Jeff Ooi: Will Umno turn fascist?

In the aftermath of unprecedented and humiliating defeats in five states and the Federal Territory, will Umno resort to fascism to revive?

That's the concern of author and researcher Dr Ooi Kee Beng at the launching of his new book entitled 'Lost in Transition: Malaysia under Abdullah' in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Quote:

"Umno is like (Taiwan's) Kuomintang (KMT) and other parties in the region who were responsible for independence and a lot of these parties had to reform itself like the KMT - a once dictatorial party is a totally a new party today with the same name.

"It is not given that if Umno reforms itself, it would reform like how KMT did - meaning liberalise and play the democratic game. Fascism is always close at hand.

"We don't want that to be encouraged. We should work to not crush Umno but help it along in its reforming process," he told the audience.

Kee Beng is a fellow at the Institute of South East Asian studies in Singapore.

The book is a compilation of articles he wrote on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's governance in the last two year. It is a follow up to his 2006 book, 'Era of Transition: Malaysia After Mahathir', which analysed Umno and tests faced by Abdullah after taking over his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

FASCIST. Look out for potential fascists here, and while the Abdullah Administration is attempting to prosecute non-Muslims for khalwat, lawyer/blogger Malik Imtiaz Sarwar has a piece: A test for the Reform Cabinet.