Saturday, January 3, 2009

Umno & BN are splitting and breaking up instead

In the most recent statement by the Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhamad Taib saying that the Pakatan Rakyat would eventually split due to the differences between the three parties mainly DAP, PKR and PAS in their respective principles and objectives.

We would like to remind Tan Sri Muhammad, these differences shown in the Pakatan Rakyat does not mean our coalition is splitting and would not last. The differences as demonstrated in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition reflects the true nature of democracy in practical which has been carried out by DAP, PKR and PAS in making known to the public of their differences and to prove that even so, we could still come up with joint resolution and work towards strengthening our opposition coalition.

The true democracy as shown by the Pakatan Rakyat also demonstrate the transparency nature of communications between all coalition parties which will also reflect to the people and voters that differences between partners can be debated and mutually discussed in order to provide and to gain better understanding amongst parties concerned. Therefore, in Pakatan Rakyat no parties are dominant and all coalition partners are treated equally.

The major differences here is Barisan Nasional (BN) even though a coalition of political parties consist of Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, SUPP, SPDP, PRS, PBS,UPKO, PBB, LDP and the rest, it operates like a secret society. All its issues and matter are discussed in a closed door manner and the people and the voters are not allowed to gain any information on the inside communication between them.

Umno, being a dominant party in the BN dictates and decides most of the coalition policies, where all its component parties are required to follow them strictly without any debates, discussions and so on. Whoever or if there are any members of MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, SUPP, SPDP, PRS, PBS, UPKO, PBB or LDP who voted against or abstain on any policies or proposal tabled in the parliament or state assembly, the said member would be penalized or punished with suspension or possible expulsion.

So, is there democracy in BN actually? The simple answer is no, because Umno is dominant and the others would just listen and listen blindly without debating the disadvantages over the advantages. There are no real collective voice in the BN coalition when it comes decision making as a whole as every single move in the coalition has been decided by Umno and its supreme council.

BN is failing because of Umno is failing. The very reason behind these failures are because Umno is very, very much tainted for decades with corruptions, vote buying, money politics, factional fighting, and power tussles amongst top leaders from within. Every faction in Umno are fighting to take control of the party and encourage the other BN component party leaders who supported the respective Umno factions to do so. So, when Umno’s infighting starts, the other BN component parties will follow. For an example, when Abdullah retires in March 2009, then Najib takes over as both prime minister and Umno president, the pro-Najib factions in MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, SUPP, SPDP, PRS, PBS, UPKO, PBB or LDP will also make their moves to tussle with their respective leaderships.

Therefore, the fact here is Umno and BN are splitting and will fall apart slowly and painfully.

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