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.