Shahrir Samad: Umno will fare better in next GE
Veteran politician Shahrir Samad has great confidence in Umno’s performance in the next general election.
exclusive Veteran politician Shahrir Samad has great confidence in Umno’s performance in the next general election.
“Umno is not standing still; we have taken steps and have done our analysis. We know which direction we want to go and have decided on our strategies,” the Johor Bahru MP said.
Shahrir revealed that he is happy with the recent amendments of the Umno’s constitution which allows for more delegates to vote and to participate in policy making, although he admitted that money politics will be difficult to eradicate.
He also shared his views on the weaknesses of the current prime minister’s administration.
The seasoned parliamentarian and former minister also offered his opinions on racial politics in Malaysia.
Excerpts of the interview follow. This has been edited for clarity.
Malaysiakini: How do you think Umno will fare in the next general election (GE)?
Shahrir Samad: I think Umno will do very well. In 2004 they did very well with 101 MPs. Today we have 78 MPs. I think we will do better.
Why do you think so?
First of all, we have learnt from some of our mistakes. The choice of (some) candidates was quite bad. I can think of at least three parliamentary seats where we lost due to this.
For example, there was the problem of candidates who did not originate from the particular divisions. The electorate is less and less willing to accept candidates who do not come from their own divisions.
The second mistake was in the choice of candidates. Even if they came from the particular area, in the view of the voters and political machinery, the candidate was not deserving.
Also, I think that in the next GE, the feeling of overconfidence will not be there. And the party will be more careful in the selection of the candidates, and choose only those who are really capable.
Would the Pakatan Rakyat have any influence on the next GE?
I think that they should work on that now, but to me that does not seem to be the case. I don’t see any cohesiveness in Pakatan, whether it is in Selangor, Penang, or Perak.
The cracks are there. Perhaps the only cohesive one is the PAS government in Kelantan. But even then, PAS in Kelantan only won by 65 votes in the Manik Urai by-election which is their stronghold.
What do you think of the amendments to Umno’s constitution in combating money politics?
I am realistic enough to understand and accept that money is the brother to democracy. This is because capitalism is the economic system that is part of democracy.
So you are saying that money politics is inevitable?
You have to accept money and its role in politics. This is because we have come to a stage in Malaysian politics that you have to be reasonably wealthy to be in politics.
When I started working with leaders like Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Razak (right) and served even Tun Ismail, it was impressed upon me as a young man that politics is service and you serve the rakyat.
But now in a democratic situation, money is important in politics.
Do you think that money politics can be eradicated?
I think that it can be reduced. But at the end of the day, how do you become well known in a democratic system to be elected? You must have a reputation for being successful.
To help the people, you need money. Last year, in my constituency alone, my budget was RM160,000 for a welfare programme to assist the poor.
Where did I get this money? From the balance of donations and the funds that I got from the election. And some of them are from donations from friends who supported me. Is that wrong? Or is that money politics? (laughs)
We are more concerned about clear-cut vote buying. The kind of money politics that affects the leadership of the party for example.
I think that it will become more difficult, because with the amendments it means we now have a wider electorate; about 60,000 (Umno) delegates will be voting.
The system now is far better than before when the delegates were only going to the general assembly purely to vote.
But now the general assembly will be more focused on policy making. So now they will be debating, discussing and giving comments. So the role of the general assembly had been transformed.
The voting now will be done by more party members and it is less likely for money politics to be a critical determinant in selecting the leaders of the party.
What do you think of the '1Malaysia' concept?
1Malaysia is a problem because it means so many different things to different people. For me, I look at the (slogan) which is Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan. So for me that is all right.
Does PM Najib Abdul Razak have a stronger cabinet than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi?
I think they seem to be performing quite well. I think what (Najib) has yet to do is strengthen is the communications part. I have told him this. (Otherwise) you have a situation where Star writes an article that RM28 billion is wasted every year, and this is in the (auditor-general’s) report. But the article is not true.
The article said wastage may come up to RM28 billion.
Everybody will forget the words ‘may come up to’. When you say RM28 billion, it was an assumption of 20 percent. But it does not mean 20 percent across the board. This 20 percent applies to projects that are under investigation. To apply this across the board is mischievous.
My contention is the government should address the matter immediately. Not keep quiet and pretend like they don’t know what the people are talking about.
Seeing that racial politics has a big role to play in Malaysia, you don’t think that Umno will open up to non-Malays in the near future?
First of all I suppose Umno has opened up to non-Malays because it went to Sabah.
If I look at the 2008 election, the BN formula that developed from the Alliance formula of power-sharing has been rejected in the urban areas in particular, in Penang (and) Selangor.
If 2008 is proof of a rejection of the BN concept of power-sharing then certainly there has to be some thoughts on what should be next.
Whether the BN concept should abandoned, or to go to the other extreme - as Zulkifli Noordin has suggested - that there should be complete Malay cooperation between Umno-PAS?
Or even the PKR way where everybody comes in and then see what happens. We can see that there are of course differences and difficulties in that format.
The issue here is in politics, history tends to repeat itself, but we also believe that sometimes it doesn’t.
But how do we resolve this issue? An Indonesian, first- generation migrant to Malaysia can join Umno but not a third- generation Indian for example…
There are many Indian Muslims in Umno.
But what if you’re not Muslim? Why is religion such an important factor?
In politics, everything is important.
Don’t you think this is unjust?
You have to judge a party not by who their members are. You can also judge the party by what it does.
It will take a while to overcome this issue of confidence between races, between religions.
So it’s not likely that a Malaysian Chinese be able join Umno in the near future?
Not in the near future.
Tomorrow: On ketuanan Melayu, politics via the Internet and his brother Khalid
