After leaving no room for dissent, party now needs non-Malay support to survive, says ex-DPM Musa Hitam

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia's Umno suffers from being in a state of denial, insulating itself from criticism that has led the party to where it is now -- relying on non-Malays for its survival, former deputy premier Musa Hitam has said.

In an wide-ranging interview with The Star on the political culture of Umno, he said there is "no room for dissension or disagreement in the system".

"Anybody who dares to say no... would almost be 99 per cent sure that his statement would not be publicised and that he would not be approached again."

Tan Sri Musa had said a week ago that Umno was hit by the "sokong dan setuju" or "support and agree" syndrome where leaders are shielded from negative feedback by members who did not want to displease those in power. "Respect means not to displease those in power; you can't say the leaders are wrong, or disagree with leaders, or be offering any alternative idea," he noted.

"Anybody who gives a different view would be branded as disloyal." Asked if there was a culture of fear in the party, he said: "If there are 100 people around you, with 90 saying sokong dan setuju and 10 saying no, you tend to accept that surely, the 90 people are more correct.

"Whereas, the actual situation is, there are 10 people who criticise -- not because there are only 10 -- but because these 10 are the only ones who dare."

Since those who gather information would not allow the negative feedback to reach the top, the result was erosion of support for Umno. "Never before has Umno, the Malay power base, been eroded in the most serious manner ever. Never have we found ourselves in the situation of a Malay political party dependent on others to survive," he said.

What Umno needed, was to get the right feedback and become more acceptable to the Malay community and Malaysians.

He said the party had to do a lot of catching up since Malays have gone far ahead in their thinking.

"The secret of Umno's success was not that we were in step with what the people wanted, but one step ahead. Now I'm afraid we are not even one step behind, as demonstrated in the last election," he said.

Umno fared badly in the December elections, losing Malay voters to the opposition Parti Islam and relinquishing power in Terengganu.

Tan Sri Musa also touched on the need for the older leaders to think of injecting younger talent into the party.

"If there is no injection of new blood, we will suffer from the old syndrome... tired and burnt out.

"It is amazing; when you are surrounded by people of the same age, you tend to think you are young. When I am surrounded by people in their 60s, I think I am young." -- The Star/Asia News Network