Madam Speaker, I would like to bring my colleagues' attention to significant political developments in Southeast Asia. Malaysia, which recently held major elections, is embarking on a new set of democratic reforms to deal with some of the…
Madam Speaker, I would like to bring my colleagues' attention to significant political developments in Southeast Asia. Malaysia, which recently held major elections, is embarking on a new set of democratic reforms to deal with some of the serious problems that the country faces. I am pleased to see that Malaysia is moving toward reforms that would support the rule of law and a more open society.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has announced a series of initiatives that would help demonstrate Malaysia's commitment to government reform and to moderate and progressive principles of democracy. The actions respond to the call for reform issued by voters in the March 8 elections.
The Malaysian government has proposed a series of judicial reforms to strengthen the independence of judges and improve trust and respect for the Malaysian judicial system, and steps to fight corruption. The government plans to take steps that would provide greater press freedoms as well.
Malaysia is a moderate country of 25 million people in Southeast Asia with a dominant Muslim population. The country is of significant importance to the United States and our interests in the region. Democratic development in Malaysia is important not only to the political stability and economic growth of Southeast Asia but the fight against extremism.
I would like to submit for the Record and for the benefit of my colleagues an editorial by the Wall Street Journal Asia that comments on these reforms.
In closing, I encourage my colleagues to take notice of recent developments in Malaysia and to support the government as it works to implement democratic reforms that could benefit Malaysia and help support U.S. interests.
[From The Wall Street Journal, Apr. 24, 2008]
Reforming Malaysia
Malaysia's economy has long been open to competition, but
its political system has not. Last month's opposition-party
electoral victories changed all that. Now, Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi has started to compete for voters' hearts,
based on what the people want.
Mr. Abdullah's announcements over the past two weeks are
nothing short of remarkable. Last Thursday, he acknowledged
``perceived corruption'' in the judiciary and announced an
independent committee to vet prospective judges. On Monday,
he promised to beef up the nation's Anti-Corruption Agency,
implement laws to protect whistleblowers, and make changes to
government procurement practices--long a source of patronage
for his party, the United Malays National Organization, and
the coalition it leads, the National Front.
None of these ideas are new. In fact, Mr. Abdullah himself
promised better, cleaner governance when he took office in
2004. Malaysia's voters gave him four years to implement his
promises. Last month, voters delivered their verdict: They
handed opposition parties control of five out of 13 states,
up from one--their biggest parliamentary gains since the
country's founding.
With that reprimand, Mr. Abdullah now seems to realize that
democracy in Malaysia matters. And he's ripped reform ideas
straight from the opposition parties' playbooks. Anwar
Ibrahim's National Justice Party, for instance, has long
advocated judicial reform and the protection of
whistleblowers. The new chief minister of Penang, a member of
the Democratic Action Party, called for an open tender system
for government procurement last month.
A wise leader will always appropriate good ideas,
especially ones recently endorsed at the ballot box. Doing so
is also a savvy political move for Mr. Abdullah. His standing
as head of UMNO was put in question after his party's
electoral losses last month. It still is--on Sunday, a former
finance minister, Razaleigh Hamzah, said he'd contest for the
party leadership.
If the Prime Minister can reposition himself as a reformer
who enjoys public support, it will be harder for his internal
challengers to unseat him, come the party congress in
December. Showing that UMNO can reform is also a chance for
Mr. Abdullah to slow the opposition's political momentum at a
time when it is still enjoying the aftermath of last month's
election victories.
The Prime Minister may also be thinking about his legacy.
The first to hold that office after over two decades of rule
under Mahathir Mohamad, Mr. Abdullah was seen as a
transitional figure who would bring greater freedoms to his
country. At first, he did, loosening controls on the press
and cracking down on a few corrupt officials. But largely as
last month's vote showed--he has so far failed.
Malaysia needs the reforms now on offer, and fast.
Corruption undermines the country's economic competitiveness
and its attractiveness as a place to do business. That
depresses investment, and employment opportunities for
Malaysians. Without a strong judiciary or a free press, the
only way citizens feel they can show their discontent is to
protest on the streets. Giving Malaysians a justice system
they trust would help alleviate some, if not all, of those
grievances.
None of these reforms can be implemented overnight, and
most will be strongly opposed by UMNO's political machine,
which has benefited for years from its opaque patronage
system. But the threat of being unseated from office should
be a good motivation for the party to take Mr. Abdullah's
ideas seriously. Its about time.