PM Abdullah marks new break with Mahathir era

PM Abdullah marks new break with Mahathir era

M. Jegathesan, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's ruling coalition has made sweeping changes in its
line-up of candidates for elections on March 21, marking a fresh
break with the leadership of retired strongman Mahathir Mohamad.

Some 30 percent of candidates for the National Front coalition
are new, with 20 out of 75 lawmakers for Mahathir's United Malays
National Organization (UMNO) retiring or being dropped, according
to lists released ahead of nomination day on Saturday.

Apart from Mahathir, retiring UMNO veterans include a former
finance minister Daim Zainuddin, a former deputy premier Ghafar
Baba, former ministers Paduka Zaleha Ismail and Napsiah Omar, and
former Malacca chief minister Zahar Ujang.

Supporters say the ditching of other long-standing politicians
in favor of young blood reflects new Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi's pledge to create a clean administration free of
charges of cronyism and corruption.

"Abdullah is trying to impress the voters that the National
Front is sensitive to their demands for clean, honest and capable
representatives," Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO vice president and
minister of agriculture told AFP.

But critics argue the changes are mere window-dressing and do
not go far enough in getting rid of tainted heavyweights in the
party which Mahathir led as prime minister for 22 years.

"I am disappointed," said the head of a Malaysian think-tank
linked to the ruling party who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"All the talk of new faces is only at the second level.

"I thought Abdullah would make far ranging changes. It is only
superficial."

Abdullah took over when Mahathir retired last October, and has
made the fight against corruption a centerpiece of his promises
to an electorate tired of the "money politics" associated with a
party which has been in power for more than 45 years.

A cabinet minister and a tycoon have already been hauled
before the courts over long-standing scandals, but opposition
politicians charge that Abdullah lacks the clout to take on more
powerful figures within the party.

That is also reflected in the election line-up, said another
analyst: "Abdullah is putting his stamp on the country and trying
to disassociate himself from the Mahathir era, but his hands will
be tied when it comes to the heavyweights."

P. Ramasamy of the National University of Malaysia said he
believed Abdullah was strengthening his own power base within the
party while "removing the old guard aligned to Mahathir."

The New Straits Times, which is a strong supporter of
Abdullah's administration, warned in an editorial that those
aggrieved at being dropped or overlooked as candidates could
create "party disunity, factionalism, even sabotage and
treachery".

The paper urged them to put aside their personal interests and
work together to achieve a bigger mandate for the National Front,
which saw some of its support eroded in the last elections in
1999.

The fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) benefited
most from that switch in allegiance and it again presents the
main challenge to UMNO, which heads the ruling coalition and
competes for the votes of the Malay Muslim majority.

While PAS has trumpeted the fielding of a former army general
against Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also defense
minister, UMNO is presenting the youngest brother of King Tuanku
Syed Sirajuddin as its candidate against a top PAS official.