new regime, etc. We hold that that’s the correct way to keep an eye on the transition between Dr Mahathir’s soon-to-be ‘old regime’ and Abdullah’s soon-to-be ‘new regime’. Maybe some people praise this development as a model of smooth and non-violent ‘regime change’. That’s not something we should sneer at when we see the levels of political violence and power struggles around the world.
Of course, it’s hard to tell until we’ve actually watched the movie. At the very least, however, perhaps even now we can at least say, and say it loudly, what kind of a movie we don’t want to see! More world records Is it true that Abdullah Badawi’s regime will be new, fresh, clean, kind and gentle, as some UMNO and BN and mainstream media people have been trying to tell us? If indeed Abdullah has the honourable ambition of heading a new, fresh, clean, kind and gentle administration, let’s humbly tell him he can’t attain it by being Dr M’s clone – even if Dr M once said the best person to succeed him would be his clone! For us, the transition would be meaningless if it merely makes way for a leader and another regime preoccupied with setting world records by indulging in hugely expensive mega projects and monuments. We would rather see public funds being wisely and properly spent on directly and genuinely improving the lives of the Malaysian people and the non-Malaysians who live and work in our midst and contribute to this country. The transition would likewise be meaningless if it doesn’t bring significant improvement in democratic practices, human rights and civil liberties. Here we should ask of the soon-to-be new leader and new regime some basic questions.
Towards social justice? The transition from Dr Mahathir’s leadership to Abdullah’s leadership will be meaningful for Malaysians in another crucial way if it leads to a more just sharing of resources and wealth that directly and considerably benefits the poor and the needy who have been marginalized over these past two decades. We need urgently to ask:
What we do know is that the social, environmental, political and moral problems that we live with today can’t be all blamed on one person alone. Where were they? Were Abdullah Badawi and the likely members of his ‘new’ Cabinet not members of Dr Mahathir’s many Cabinets? Where then were Abdullah Badawi and the likely members of his ‘new’ team:
Or will we simply find a re-run with the same lousy script of:
Or are we to expect that the transition that’s planned will be imposed on us, with the powers-that-be hoping to continue with ‘business as usual’? Cleansing the system 
Speaking for myself, I’d like to imagine that conditions would improve considerably after the departure of a strong and wilful leader who brooked little dissent.
Should that be the case, Aliran people can just sit around twiddling their thumbs for want of things to do in the near future! But I’m old enough and, hopefully, wise enough not to pin my hopes on particular individuals when it’s the political system that needs urgent cleansing and extensive repair. We must go on doing the things we’ve done well in Aliran:
Via that way, and that way alone, we might help to bring about the kind of transition we all want to see.
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But I’m old enough and, hopefully, wise enough not to pin my hopes on particular individuals when it’s the political system that needs urgent cleansing and extensive repair.
