The Malaysian electorate has been naughty. They have been ungrateful and need to be taught a lesson. At least that's how it comes across when you read about the press conference given by Penang state Umno leaders last Thursday.
Here we have people elected into office to bring out the best things for their state and country. But instead, those from Umno have banded together to teach the people of Penang a lesson. As quoted from The Sun , ‘Penang assemblyman Datuk Azhar Ibrahim, who is opposition leader, said he will apply to the federal government to stop all mega projects such as the Penanag second bridge, Monorail Transit System, Penang Outer Ring Road and to leave Penang out of the Northern Corridor Economic Region scheme.
"He told a press conference the Barisan National government had promised all these to the people, but yet they rejected the BN government by voting for DAP and PKR. 'Let them see what DAP and PKR can do for them,' he said.
What do they expect Penang voters to do? Are they supposed to say, ‘I'm so sorry for exercising my right to choose. I promise I won't do it again. Just don't punish us, please! You can do whatever you want in the government! You are so right! We have no right to hold you accountable. Please don't cut off our state funds! We'll behave ourselves next time and fall into line!’
Yes, let us see what the new Penang government can do. It's bound to be better than what we've seen for the last 50 years. When you've gone so far down, with change, there's only room for improvement, no matter how small it may be.
Even now, when they should be taking responsibility, reflecting upon and working to improve their performance, Penang Umno remains arrogant and unrepentant. It's not surprising because a large portion of Umno is doing the same thing all over the nation. The interesting thing is that in BN, we see Umno whining the most and the loudest.
We see the likes of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Hishammuddin Huessin Onn trying to whip up racial sentiments about Penang's open tender system. We have Mohd Khir Toyo making sarcastic and bitter comments about working with the new state government. And now these 11 Umno state assemblypersons in Penang. T
They only know how to think about race and themselves. When relating to the electorate, they only know how to use fear tactics and threats. They don't know how to discuss things constructively, offer compromises and work cooperatively with others. They have no game plan for where to go from here. They don't seem to be interested in changing anything, despite a strong tide of rejection. They're too busy moaning over what they've lost, squabbling over what's left and plotting ways to get revenge.
Everyone keeps talking about watching the new state governments and parliamentarians closely to be sure they keep their promises. But even more so, we must watch BN closely for signs of humility and change. We must keep track of how BN reps vote in parliament. When bills for local council elections, civil liberties and judicial, parliamentary and electoral reform, etc. (things the rakyat voted for in this election) come up in Parliament, how did the MPs vote?
Let's keep track of who votes for or against these things. Let's keep track of who submits the bills, what sort of amendments are suggested and who is suggesting them. Will the BN reps suggest any bills for change in these areas? Will the bills be quality legislation or some kind of watered-down appeasement for the electorate? Will BN reps continue to vote along party lines even if they know they are voting against the wishes of the people?
And what about the state governments controlled by BN? What sort of changes are they going to make? Are they just going to keep to the old habit of touting state development as the answer for everything? Will they take steps to improve transparency and accountability?
Just as there will be a website keeping track of tenders for Penang, there should be website keeping track of the actions of our MPs and state reps. Then we will know who truly deserves to be voted into office at the next election. I honestly hope that four years from now, the electorate will not have collective amnesia and vote these guys into office if they are still the same as today.
We need to see BN make changes. Maybe the component parties of MCA and MIC and others should leave BN and work toward forming one multi-racial party without Umno. They might want to seriously consider this option if Umno doesn't start doing some soul-searching soon. Time is ticking away to the next election and they have a lot of work to do to regain the people's confidence or they could be completely wiped out the next time - completely.
And if you voted for the following Umno candidates for Penang - Mahmud Zakaria, Syed Amerruddin Syed Ahamad, Muhamad Farid Saad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Azahar Ibrahim, Roslan Saidin, Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Shabudin Yahaya, Jasmin Mohamed, Jahara Hamid and Zakariah Abdul Wahab - please consider voting for people who actually have the best interests of the rakyat in mind.
