Politics & Political Science Issues Essay

POLITICS &
POLITICAL SCIENCE ISSUES

NAME :   HAFIZATUL SALMA BT HARIF FATHILAH
MATRIC NO :   101059
GROUP NO :   808
LECTURER’S NAME :   BRO ABDUL MAJID HAFIZ MOHAMED

Monday March 17, 2008
Umno needs to get back to the people
CERITALAH
By KARIM RASLAN
Umno, the backbone of the Barisan Nasional, also suffered at the hands of its electoral base as seen from losses of many Malay-majority constituencies, especially in the Klang Valley. Could the party have lost touch with the needs of its supporters?
IN the aftermath of last week’s results, Umno and its leaders are in the midst of tearing themselves apart and in doing so, the party that brought us Merdeka is once again forgetting its true cause (representing the people).
At the same time, Umno is also revealing its arrogance – the same problems that led to its stunning reversal of fortune.
Umno must face up to the fact that it is no longer the sole party of the Malay community. Competition for votes is now a fact of life.
Its dominance of Malay and Malaysian politics has come to an end – PKR and PAS have now joined Umno on the centre-stage.
Nothing is more indicative of PAS’ coming of age than Dr Lo’Lo’ Mohd Ghozali’s extraordinary victory in Titiwangsa.
Similarly, PKR has shown its national reach with wins in Pahang (Kuantan and Indera Mahkota), Kedah (Kulim-Bandar Baru, Merbok amongst others) and the Klang Valley.
Whether or not Umno will even continue to play a role into the future depends on how it copes with this setback and one of the most important things for the party to address – intelligently and humbly – is the Malay swing away from Umno.
This in turn has reminded me of two particularly strong memories from my travels across the country during the campaign period: the first was of an Umno convoy on the way to a campaign stop in Kelantan. It was made up primarily of black SUVs and MPVs roaring down a small country lane, brash and oblivious to their surroundings. Only a handful of the cars...