The Malaysian Insight

WHAT a difference a few weeks makes. 

Not too long ago, there was an uproar and consternation when news broke that Hamzah Zainuddin and several Umno lawmakers were crossing over to Bersatu. 

There was a fear that this collection of controversial members of the corrupt and discredited Umno machinery would poison and pollute Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s party. In a short span of time, Bersatu would become like Umno, a party driven by the culture of easy money and personal ambition, the critics feared.

That was then.

Yesterday’s ceremony to embrace the seven Umno MPs as Bersatu lawmakers should invite no more than a shrug of the shoulders among many Malaysians.

Why?

Because over the past few weeks, Bersatu politicians have said and done things that would have made them right at home in Umno.

Their behaviour has turned on its head the narrative that this collection of Malay politicians led by Dr Mahathir to victory on May 9, 2018, are different in their make-up from Umno politicians.

First, we were treated to the wisdom of party vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

At the party’s annual general meeting, he suggested that federal funds for development at the local level be channelled through grassroots architecture set up by the previous government.

His rationale: this move would allow Bersatu branch and division chiefs to fund their activities.

He would have sounded right at home at the Umno general assembly, where speeches were often anchored on cronyism and nurturing money politics.

Not to be outdone, the Johor menteri besar jumps on a boat and decides to indulge in some grandstanding just as Singapore and Malaysia agreed to resolve a maritime dispute.

Osman Sapian decided to board one of the Malaysian vessels in the disputed waters and this resulted in a flurry of diplomatic activity between the two countries, leading to a bilateral meeting being called off.

As the fiasco unfolded, it became clear that the Johor MB did not inform Putrajaya of his ill-advised public relations stunt. 

More recently, he and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Marzuki Yahya were caught in the fake qualifications scandal. 

Osman is supposed to have an accounting degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia while Marzuki claimed that he was a graduate of Cambridge University. 

Neither was true.

Marzuki clarified that he obtained his degree from Cambridge International University, a little-known institution in the United States. 

Osman only offered a sheepish smile when reporters asked him about his degree. 

Of course, Bersatu leaders jumped to the defence of Marzuki, suggesting that fudging academic qualifications was much ado about nothing. 

At the height of their pomp and arrogance, Umno leaders used to defend and dismiss allegations of impropriety against their lawmakers, even when the evidence was clear as daylight. 

Sandwiched in between these episodes of disturbing behaviour by Bersatu lawmakers is the largely listless performance of Bersatu ministers.

So, don’t cry for Bersatu.

The influx of former Umno MPs is not going to dilute the party’s moral core or inject poison into the pool.

Hamzah and his comrades from Umno will find themselves right at home in Bersatu. – February 13, 2019.