UMNO’s grand plan for taking back Malaysia

UMNO info chief tells Asia Times party must overhaul race-based affirmative action policies and take a ‘moderate path’ to reclaim power

If the resurgent United Malays National Organization (UMNO) has any hope of restoring its traditional position at the apex of national politics, the party must win over ethnic non-Malays and the urban constituencies where they reside. That’s according to UMNO information chief Shahril Hamdan, 36, who spoke exclusively to Asia Times in a wide-ranging interview.

His view would likely be disputed by party conservatives who advocate a narrower platform championing the rights and state-sanctioned economic privileges of ethnic Malays, the majority population in Malaysia. But electoral arithmetic, Shahril argues, demands that the country is run “in a way that is relatable not just to the conservative base but to broader Malaysia.”

“UMNO in the past had managed to get support from urban, non-Malay constituencies. For UMNO’s survival, that has to come back because political urbanization is a one-way street and all the maps indicate that if we ever want to go back to some form of majoritarian dominance, we need urban support and non-Malay support, at least a significant minority of it,” he said.

The trouble for UMNO is that few voters, particularly those within urban areas, are actively clamoring to return to a time when the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition governed with a supermajority. But what the electorate would likely agree on is the need for renewed stability after three years of uncharacteristic political dysfunction.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Malaysia’s Ismail is all talk on press freedom

Malaysian leader isn’t living up to his pledge to protect the press and uphold free expression

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently extended an olive branch to the media on National Journalists Day to reiterate his view that reporters should remain free to operate without any interference from outside parties, thereby ensuring their constitutionally-enshrined freedom of expression.

“I can give an assurance that the government has nothing to hide in the dissemination of information,” said Ismail, who claimed that ministries and agencies under his administration had always cooperated with and never obstructed media reporting, while also acknowledging the press as a “fourth estate” that contributes to national development.

While domestic media workers were Ismail’s intended audience, the premier’s remarks could also be interpreted as a response to Malaysia’s declining position on international press freedom rankings since the reformist Pakatan Harapan (PH) government’s collapse in 2020, which cut short its bid to rescind and amend laws that restrict and threaten the media.

To strengthen journalism in Malaysia, Ismail proposed during his May 29 speech the establishment of a study center to boost media professionalism and formation of a new journalist association, suggestions that media experts have pushed back against amid rising calls for Putrajaya to formalize instead the creation of an independent media council.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Exclusive: UMNO’s No 2 thinks Najib should go to jail

Deputy party leader tells Asia Times that ex-premier must ‘pay his dues’ in prison for 1MDB-related corruption

Mohamad Hasan, deputy president of the United Malays National Organization and deputy chairman of its ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, described Malaysia as a “struggling” country led by a “backdoor” government in a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Asia Times.

Mohamad, or Tok Mat as he is popularly known, also claimed the root of the nation’s current malaise stems from his party’s failure to “tell the truth” about the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal, adding that ex-premier Najib Razak should not expect special treatment from an UMNO-led government if he is eventually jailed on a slew of graft charges.

“The court is the place where you can prove whether you’re innocent or not. He didn’t prove it. He couldn’t prove it,” said Mohamad, cutting the figure of a maverick unafraid of speaking his mind. “Everybody has to pay their dues. But if we want to pardon, he (Najib) has to go through the process. He’ll have to go inside first.”

UMNO’s second-in-command went on to lament Malaysia’s purported failure to keep economic pace with its neighbors, stating that the formation of two successive governments “not out of a general election” but through parliamentary maneuvers had soured foreign investor sentiment and raised questions about the government’s democratic credibility.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.