68 Years On Umno Is Still Malaysia S Biggest Problem

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MALAYSIA has just celebrated 68 years of Merdeka, yet the nation still carries the same tired old baggage: UMNO.
Since the race-based political party’s founding, UMNO has been tying the country down with scandals, international humiliations and endless political drama.
Take Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s infamous DNAA—“discharge not amounting to acquittal”.
Zahid’s 47 corruption charges vanished into thin air, leaving the rakyat to wonder if justice in Malaysia is only a dream. Zahid now walks freely—proof that political privilege is stronger than the law.
Then there is Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the disgraced ex-prime minister whose 1MDB scandal made global headlines. Billions were lost, his wife’s luxury handbags piled up, yet his prison sentence was cut in half.
And Nooryana Najib and Izzana Salleh, the complicit and corrupt daughters of Najib and disgraced former minister Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, are also still hanging around as privileged board members of MATRADE and MDEC.
UMNO has also thrived on empty slogans. “1Malaysia” was supposed to unite the country; instead, it worsened divisions.
Najib’s “Global Movement of Moderates” turned out to be neither global, nor a movement, nor moderate.
“People First, Performance Now” was flashy, but left little real change, because Najib was terrible for the Malaysian economy. Same with “Keluarga Malaysia”, and now, “Malaysia Madani”.
Even the mastermind behind much of 1MDB, financier Jho Low, remains a symbol of impunity. He was recently confirmed to be living in Shanghai, yet no Malaysian leader has ever brought him to justice.
If billions can disappear and the criminal goes free, what hope is there for ordinary citizens seeking accountability?
As some analysts such as Dr Tajuddin Rasdi have correctly observed, one harsh truth is that since UMNO’s founding, the party exploits the ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacist) idea that “We were here first” while trying to frame any necessary reforms as threats to “Malay rights” by “pendatangs”.
This thinking allows Malay elites to justify their un-earned privileges, and to resist accountability. (Who ever thought that a race-based political party was a good idea in the first place?)
Even ex-prime minister and ex-UMNO head Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad still propagates the party’s most poisonous ideas.
Then there’s UMNO Youth chief Datuk Akmal Saleh who manufactures controversies like “Allah socks-gate” and “Flag-gate” with hidden support from UMNO.
This is a person who lost a RM45,000 legal defamation suit to his own brother, and is now under police investigation for his hysterical antics. Yet he still acts like he’s a national hero.
But UMNO’s real danger lies in its corrupting influence—even on reformers like PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim: UMNO has become a prison surrounding him.
He had to appoint Zahid, his scandal-ridden deputy, as a condition to form a functioning unity government. That alliance has meant stalled socioeconomic progress, and limited accountability.
Of course, UMNO isn’t Malaysia’s only problem but it certainly is its biggest. And UMNO isn’t the most problematic political party, either: the extremist PAS and similar parties’ rise shows how reactionary “3R” politics can damage a society.
The Islamist party’s focus on religion threatens Malaysians’ human rights. But just because PAS and others are potentially worse, it doesn’t make UMNO a better choice. Even supposed “young UMNO leaders” like Khairy Jamaluddin cannot be trusted to lead Malaysia.
After 68 years of independence, Malaysia should be freer, fairer, and stronger. Instead, the above only covers a fraction of the many symptoms that reveal a profoundly sick country.
Worse, UMNO has made Malaysia the only country in the world that protects its ethnoreligious majority at the expense of its minority communities.
By constantly knifing the social fabric with its keris, the party blocks needed advancements at every turn.
After nearly seven decades, Malaysia is still waiting for a government that finally puts the people before its elites. In the future, all Malaysians should continue to vote UMNO out every chance they get.
Corruption Watch is a reader of Focus Malaysia.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT 
- Focus Malaysia.

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