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Malaysia: Tearful Mahathir Begs Malays To Reject Corruption
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad did it again on Saturday when he cried on stage for the second time in four years during a special meeting of his party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
Talking on corruption and vote-buying practices which he says could ruin his country and his party, Mahathir suddenly stopped talking while he broke down in tears. He even tried to leave the stage but turned back to continue his speech in a broken voice.
He made a plea to his ruling party to reject corruption.
''A specter facing UMNO now is corruption and money politics. We have admitted that corruption has become a part of our culture.''
''So therefore, please help us,'' he said breaking down in tears on the podium.
''Love this community of ours. Love our generations to come; reject corruption.''
The Prime Minister has made similar emotional appeals to UMNO in the past.
“I have advised, appealed, cried and I have prayed,” the 76-year-old Mahathir told about 2,000 members of the UMNO at a convention to debate measures to revitalize the party.
“Reject everything that reeks of bribery for the sake of our race,” the Malaysian leader said, forcing his front bench to turn and look at him crying over the issue. This sent waves of emotion among the crowd of UMNO stalwarts and grassroot leaders who recalled that this is not his first time crying.
In 1996, Mahathir broke down on stage while reciting a patriotic poem in Malay. He went through the recitation in tears and the country cried with him. He was then at the highest of his popularity and the jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was his heir apparent.
During that time, the Prime Minister appealed against “money politics”, which he said was ruining the UMNO, and a plague that he wanted to eradicate for the survival of the Malay race in politics.
In the back corridors of the UMNO, Anwar was being accused of masterminding a takeover from Mahathir with the use of “money politics”, intended to buy UMNO member votes in the party’s elections.
After Anwar’s banishment from the party in 1998, the UMNO faced the same problem of vote buying during its General Meeting in May. The Prime Minister was forced to take strong measures to prevent this from influencing the elections on the party’s key posts.
The UMNO has ruled the country since independence in 1957, but its popularity among ethnic Muslim Malays has waned in recent years. This has been attributed to the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim who remains popular among middle- and lower-class Malays.
Saturday's meeting was originally intended to approve a proposed amendment to the UMNO's constitution, which would have prevented internal elections for senior posts until 2005.
The amendment was to ensure that the UMNO would hold top leadership post elections once every five years, instead of the current 3 years. The amendments did not pass due to the party’s highest body refusal.
Mahathir, who has ruled Malaysia since 1981, said the amendment was to curb rampant vote buying.
The convention is now slated to approve other changes to the party's constitution, including a proposal to force all members to vote in parliamentary elections.
Despite having a membership of nearly three million people, senior party officials have accused many members of not casting ballots during these elections, held every five years.
UMNO’s members are mostly comprised of the country's politically dominant Malays, who make up more than half of Malaysia’s 23 million population. Observers say a large number of traditional UMNO members voted for the Islamic opposition, the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), in the 1999 general elections.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar agreed that the UMNO needed more than just constitutional amendments. He commented that the party needed attitude changes amongst its members to ensure the party remained strong and received the people's support.
Albar said amendments to the party constitution were merely a framework within which to strengthen the UMNO. But more importantly, in order for rel change to occur, members must change their attitude and refrain from indulging in corrupt practices.
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