Can UMNO revive public trust in the party?

The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) wants to be a youthful party — one that is more in touch with the younger generation who will be key voters in the next general election.

However, as UMNO tries to rejuvenate itself, there is still the question of whether its young leaders have the ideas and policies that can win over a more critical and sceptical electorate.

This is since, for the first time in years, UMNO’s policies and its governments are compared with rival administrations run by the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP).

UMNO believes that by borrowing from the practice of these parties, which are more open to elevating younger leaders, it can repeat the success its rivals had in the past two general elections.

The party’s senior leadership believes so strongly in this push for rejuvenation that it is willing to fight its “warlords”.

They are the middle-ranking older leaders, who control the party’s grassroots in its 191 divisions and shape public opinion at the community level.

During an election, these division leaders control UMNO’s machinery and it has become standard practice to pick the party’s candidates from among them.

This culture has been so entrenched that younger leaders have been stopped from going up and being chosen as election candidates even if they are more talented and qualified.

It is a culture that has been criticised by the likes of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and, most recently, party No 2 Muhyiddin Yassin.

Mr Muhyiddin, in fact, spent one-third of his speech on Tuesday night, during the opening of the Wanita, Puteri and UMNO Youth assemblies, to talk about rejuvenation and how it was going to save UMNO.

He also castigated the warlords for holding the party back and wants those who had overstayed their posts to make way for better leaders.

REMAINING RELEVANT

However, rejuvenation goes beyond replacing deadwood at the grassroots level. UMNO Youth deputy chief Khairul Azwan Harun believes that for UMNO to really have a chance in the next few years, the Cabinet has to have a better combination of young professionals and seasoned veterans.

“The average age in the Cabinet now is 58. But if you are a 20- or 30- something, it is difficult to believe someone (who is) 58 will know your problems,” he said.

UMNO Youth, especially under Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, has been trying to be a voice and solution to those problems.

He has advocated amending bankruptcy laws and for more schemes to help young salary-earners own houses and, most recently, to help them purchase their first vehicle.

About half of his speech while opening the UMNO Youth assembly contained these policy prescriptions. All these could resonate with young voters. Independent pollster Merdeka Center said the primary worries of younger voters were bread-and-butter issues such as jobs, income, housing and costs of living.

Yet, what is also important is whether the public trusts that UMNOis better than the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), a coalition party made up of the PAS, PKR and DAP, in carrying out policies that will improve lives.

UMNO Youth’s policy prescriptions have to be looked at in relation to how UMNO and Barisan Nasional manage the country.

For instance, while UMNO Youth brings up the problem of housing being expensive, not one delegate at its assembly on Wednesday debated whether to postpone the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Nor did its delegates raise questions about concerns that sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad could bankrupt the economy, that corruption and leakage in government spending continue to be a drain on public funds, and why UMNO was not championing free tertiary education, which the PR has said it is able to do if it takes over federal power.

It would also seem almost contradictory that, while UMNO Youth wants to go out to win over young, urban, educated voters, it still feels the Sedition Act should be maintained.

This is since freedom to question government policy, said analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan, is an important issue to this group of voters.

“Urban voters want liberty, so it is contradictory to call for the retention of the Sedition Act while wanting to get the urban vote,” said Mr Wan Saiful from the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs think-tank.

As it stands, about 43 per cent of Malaysians polled by Merdeka Center last month are dissatisfied with how UMNO, together with Barisan Nasional, is governing the country. About 38 per cent are satisfied with the government.

So, even if Mr Khairy’s party elders allow more of the younger leaders into the halls of policymaking, they still face the uphill task of convincing the public that their ideas are better than those of their seniors and rivals in the PR. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sheridan Mahavera is a freelance writer who covers politics and social issues.