Rustamocracy

Technorati tags: Humor, Opinion Poll, UMNO, Mohd Ali Rustam, Hegemony

Well folks, so sorry for being away so long. Work, and stuff, you know? Having said that, Walski has been keeping tabs with what's been going on.

Now, is this really the kind of guy we wanna see become our next Deputy Prime Minister?

The guy actually thinks that the Malaysian people are there to serve UMNO. Or something twisted along those lines. And since when did the NEP become an UMNO policy? 

Yeah, yeah... Walski knows full well that all this is not much more than macho political posturing to pander to the UMNO grassroots. Being a Deputy President candidate and all.

But it does underscore one important reality - that it'll be a chilly day in Jahannam when UMNO changes into a more constructive force towards nationbuilding.
(when in doubt, blame everyone else, and more, in the full post)

Seriously, though - what other things... sorry, UMNO policies... does Mohd Ali Rustam foresee an UMNO-controlled governemnt implement?

Perhaps to make Malaysia in line with the UMNO way, General Elections will be abolished. Yeah, that'll make sure UMNO's rule remains perpetual. Especially when all democracy does is get in the way of UMNO hegemony. That'll be like a short cut to perpetual Ketuanan Wonderland. Or something equally sickening.

There's more intrigue from the bowel's of Melaka, though. Let's look at the Malaysiakini article again. Like this part, for instance:

...the current political landscape in which the government acting freely from the party control does not augur well for Umno and the Barisan Nasional.

Umm... okay... so, does that mean only UMNO counts as far as BN is concerned? And the rest of the component parties are there just for window dressing (for lack of a less rude way of putting it)? Interesting thoughts, coming from someone aspiring to be the next DPM. Some might even say perspiring, but that's another story.

But the most mind-boggling part is what follows in the next paragraph.

The people voted for the party to form the government, not the other way around.

Did the people of Malaysia really vote for UMNO to form the government? Don't know about other time-space continuums, but in this one, Walski isn't so sure. And don't even get Walski started on what he meant by "not the other way around" - Walski still hasn't quite figured that one out. Yet. 

Let's look at some numbers, shall we?

Melayu mudah lupa, perhaps, but the Internet has a very long memory. Courtesy of Wikipedia, whose data, of course, comes from other public domain sources, we can discover the following interesting facts (and not Mohd Ali fantasy): 

• From a grand total of 7,944,274 votes counted, BN got 50.27% of the popular vote. Out of that, votes for UMNO candidates accounted for only 29.33% of the total votes cast (translating to 2,381,725 votes).
• Taking the number of seats in Parliament into consideration, UMNO only secured 79. The remaining 61 seats were distributed among the other component parties of BN, with the exception of the Powerless People's Party People's Progressive Party, who got a big fat zero (which is pretty much what that component is these days).
• In this universe, neither 29.33% nor 79 out of 222 equates to a majority.

So, Walski reckons, for what Mohd Ali Rustam said to be true, we would have to redefine mathematics, as well. Perhaps that's what he intends to do once UMNO takes the reins. Or so he hopes anyway.

Posturing such as this, though, on the surface would probably not go down well with the other component parties. Unless they know it is nothing more that - political posturing - for the sake of looking good to the UMNO grassroots. And since this is Malaysian politics we're talking about, anything's possible.

All that aside, here's why Walski thinks UMNO can never change, even though you hear that desire from certain UMNO bigwigs every now and again.

UMNO has been using the precept of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) to gain support from its grassroots. You can tell this by the fact that this precept is about all the grassroots seem to be ranting and raving about (the Viper's Pit of Village Idiots being one example). So, Walski reckons that as long as this is what the UMNO leadership stands for, said leadership can expect support from the grassroots.

Nevermind that March 8th should have told 'em something... instead of remaining in denial and blaming all and sundry.

Now, whether or not the leadership actually buys into the Ketuanan Melayu precept is another matter. What's clear is that thus far, nobody seems to have the cojones to want to rock the boat. With concepts like nation building, or Malaysia for all Malaysians. Nope. It's the grassroots that count, and the grassroots will hear what the leadership thinks the grassroots want to hear.

And so what we have here is really a vicious cycle, of sorts. So how do you change, UMNO?

By what Mohd Ali Rustam said - again; he said pretty much the same thing once before (via Malaysiakini) - the only change we can realistically expect is for UMNO to be the more dominating and domineering entity within BN. More so than it already is. After all, it's the grassroots of UMNO that matters most, not the people of Malaysia in general. 

From Walski's vantage point, what the guy has said reflects the typical mindset of the UMNO leadership. Please the grassroots, save the party. And screw what the rest of the nation thinks, or wants.

Rustamocracy... no matter how you vote, the outcome remains the same. UMNO. And all the strings, chains and heartache that comes with it.

Which leads Walski to ask this very important question... hypothetically, with UMNO totally in control of the wheel, where would it steer the nation? And that, sports fans, is the topic of the latest poll Walski's put up.

It'll be interesting to see what reaction the rest of the BN components will be. Unless they don't say squat. 

Which can only mean one thing... it's all a load of sandiwara hot air, flavored with a load of posturing bullshit. Which also means that if you didn't already realize it, UMNO silly season has definitely arrived.