Abdullah being compared to ex-Soviet leader Gorbachev

Abdullah being compared to ex-Soviet leader Gorbachev
Power brokers feel PM may be unceremoniously forced out

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — Along the corridors of power and in Umno circles, the name of one former world leader is being tossed around with increasing frequency.

The more Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi talks about reforms and attempts to push the envelope to change things in Malaysia, the more some people feel that he will follow the path of Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader credited with carving open the Soviet Union with sweeping reforms before being unceremoniously forced out of power.

The similarities between the two may only be partially correct. Unlike Gorbachev, who caught the imagination of Soviets with this policy of glasnost and perestroika, Abdullah’s only claim is that he opened up democratic spaces in the country, and allowed dissent to flourish.

His pledge to tackle corruption, create a more transparent government and other reforms were largely still born in his first term as Prime Minister.

Below is how two commentators view Abdullah through the Gorbachev prism.

Hishammuddin Rais thinks that Abdullah must get credit for the changed political environment in Malaysia today and likens him to Gorbachev, saying that like the Soviet leader, he too inherited a country that was repressive and autocratic in nature.

“What we are seeing today is the result of four years of Abdullah’s perestroika and glasnost. While it is true that corruption is still widespread, that Abdullah has not been able to free himself of nepotism and cronyism, that the media is not free… But the people who want Abdullah to step down have not examined the democratic spaces opened by Abdullah. Like the USSR under Gorby, they are nostalgic for a return to the iron-fist days,” he wrote recently.

In contrast, Johan Saravanamuttu of Singapore’s ISEAS says that Abdullah’s contribution to the situation in Malaysia is not unlike that of Gorbachev in the collapsing Soviet Union, with arguably different nuances and in a somewhat different political context.

“Abdullah’s glasnost (political opening) was largely unintended and rode on the back of a vibrant civil society that had matured since the 1980s thanks to the emergence of a Malay middle class, a salutary effect of the NEP.

“However, Abdullah’s own perestroika (reform agenda) proved to be an egregious failure and accounts for the current development, “he said recently.

In short, because Abdullah failed miserably as a reformer in his first term, Malaysians took matters into their own hands, voted out his government in four states and gave the Opposition 82 seats in Parliament.

Hard to argue with Saravanamuttu’s analysis of the PM’s failed perestroika policy but Hishammuddin is right when he credits Abdullah for opening up democratic spaces in Malaysia.

Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenivasan also paid him tribute for encouraging differences of opinion during a speech at a dinner on Thursday.

By and large, he has not clamped down on dissent within BN or Umno and has given the media some leeway to report on wrongdoings in the administration, sometimes to the displeasure of Umno members.

But the question remains whether Abdullah will be brave enough to push for reforms and whether his party will welcome changes that he is pushing for. Or will they revolt against him and force out of office soon, like Gorbachev.

The evidence so far is that not every senior Umno leader agrees with his plan for judicial reforms. One senior Umno Cabinet minister is worried that the setting up of the Judicial Commission would lead to loss of Malay control of the judiciary.

During last week’s Cabinet meeting, this same minister raised another objection to the commission, saying that the Chief Justice was against its setting up. Abdullah put his foot down and noted that he had sought the views of the CJ personally.

The PM could face the same resistance if he decides to relook the idea of Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. Many in the party feel that he played into the hands of the Opposition by setting up the Royal Commission on the Police Force and opening up the 80,000-strong force to ridicule and humiliation.

He tried to assuage their feelings by offering a watered-down version of the IPCMC, the Special Complaints Commission. The SCC was rejected by the Opposition and also by members of the Royal Commission.

There is a possibility that the government may revisit the IPCMC issue — a risky initiative given the depth of anger in the party towards Abdullah.

The point is that his reform agenda may not jive with what Umno wants. Some government officials appreciate this dilemma but say that Abdullah has little choice. He can either be remembered as the country’s worst prime minister or someone who went down trying to do the right thing.

Or he can be remembered like Gorbachev was after he was overthrown. The conservatives in Soviet Union rejoiced because in their eyes Gorbachev had caused the demise of the old regime while the radicals felt that he had not pushed the reform agenda far enough.