Electoral victory brings heavy burdern for Abdullah Badawi

K.S. Nathan The Straits Times Asia News Network Singapore

Malaysian voters went to the polls a week ago to give the ruling 14-party Barisan Nasional (BN) a clear endorsement of the need to continue maintaining an open, pluralistic, democratic, progressive and internationally competitive society.

Since the embarrassing results it obtained in the 1999 general election, UMNO, the leading party in the coalition, has come out of the ditch to re-engineer itself by recruiting young Malays, including women, and promising them a better future under BN rule.

UMNO's legitimacy with the Malays has arguably been substantially restored at both parliamentary and state levels. Like Mahathir Mohamad before him, the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, emphasized progressive Islam as a counter to the opposition party PAS' version of an archaic and even regressive Islam.

The Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) obviously underestimated the political sophistication of Malaysians, including Malay-Muslims who, by their vote, have rejected simplistic approaches towards governance. Malaysians are sufficiently globalised now to know what they want, and to know what to expect from a government they elect.

Badawi has thus far kept to his promise of ensuring a responsive and efficient government -- and to satisfy his Muslim electorate, to pursue a progressive vision of Islam that does not threaten Muslims and non-Muslims alike with punitive measures and policies, but one that can bring out the best in all Malaysians.

PAS had no national strategy or vision to manage a complex society or economy. Although its agenda had, and continues to have, some appeal in certain areas of the Malay heartland, especially the rural north, it was not sufficiently comprehensive to attract the more sophisticated Muslim voters who have risen to political prominence, professional achievement and economic prosperity under the UMNO-designed New Economic Policy (NEP).

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) fared slightly better on its own this time, winning 12 parliamentary seats, compared to 10 in 1999. Support for the DAP among Malaysian Chinese voters stems from a felt need to have a viable opposition that can provide some checks and balances to the BN's policies and practices.

The future of Keadilan is very much in doubt, with only its party president, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, retaining her parliamentary seat in Permatang Pauh by a narrow margin of 590 votes in a recount.

The prospect of Keadilan members returning to the ranks of UMNO cannot be ruled out should former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim be released. If that happens, Keadilan would lose its raison d'etre, and once again prove the point that UMNO breakaways, like Semangat 46 before it, cannot sustain themselves over time as the issues they propose to champion are better addressed by the ruling Malay party than by its splinter groups.

Under Badawi's mantle of victory lies his real challenge: How best to maintain stewardship of a rapidly industrializing nation caught in a crucible of Islamic revivalism. Thus far, his three- fold strategy of Islamic governance is one that: Advocates an inclusive framework that recognizes and respects religious tolerance and coexistence in a highly pluralistic society; recognizes secularism to the extent that politics and religion are best kept separate; promotes socio-economic progress in the context of modernization and globalization.

He has to address the issue of leadership transition by replacing several BN stalwarts with younger and more dynamic leaders in order to identify more closely with the aspirations of a younger generation of Malaysians.

His foreign policy must attract regional neighbors and external powers to formulate win-win strategies in the fields of trade, investment and development, while advancing the regional agenda of establishing the ASEAN security and economic community.

As a good Muslim, he also needs to network with the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference, through which he can better market his vision of progressive Islam.

These principles are more easily articulated than implemented. Yet, he has no choice but to operationalise his huge mandate by continuing the war against corruption. He has plenty of work to do in reducing if not eliminating bureaucratic inefficiencies that have eroded the capacity of government to deliver goods and services to the public at a much higher level of satisfaction.

Many local authorities in Malaysia are performing under par due to complacency and even arrogance, forgetting that their jobs are actually funded by the taxpayer. The Prime Minister would do well to review the role of local authorities and bring them more firmly under federal control.

He will be watched very closely by Malaysians and international observers alike for his ability to complete the leadership transition to a younger generation of Malaysians within a framework of political stability, democratic participation and economic growth.

How he deals with a badly mauled PAS in the next few years will determine the caliber of his leadership of a multi-ethnic nation and his own religious commitment to pursue the project of "progressive Islam".

PAS is down, but not out. The Muslim party was put on the defensive in the post-Sept. 11 context when it failed to make a clear distinction between terrorism and Islam. But there is room yet for a renewed advance.

To maximize its own ground, Badawi's "Islam Hadhari" must necessarily project an inclusive agenda that respects religious pluralism in Malaysia. He and UMNO should have grown wiser by refusing to compete with PAS on religion on PAS' turf. He obviously has the confidence to formulate rules of engagement that would ensure that religion is not easily prostituted for political gain.

In short, Badawi needs to rein in the "religious monster" unleashed partly by UMNO's previously misguided strategy of attempting to "out-Islam" PAS and, in the process, coming out second best. In the wake of the recent election, UMNO can feel vindicated that the more effective strategy to contain, if not defeat, Islamic radicalism in Malaysia is by ballots, not bullets.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies.