by Andrew Aeria

The raid on Malaysiakini smacked of blatant double standards

UMNO Youth, the firebrand wing of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s dominant ruling party, recently launched its unofficial electoral campaign in a most dramatic fashion. Its information chief made a police report alleging sedition against a well-regarded independent cyber-newspaper, malaysiakini.com, for up-loading a reader’s letter likening UMNO Youth to the Ku Klux Klan.

Despite Dr. Mahathir’s oft-articulated promise to the world not to censor the Internet, the report prompted a police raid on Malaysiakini’s offices. Fifteen CPUs and four servers were confiscated for “forensic tests” after its editor robustly refused, on professional grounds, to divulge the identity of the letter-writer.

The raid drew severe criticism from numerous civil society groups both within and outside the country. Even Malaysia’s official Human Rights Commission condemned the raid as “excessive”. Many felt that UMNO Youth should have replied to the allegedly “seditious” letter via a letter of its own. After all, hobbled by a government-controlled press with little credibility, UMNO Youth had previously relied upon Malaysiakini’s independent forum to articulate its views to the public.

That the police raid smacked of blatant double standards did not escape public notice. Numerous police reports lodged by opposition parties and other civil society groups in the recent past against UMNO Youth’s alleged racially charged statements and provocative actions have consistently been ignored by the police and the Attorney-General. The high-handed police action thus only sullied the country’s already tattered democracy further.

But UMNO and the BN are presently less concerned about democracy than about ensuring a “smooth” leadership transition and improved electoral success. Malaysia’s political-economic situation is currently acute and not getting any better. Indeed, the country’s economy is staring into the abyss even as Dr. Mahathir heads for a “glorious” exit.

Five successive years of official pump-priming have not brought Malaysia any closer to solving its chronic economic woes. Instead, it has given Malaysians a false sense of economic prosperity even as government debt has ballooned to 71% of GDP. Growth in manufacturing production and exports remain weak and the country faces deep-seated structural problems.

Further, despite its best efforts, the country remains ensnared by crony capitalism undisciplined by lukewarm corporate governance measures. And instead of promoting efficient market forces, the government remains committed to propping-up well-connected public-listed companies, as evidenced by the recent setting up of Valuecap, a RM10 billion investment fund co-owned by government entities, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen. Presumably, the government wants to ensure that the KLSE remains “fairly valued”. But that Valuecap has already helped many BN politician-businessmen raise funds as part of an electoral war-chest has also not escaped public notice. And while some commentators are optimistic about Valuecap’s contributions to the market, others are less sanguine fearing that structural problems, weak market fundamentals, insipid global growth and a looming war on Iraq might well undo Valuecap’s investments.

And if that isn’t enough, Malaysia’s banking sector remains inefficient, saddled as it were with a persistently large bad-loans portfolio and poor customer service. Additionally, Mahathir’s multimedia super-corridor (MSC) is a grandiose flop, more evident on colourful tourist maps than in the presence of companies advocating cutting-edge ICT research and development.

Of late, to ensure a smooth transition of power, pressure has been applied by Dr. Mahathir on many long-standing UMNO and other BN coalition party leaders to step down with him so as to allow Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi a free hand in developing his own team. In part, it reflects Dr. Mahathir’s concern that leaving such entrenched leaders in place might just risk the transition. Many younger BN hopefuls who recognise the signs are already jostling with the “reluctant to step down” old guard for political succession thus threatening BN stability.

Thus, if a politically weak Abdullah Badawi is to remain in control of the whole transition process as well as secure improved electoral success, it is inevitable that authoritarian measures will needs be ramped up to ensure that nothing, not least an independent and influential media like Malaysiakini, is allowed to probe and present the bald truths about the many ills ailing the country’s political-economy. It only reflects the BN’s uncreative but time-proven approach at preserving its political hegemony in a “Malaysia Boleh” democracy.

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