Khairy is trying to move back to the centre of Malaysian politicsOCT 24 - Nothing clears the mind and provokes change like the prospect of death. This is true also of political demise, it appears.
Khairy Jamaluddin, facing a tough, tough battle to stay in the hunt for the top position in Umno Youth, is sounding more like a Malaysian politician these days, instead of the young upstart who riled non-Malays with his narrow rhetoric and defence of the ultras in the ruling party.
Truth be told, this change has probably come too late to salvage his reputation outside his party. Truth be told, his embrace of reforms, openness and liberalisation of the political space will win him few votes in Umno, where the accent is on keeping the status quo.
Even Khairy knows that with his father-in-law on the way out and his ideas out of step with the party, the prospects of Umno members giving him their support over Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and Datuk Dr Khir Toyo are tough.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Sun, he touched on:
# Openness, democratisation, liberalisation of political space in Malaysia under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi:
“Unfortunately, to be honest with you, this issue is unpopular within Umno. Umno doesn’t like free press. Many people in Umno blame our present political predicament on freer press. We talked to Umno members, they said, why is the television showing this and that? They’ve not come to terms with this open environment."
# His platform:
“I’d like to offer myself as somebody a little bit different. I think the people who are standing against me have come up on the record saying they don’t agree with reforms to the judiciary, they don’t agree with proposalsto strengthen the ACA to become a more independent commission.
"I’d like to bring a slightly different voice to Umno. I want to say that these issues are very important to the public. No man is an island and no political party exists onto itself. We must talk to the public. We must reach out to the public. And by the public, I don’t mean just the traditional Umno strongholds in the rural areas for which development is very important.
"I’m talking about the urban areas, the young people, who are talking about freedom, good governance, building institutions. So, I’m offering myself as this candidate who is talking about these things. People aresaying, why are you talking about this? People in Umno don’t care about these things.
"It doesn’t matter if people say these things don’t sell in the Umno Youth race but I’ve got to say it because nobody else is saying it. If you are contesting for Umno Youth leadership, you are not just speaking to theparty, you are speaking to the country. And if I can’t speak to the country on what I believe in, then I’m not doing myself any justice and also to members in the Youth."
# Ketuanan Melayu:
“Well, Ketuanan Melayu is a phrase with a particular context. It is very much something to do with the Rulers – their role, their place – and how they reflect the position of the Malays in Malaysian society. That’s what Ketuanan Melayu is about. It’s not about supremacy. It’s not about Malays’ overbearing agenda over other ethnic communities in Malaysia.
"Ketuanan Melayu has a particular context. It’s not a context of master-and-servant or master-and-slave. It’s a context of the position of the Malays as enshrined, codified in the Constitution of the Federation, saying yes, the Rulers are Malays. So the Rulers are the Tuan. They are Tuan for all of us, not just for the Malays, but for all Malaysians. That is the specific context of
Ketuanan Melayu."
# On the recent statement by the Malay Rulers on the social contract:
"My view is that the Rulers have come out with a reminder that there are certain things which are sacrosanct in this country. The position of the Rulers, Article 3 about Islam as the religion of the Federation, Article 153, and also this amorphous thing called the social contract.
"The social contract was not just the so-called bargain before independence. It evolves. The social contract is dynamic but it was rooted in the first agreement between the Alliance leaders – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Cheng Lock, Sambanthan and all, saying, okay, we got to come together, citizenship rights, etc. But, what I do believe as a young Malaysian today is that I wholeheartedly respect the position of the Rulers. It’s very important to say these things are sacrosanct.
“However we need a contemporary articulation of the social contract. That is something very important because the context in which the social contract was initially agreed to and evolved in the first 10, 15 years of Malaysia after Merdeka is no longer there. You have non-Malays, my age, my generation, who were born here.
"Their parents were born here, they are second, third generation, maybe even fourth generation, especially ifthey are Peranakan – six, seven generations. To them, there is no context of an immigrant society because they are Malaysians. They were born here and feel very strongly about Malaysia. And for Malays as well, some of us still feel very strongly about historical baggage. But some of us said we don’t need this kind of things, we don’t need the privileges anymore. And so they forget the historical context. So we need to come together tore-articulate the social contract so that my generation can understand it, so that my generation can own it."
# On the lessons of March 8 for Umno:
“The March general election has told us that there are certain things that people are not happy about in Umno and Barisan Nasional. Generally speaking, people still like BN, still like Umno. But I think people don’t like the way we carry ourselves, the way we do things. I suppose, as an example, people actually like the party but not the people leading the party, termasuk saya sendiri juga (including myself). Maybe as someone said to me the other day, this is the perception, whether or not it is true. He said: “We were excited when we went into Umno because we thought we were going to change Umno but Umno ends up changing us.”
# On whether BN can be reinvented:
“I think so, because BN has history on its side. We have real respect among one another. But the level of multi-ethnic camaraderie within BN is still lacking. It is as though we only come together for electoral purposes because we are part of this pact, the same coalition. There is no genuine feeling of a shared destiny, of a common future. That’s something we have to change and I feel very strongly about that."
Going through the interview, it is clear that Khairy is trying to move back to the centre of Malaysian politics; the result of being jolted by the seismic change on March 8 and the realisation that the many party members showered him with praise and attention only because of his proximity to the power centre.
Fact is, he will need more than a few interviews and stump speeches to persuade Malaysians that this is who he really is. Fact is, he is courting political suicide by campaigning on a Malaysian platform to a party whichonly pays lip service to the concept of multiculturalism and multiracialism. -- MI
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