There was much hype about the forum "Economic challenges for Malaysia post Sept 11" which brought together speakers from the youth wing of the three major Malay or Malay-based parties of Malaysia  Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, head of PAS Research; and Adlan Benan Omar, secretary of Keadilan Youth) for the first time ever agreed to speak on the same topic".

The number of 'giants' that participated in the poorly organised forum, however, did not amount to three.

Yes, by party position and rank, all three are 'giants'', but awkward and soft-spoken Affendi hardly measured up to the label compared with the other two speakers, as I will elaborate later.

Poorly organised

The forum itself was poorly organised. While the press invitation letter stated the three speakers as participants in the forum, leaders from Keadilan and PAS were earlier baited to the event with the knowledge that the more reputable Khairy Jamaluddin, also an Umno Youth exco, would be representing the party. But he pulled out a few days before the event.

Since the organisers had not stuck to the original terms of invitation, Adlan and Dzulkifli were said to have planned to withdraw, but capitulated when the Keadilan office received a desperate call from the office of Stephen Doss (President of Persatuan Pemuda Negara Malaysia) that Khairy would make it  rather, he more radically challenged the assumption of the topic that Sept 11 had such an immense effect on the country.

"Sept 11 does not erase Sept 2 and Sept 20," said a confident Adlan as he compared Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's economic policies with those of his nemesis Anwar Ibrahim. He also criticised the government's manipulation of the Sept 11 attacks to legitimise detention without trial.

He outlined three scenarios of a post-Mahathir economy  an honest and committed group of policy makers; and an open and transparent allocation of tenders, with the Economic Planning Unit accountable to Parliament. The cosmetic appearance of economic reform, reiterated Adlan, would not be far-reaching as the government has no political will to enforce it.

Towards a civil society

The opposition crowd was understandably pleased with a psychological victory in Umno's own building, having been subject to many restrictions for talks and political rallies. When answering critical questions from the floor, Affendi failed to give a satisfactory answer. Asked on the success of our privatisation programme, he merely said, "It was successful, but as in any policy there are weaknesses and we will overcome those weaknesses."

The poorly-organised event had to come to an end at 1.30pm as it was 30 minutes over the allowed time in the permit applied by the organisers and police had begun to enter the hall. The reformists were not deterred and filled the hall with the strains of Suara rakyat.

Forums such as this should be encouraged as part of the development of a civil society yet it remains a rarity in our country. It was disappointing to see how Umno Youth saw the forum as a non-event while opposition supporters eagerly crowded the hall to witness it. While the organisers should improve their handling of the event, it is hoped that a better forum that is taken seriously by all parties be held in the future.

NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD is a committee member of the Political Education Unit of the Institute for Policy Research and editor of SuaraAnum.com.