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I'll Do It My Way
Without Anwar or the global economy, Mahathir goes it alone
[09/14/1998] |
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A New vision for Malaysia — page 3
In recent years, however, UMNO has lost much moral authority among Malays. It's been riddled by infighting and been widely perceived as corrupt. The party has also been hurt by the controversial sacking and jailing in 1998 of the then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, once Mahathir's heir apparent and briefly a political challenger. Anwar is still in prison, having served five-and-a-half years of his combined 15-year sentence for convictions on abuse of power and sodomy charges. Many critics in and outside Malaysia have questioned the fairness of those court trials, and Anwar himself has repeatedly asserted that his troubles started only after he challenged Mahathir. UMNO, says Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, "is its own worst enemy."
By embarking on a cleanup drive, Abdullah should be able to improve the public's perception of UMNO—especially among Malays. Already he has backed up his oft-repeated speeches railing against corruption with a swath of prosecutions of mid-level officials and businessmen. There have also been a handful of more high-profile prosecutions, notably the charging with corruption of Kasitah Gaddam, the Cabinet minister who oversaw lands and cooperative development, and of tycoon Eric Chia, who was closely aligned with Mahathir. (The former PM has so far been studiously neutral on the topic of Abdullah's war on corruption.)
Also, in what appeared to be a direct slap in the face for Mahathir, Abdullah announced in January that he was indefinitely suspending what would have been the country's biggest infrastructure project: a $3.8 billion replacement for the country's dilapidated railway system. The contract had been awarded by Mahathir in his final days in office to a consortium led by one of his favored businessmen, Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary. Abdullah says all government contracts will now be awarded on the basis of open tenders, another 180-degree turn from Mahathir's dispensation of goodies. Social activist Chandra says critics shouldn't confuse the Prime Minister's affability with weakness: "There is an iron fist under the velvet glove."
Sitting on a plush, purple armchair in his family's traditional Malay wooden house, Abdullah seems willing to show a little more of the iron fist than usual, emphasizing with uncharacteristic sternness that there will be no compromises—or exceptions—in his drive to curb corruption. Over his shoulder are large photos of the people whom friends say are the three most important influences in his life: his mother, father and grandfather. Those seeking to understand the apparent contradiction in the Prime Minister's character—the steel beneath the smile—need only look to the personalities of the two imams, says Abdullah's childhood friend Mohamed Mohamed Noor. "His grandfather was very, very tolerant and soft and caring," says Mohamed, "but his father was more rough, more forceful. [Abdullah] possesses both sides."
Indeed, when the Prime Minister talks about corruption, there's more than a touch of his father's stern gaze on his normally smiling face. Abdullah flatly rejects a suggestion that his antigraft drive will lose steam once he has won a mandate of his own. "It's not a political ploy," he says, his voice devoid of its usual warmth. "I will continue with my crusade against corruption." It's now up to Malaysia's voters to give Abdullah the backing he needs to fulfill that welcome vow.
With reporting by Baradan Kuppusamy/Kuala Lumpur and Mageswary Ramakrishnan/Penang
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Many are surprised at how much [Abdullah] has done in such a short time. In order to be credible, he has to be different. 
