Needed: A Set Of Overriding Guiding Principles

People may remember that before March 8th this year, the mainstream media portrayed Pakatan Rakyat as a motley bunch of vastly different organisations, with disparate backgrounds, and differing ideals and goals. The mainstream media accused Pakatan Rakyat of being nothing more than a marriage of convenience -- one that was set up merely to achieve the numbers needed to put PKR, DAP and PAS into power. Some people have also questioned whether Pakatan Rakyat can be considered to be validly in power, as Pakatan Rakyat itself is not registered as a society and is therefore not lawfully empowered to form the state governments. This, however, is not the question to be addressed in today's post.

Barisan Nasional is a society registered under the Societies Act. It is governed by the Registrar of Societies. (If I am mistaken, kindly correct by leaving me a comment) Its status as the federal government, and also government for several states, is therefore proper.

What is important is that the same allegations that were levelled at Pakatan Rakyat before March 8th, can also be said to be true of Barisan Nasional. Is Barisan a marriage of convenience? A coalition of disparate organisations, with differing goals and ideals? Barisan is made up of fourteen (14) component parties. These component parties do not have altogether similar goals / ideals. The various component parties of Barisan want different things: some want the supremacy of a certain community; others want to ensure the welfare of certain ethnic communities; and yet others seek to realise the existence of a peaceful multiracial, multireligious and multicultural society. In short, it can be said that the Barisan coalition is also, in a manner of speaking, a marriage of convenience.

I once asked somebody whether Barisan Nasional has an official ideology. What did I mean, he asked me. I said that it was simple. The current situation has played itself out again and again. It is clear that supremacy of a certain group is being pushed by one component party only. When other component parties speak up against it, they are accused of acting against the spirit of the Barisan. Similarly, when certain unhealthy policies (that enable the creation of wealth for a small section of a certain community) are questioned, those who raised the issue are again accused of straying from the spirit of Barisan. But when a certain youth leader raises a certain dagger at his party's annual general meeting, the other component parties are told to accept it.

All of these problems would not have arisen in the first place, if Barisan Nasional had an overriding set of principles to guide its leaders. It is crucial that this overriding set of principles be enunciated, so that component parties will know what policies to undertake in unison, and which matters to disagree on (by agreement). It is when we recognise what we agree to disagree, can we demarcate the borders that separate us and our national harmony. In time, we can work out our differences, because we can identify the causes of our problems. Principles such as natural justice, and fairness, and equality, buoyed by the concepts of mutual prosperity, free education, and top notch healthcare, can be a starting point. I am quite certain that we all seek a brighter future for all our descendants, and we all share a hope that civil war will be a remote, far away possibility.

In working out our differences, and establishing a set of overriding principles, the Barisan Nasional must learn to discard the age old mechanism of "closed door discussion". Discussions are meant to be open, because the contents of the discussion ultimately affect the welfare and the future of all citizens of this country. It is not enough to usher everybody into a room, hold a pow-wow session stretching several days, and in the end open the doors just to announce "we have an agreement". What eventually happens is that issues which have been "settled behind closed doors" become issues again, when another youth chief takes over, or when a new president takes over. These new leaders, in search for popularity in their own parties, tend to press the "hot buttons" of racial issues. No doubt, in racial parties, playing the racial card will win these aspiring leaders points, but in the long run this affects the unity and harmony of the component parties. Worse yet, issues which have been debated once before behind closed doors, must necessarily be debated afresh, with certain parties knowing the way the last "closed door discussion" went and having had opportunity to anticipate arguments against them.

If the results of discussions of Barisan Nasional component parties can be compiled, and distilled into guiding principles, the said set of overriding guiding principles that I referred to earlier, can be grown organically. Principles will be added from time to time to the existing set of principles. This can only be beneficial to all component parties, who by now must be quite tired of being dictated to by an overly dominating leader. After all, the whole idea of the Barisan to begin with was the balance between the members of the Alliance, and the other component parties. What has taken place in actual practice is that the non-Alliance component parties of Barisan have exuded only a pale silence, with no disagreement being registered. The fact is that component members of a coalition have as much a right to determine the direction of the coalition. There is a right to voice dissent. The time has come for a new way of doing things. This change will benefit all component members of the Barisan Nasional coalition. Again, I cannot stress enough the benefits that a set of overriding principles can do to facilitate healthy, and principled, discussion amongst component members of the Barisan Nasional. It is time to learn to agree to disagree. And also time to install in place a guiding set of principles that will facilitate constructive discussions.

The following may be of much use for the reader of this post:

1. Bernama, 2nd Dec 2008, All Quarters Should Stop Talking About Malay Supremacy
2. New Straits Times, 1st Dec 2008, "Discuss Touchy Issues In Private"
3. The Sun, 1st Dec 2008, Najib to BN Leaders: Discuss Ketuanan Melayu Issue Internally
   
4. Malaysiakini, 5th Dec 2008, Wan Mutalib: PAS to Capitalise on Infighting in UMNO, BN
5. Malaysiakini, 5th Dec 2008, "Time for BN to hold annual convention"
6. Malaysiakini, 4th Dec 2008, "Ruling party jeopardising racial unity."
7. Malaysiakini, 3rd Dec 2008, Reform of UMNO doubtful, says sacked ex-Minister
8. Malaysiakini, 1st Dec 2008, DPM: Use BN channels to resolve Ketuanan Melayu issue