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| Photo by Greg Cope |
| Minister of Information,
Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob is eager for Malaysians
to share their expertise on Iraq. |
Contrary to popular belief, Malaysia is not an
Islamic state. “We are strongly democratic,”
attests Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi. “We believe in and have core
democratic institutions.”
Religious tolerance is one such institution. While
Islam is the established national religion, the constitution
guarantees freedom of worship for the very large non-Muslim
minority.
“The U.S. has been our great teacher of democracy
and freedom,” says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri
Syed Hamid Albar.
Some of the confusion might be because Malaysia’s
parliament is based on a British system. “The
perception about leadership in the U.S. [may be] limited
by the concept of a president who can only serve two
[four year] terms,” explains Minister of Information,
Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob. Under the British parliamentary
system, leaders may retain power for longer than eight
years.
Because there have been just four prime ministers
since independence, “people think there must
be something suspicious about the system,” says
Khalil. Malaysia actually has frequent elections,
as required by the constitution. Politicians are freely
elected and “whoever assumes the role of party
leader has also got to be elected through the elective
process of the party. You have to be elected from
within.”
Malaysia’s prime minister is the leader of the
party who controls the parliament’s house of
representatives.
“Everybody’s interests are represented within
the political system,” Khalil continues. The
National Front, the ruling coalition, is comprised
of not just Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir
bin Mohamad’s party, the United Malay National
Organization (UMNO), but also many smaller parties,
largely based on ethnic lines. The 14 parties in the
current coalition represent Muslims, Buddhists, and
Hindus, among others.
The “small party is the tail that wags the dog,”
says Mahathir.
The amalgamation of small parties leads to a very
powerful coalition, without much opposition. Only
two of Malaysia’s states, Kelantan and Terengganu,
are ruled by an opposition party.
Because Malaysia is a multi-cultural society, the
parties of various multi-racial citizens must forge
together. Without cooperation there would not be stability.
Malaysia’s balance of diversity and cohesiveness
is its “fundamental source of strength as [it]
seek[s] to meet the challenges of the future,”
explains Malaysian Ambassador to the U.S., Dato’
Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid. It explains “the
success and continuity of our leadership,” says
Khalil.
Malaysia’s democratic process has on occasion
been questioned by the West, particularly the events
surrounding the conviction and detainment of former
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Anwar
Ibrahim, who was charged with, and in 1999 subsequently
convicted of, corruption and sodomy.
“People will write whatever they want about our
[means of] security,” says Khalil, “but
it is a very sensitive issue. When it comes to security,
we have no compromise.”
“Our system of democracy may be criticized, but
it is strong,” says Mahathir.
The freedom of Malaysia’s media is another frequent
topic of questioning.
“Our media has never been state-guided,”
says Khalil. “[News]-papers cannot exist without
financing. People will only buy [advertising] if [the
papers] have integrity. Running a business, they have
to be free to write what they want.”
“We don’t influence them,” he continues.
“Otherwise we’d have to pay” for the
advertising.
Khalil is eager for Americans to learn more about
Malaysian politics. “What is not done enough
is contact between government officials – congress
people in the U.S. with Malaysian politicians. There
is not much interaction.”
As a moderate, and tolerant, predominantly-Islamic
nation, Malaysia has a wealth of experience to share
regarding the reconstruction of Iraq, particularly
because the current leadership’s strongest political
challenge is from more conservative Islamic organizations.
“Because of our ties to the Middle East, Malaysians
understand the situation in Iraq.” Just before
the war, Khalil made a visit to Iraq and met with
Saddam Hussein. “I could offer a lot of opinions
on Iraq,” he says, as could many of Malaysia’s
leaders. “Many of our business people have operated
there.” |
