Monday, October 13, 2008

Extensive Work Ahead

1. Come March 2009, there will be a long list of to-do items for all newly elected UMNO leaders. The newly elected President of UMNO has a mammoth task to commence reparation of the party and the coalition if it has not begun.

2. The deadline will be the next general election, set to have more than 60% of voters below the age of 40. The young professionals in Wilayah Persekutuan have unanimously rejected Barisan Nasional. Barisan Nasional also lost the wealthiest state in Malaysia, Selangor. Pakatan's biggest advantage was figuring out how to krazy glue a loose coalition and make it work. DSAI played a crucial role to marry both PAS and DAP. This will be their Achilles' Heel, hands down.

3. It might not be half-bad to consider courting PAS. Not only it strengthens the coalition by increasing the number of Malay votes, but it solidifies BN's position in Kedah and Terengganu. Not only that, Kelantan will be under BN's belt for the first time in 23 years come 2013. In the spirit of coalition, a few federal portfolios should be given to PAS.

4. In ensuring strong racial tolerance and integration, the idea of streamlining our education system must be forwarded. The National Service for our kids at age 17 might be an acceptable module for motivational purposes, but would fail miserably if our kids have been exposed to systematic segregation in their early age. The idea of a one-race party system is acceptable but not at this moment when the house is not in order.

5. UMNO must continue to champion the Malay rights as enshrined in the Constitution and guard the tradition of the Malays. Concurrently, UMNO must ensure that the rights of Malaysians are not in jeopardy and not taken for granted.

6. Membership process must be revamped to attract talent into the party. The idea by Gerakan is not quite practical. Online registration of individual parties should be studied and implemented in the best manner possible.

7. Scores of post-mortems were conducted post-election to dissect the cause of the losses in several states. The findings must be executed to ensure a stronger win in the next general election. The Youth Chief and the young ones must play a bigger role to attract the young voters and understand their wants and needs.

8. UMNO and Barisan Nasional must also be prepared for an all-out PR exercise to counter blogs, internet media and video streaming sites. They fumbled for taking this lightly in the last election.

ps: on a different note, I respect Cheras Division Chief's initiative for creating the funds for Azan and in defence of Utusan Melayu. Clearly Pakatan's push for freedom of speech has been negated by this act by one MP.

3 comments:

bats said...

2. good call on the PAS & DAP coalition of sorts. but we gotta give the voters some due here for actually voting for them. the people must have seen something... unless it was a flat-out message of rejection for the old guard.

3. why the thirst for kelantan? ;-)

4. spot on... NS's motives are questionable, because by 17, the seeds have been sown.

8. while countering might help, the message that is actually spread is more important, i believe.

finally, i wonder how Khir Toyo is doing these days?

opcharlie said...

PR exercise is about impression. from expensive plate numbers to demolished temples and keris, these are issues needed to explained. not all umno leaders are like that. likewise, not all Pakatan leaders are saints and are so innocent. it's the lesser of two evils.

opcharlie said...

watch for the comeback of the keris!