SEVERAL well-known academics today celebrated the freedom brought to the fraternity following the fall of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government on May 9.

“This would have been quite different before the elections but now there is more freedom. I could even lay it on Umno but you wouldn’t do that to the party now,” said popular Universiti Malaya (UM) law lecturer Associate Prof Azmi Sharom.

“It might come back but let’s not make it too soon,” he joked during his opening remarks at the Towards a new progressive Malaysia post-GE14? forum in UM this afternoon.

The forum was organised by Institute of Research Management and Innovation, Faculty of Law and the UM Academic Staff Association. The session was moderated by Prof Mohd Hazim Shah Abdul Murad.

The jovial mood was unprecedented and kudos to the sole Umno representative, Johor’s Layang-Layang state assemblyman Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who had to endure a quick lecture from one of the participants.

The participant, Irfan, had asked Onn if the party should return the wealth Umno had taken from the country as a form of atonement for what it had done.

Onn agreed that Umno should give back to society although he did not elaborate.

The session began with International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president Chandra Muzaffar asking why so few within BN were willing to speak up against the biggest scandal in the world.

“All except two or three, so many key people had chosen to remain silent so as to not upset the status quo,” said Chandra.

He said Malaysia had the political culture of neo-feudalism, where people are told not to question authority but have unquestioning loyalty.

“But this culture had grown weaker as the democratic process became stronger and hence, the last elections was where ordinary Malaysians spoke up against a monumental scandal,” he added.

Selangor exco and Sri Serdang lawmaker Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) victory can be attributed to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who led the charge.

“At first, we weren’t very sure about calling Najib Razak a thief as he was the prime minister. But Dr Mahathir went ahead and called him ‘pencuri’ and that gave us the confidence to do so,” said the Amanah leader.

She said Dr Mahathir’s status as a former prime minister galvanised the support needed for PH to topple BN.

Chandra said that Kedah voters were willing to say “they won’t vote for a ‘pencuri’.”

“It’s quite unprecedented,” he added.

He said this showed that integrity is important to the ordinary voter and the new government must pay attention to this when Parliament convenes.

“Political financing, no more contracts for relatives and associates, an independent anti-corruption commission, parliamentary oversight for important appointments… these must be given due attention when Parliament convenes,” said Chandra.

UM economics lecturer Prof Edmund Terence Gomez said the new government must put in laws to govern political funding and hold more discussions on GLCs.

He said the new government must be mindful of business elites who will try to be close to new powers that be.

“As such, there needs to be more disclosure and transparency. On the GLCs, these are very powerful companies and if the government wants to privatise them it must be careful of who these companies end up with,” said Gomez.

The sole Umno representative, Onn, said the beating has helped BN realise that change is necessary.

“Just as Malaysians need to give the government time and space to make changes, it must also give us the same opportunity to rethink our strategies and rebrand,” said Onn, the great-grandson of Umno founder Onn Jaafar.

PH, he added, must also remember that 52% of voters did not vote for them.

In the last elections, PH had garnered some 48% of the popular vote while BN had around 32% and PAS (17%). – May 25, 2018.