UMNO may suffer same fate as Kuomintang: Mahathir<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's ruling party will suffer the
\nfate or Taiwan's Kuomintang or India's Congress unless it heeds
\nthe \"wake-up call\" given by last November's general election,
\nPrime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"1999 holds an important lesson for us. The erosion of support
\nfor UMNO is a wake-up call for the party,\" the veteran premier
\ntold senior officials of the United Malays National Organization
\n(UMNO) before its annual meeting.<\/p>\n
\"We must strive to revive our party's image...we want UMNO to
\nshift back to its original struggle for religion, race and the
\ncountry.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir told members of UMNO, which was founded in 1946 and
\nhas held power in a coalition since independence in 1957, that
\nthe fate of the Kuomintang, of Congress and of President Robert
\nMugabe could befall them.<\/p>\n
Mugabe's ZANU-PF, who has also ruled since independence, is
\nfacing a tough challenge in an impending election.<\/p>\n
Mahathir told members to \"remember the party's struggle, learn
\nfrom its history and the history of political parties which had
\nfought for independence in other countries and how they were
\ndefeated.<\/p>\n
\"I hope we can stay longer than those parties...but for that,
\nwe must learn how to carry ourselves so that the people will
\ncontinue to like us and to support us.\"<\/p>\n
The National Front coalition kept its two-thirds parliamentary
\nmajority last November, partly thanks to the Chinese and Indian
\nminorities.<\/p>\n
But its largest component UMNO lost 22 seats and ceded control
\nof a second state assembly to the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).
\nPAS also tripled its parliamentary seats to 27, challenging
\nUMNO's credentials as the natural party of the country's Malay
\nmajority.<\/p>\n
Most analysts believe that Mahathir's sacking of his
\ncharismatic deputy Anwar Ibrahim, and Anwar's subsequent jailing,
\nplayed a large part in splitting the Malay vote.<\/p>\n
\"Our struggle has not ended, there is still a lot to do,\"
\nMahathir said. \"When the Malays can stand on their own two feet
\nand compete with anyone.... That is our aim and that's when our
\nstruggle will end.\"<\/p>\n
The government, which has always been Malay-dominated,
\nlaunched an affirmative action program for Malays in 1971, two
\nyears after bloody race riots directed against the Chinese.
\nThe policy, still in force in a different form, aims to narrow
\nthe wealth gap with the more economically successful Chinese. It
\nreserves a number of college and university places for Malays,
\nprovides them with cheaper homes and requires that a minimum 30
\npercent of shares in public companies be held by Malays.<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will Wednesday
\ntell members they must listen to the people to woo them away from
\nPAS, a senior member close to Abdullah told AFP.<\/p>\n
Abdullah will speak at the annual meeting of the youth and
\nwomen's wings, which this year includes elections for senior
\nleaders of both wings.<\/p>\n
The three-day general assembly of the full party starts
\nThursday when elections for its senior leaders will be held.
\nMahathir, who says this will be his last term as premier, and his
\ncurrent preferred successor Abdullah are assured of election to
\nthe top two posts.<\/p>\n
\"Citing UMNO's poor performance in last November's polls, he
\n(Abdullah) will urge them to go to the ground, listen to people's
\nwoes and woo them back into UMNO and away from PAS,\" the senior
\nmember said.<\/p>\n
\"He will press them to meet the people, especially the younger
\ngeneration, and impress upon them that UMNO champions and defends
\nMalays, Islam and the people.\"<\/p>",
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