Malaysia's Malay talks a tussle for core support<\/p>\n
By Patrick Chalmers<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia's main Malay-based parties
\nare inching towards wide-ranging talks as they indulge in
\npreliminary sparring for control of their shared political
\nheartland ahead of a general election in 2004.<\/p>\n
Some political analysts see the talks, which follow a rise in
\nsupport for the main Muslim opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia
\n(PAS), as a question of survival for Prime Minister Mahathir
\nMohamad's ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO).<\/p>\n
But however they turn out, the talks, which look on course
\nfollowing a technical meeting of party officials on Thursday, are
\nlikely to highlight the multi-racial country's most sensitive
\nissues.<\/p>\n
Mahathir's party set the ball rolling by inviting other Malay
\nparties to discuss unity issues within Malaysia's majority ethnic
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
"Within this next year, they (UMNO) will start losing quite a
\nlot of ground among the non-Malays," Shamsul Akmar Musakamal of
\nthe New Straits Times newspaper, a rare outspoken columnist,
\npredicted.<\/p>\n
In looking to the next general election, UMNO's first goal
\nwill be to rebuild support among Malays, a tactic involving calls
\nfor Malay unity that could frighten ethnic Chinese and Indian
\nvoters away from its ruling alliance.<\/p>\n
But for Shamsul, risky as the tactic may be, UMNO has little
\nalternative.<\/p>\n
"For them to survive, they have to secure their own power
\nbase, which has always been among the Malays," he said.<\/p>\n
Malays account for 55 percent of the country's 22 million
\npopulation, with Chinese and Indians making up some 30 percent
\nand 10 percent respectively.<\/p>\n
PAS has accepted the idea of talks but, sensing a chance to
\ngrab more support from Malays irked by the government's record on
\nthe economy, big business and the judiciary, it is keen to switch
\nthe agenda to what it calls broader issues of national unity.<\/p>\n
One Western diplomat suggested that the talks, tipped to bring
\nin party leaders at a later stage, will not amount to much.<\/p>\n
With PAS on the up, the diplomat saw the exercise as a no-lose
\nsituation for Malaysia's more fervent Islamic party.<\/p>\n
"It does PAS no harm to accept. They can say yes, allow talks
\nto go on for months and quietly let them run into the sand."<\/p>\n
Few deny UMNO comes to the talks on the back foot. Even party
\ncadres admit to troubled times for an organization grown used to
\npower since independence from Britain in 1957.<\/p>\n
"UMNO is going through a very difficult period," said Zulkifli
\nMohd Alwi, assistant secretary of UMNO Youth Malaysia.<\/p>\n
"The challenges that we face politically speaking are rather
\nawesome but having said so, it must be seen as a strength of UMNO
\nrather than otherwise that we are prepared to talk to PAS."<\/p>\n
Mahathir's dismissal in 1998 of his ambitious deputy Anwar
\nIbrahim, and the former finance minister's subsequent jailing for
\n15 years for graft and sodomy offenses he says were trumped up,
\nshocked and divided naturally conservative Malays.<\/p>\n
It also alarmed many in Malaysia's legal community, raising
\nserious questions about judicial independence, one of the issues
\nPAS says threatens national unity.<\/p>\n
Mahathir is now in his 20th year at the top. Another problem
\ndogging his government is a debate about questionable business
\ndeals and state interventions affecting Malay-dominated flagships
\nsuch as construction firm United Engineers, car maker Proton and
\nMalaysian Airline System.<\/p>\n
PAS's insistence on tackling these issues, and others party
\nSecretary General Nasharudin Mat Isa says include freedom of
\nspeech, freedom of the press and Islamic questions facing Malays,
\ngoes to the heart of UMNO's problems.<\/p>\n
"From our perspective, the reason they have called us is
\nbecause UMNO is in a very desperate situation at the moment. They
\ncreated this issue of disunity among the Malays," he said.<\/p>\n
"For us there's no such thing as disunity among Malays, there
\nis a shift in support towards the (opposition grouping of
\nparties) Barisan Alternatif," Nasharudin added.<\/p>\n
Fallout from Mahathir's ouster of Anwar helped PAS win control
\nin two of Malaysia's 13 states in 1999 general elections.<\/p>\n
Shamsul said PAS had played an astute hand since then.<\/p>\n
"It's been able to shed some of its more extremist image since
\nthe last general election. Much of this has been because of its
\npreparedness to work with other political parties.<\/p>\n
"Given that UMNO is struggling to hold Malays' support many of
\nthe Malays, though they may not have been comfortable with PAS
\noriginally, are looking at it as an alternative now."<\/p>\n
PAS's challenge will be to keep disgruntled Malays on board
\nits alliance with the pro-Anwar National Justice Party and
\nothers, while soothing more general voter unease about its strict
\nIslamic codes.<\/p>\n
Nasharudin said any extension of Islamic teaching into law,
\nwhich could include the stoning to death of adulterers or the
\namputation of a thief's hand, would apply only to Muslims.<\/p>\n
"The Chinese are very concerned with their businesses, very
\nconcerned with their lifestyle, their culture, their language. As
\nfar as PAS is concerned, their lifestyles, their language, their
\nreligion will not be disturbed," he said.<\/p>",
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