Can Umno Bn Defectors Ever Reform

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As Bersih, Amanah and many concerned individuals have said recently, any move on the part of Pakatan Harapan or any of its component parties to even think about accepting Umno/BN no-hopers into their ranks, let alone seriously consider doing so, is an absolute outrage
There has been no sign that these 40 thieves have turned over a new leaf; that these pathological liars have seen the light, or perceived the error of their ways
All of them – without exception – have been either accomplices in or accessories to the massive crimes allegedly committed by their former Umno/BN leaders, and none have shown the slightest sign of regret, remorse, repentance or intention to reform
And until they have publicly done so, and surrendered their ill-gotten assets to the national treasury, they should remain criminal suspects, and at the very least be subjected to forensic audits of their financial affairs
So for Pakatan Harapan to consider admitting Umno/BN defectors without their confessing, and serving sentences or even periods of probation for their crimes and corruption, or repaying the rakyat, is like placing rotten apples into a fresh new barrel, or incorporating cancer cells into a young, healthy body
Or to put this another way, unless and until they sincerely reform, it should be assumed that their motive for aspiring to join Harapan is to insert themselves into a force, hell-bent on undermining and eventually destroying the new government from within
And thus, far from entertaining their hopes of hopping sides, Harapan should tell off these “frogs and toads”, which happens to be rhyming slang for “road”, which they should be hitting
Considering that they’ve betrayed the Malaysian people – especially the Malay/Muslim people whose interests as Umno/BN members they falsely claimed to ‘protect’ – and have now shown their willingness to betray those who voted for them as well as Umno/BN itself, they can hardly be seen as trustworthy converts to the Harapan cause
And then there’s the thought that Harapan, and especially its Bersatu component, is already stuffed full enough with unregenerate Umno/BN renegades and rejects
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the most prominent example. While admittedly it seems unarguable that Harapan could not have won without him, many of us strongly suspect that he’s still the same old autocrat and even the same old mad hatter at heart
And that it was his personal hatred for ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak in particular rather than for Umno/BN in principle that impelled him to make a comeback as the head of Pakatan Harapan
Little sign of regretCertainly, despite his appearing to be a reformed character, he’s shown little sign of regret for the countless crimes, corruptions and perversions of justice that characterised his 22 years as president of Umno Baru and Umno/BN prime minister
Nor has there been any sign that any of his sons are about to be retrospectively investigated any time soon for past scandals and suspicious business successes
Then there’s Najib’s sometime deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, whose highly likely involvement in or at least strong support of Umno/BN malefactions back then, is somehow never mentioned, and whose ‘conversion’ to Harapan principles and values has gone largely, if not, totally unexamined
There are some, I know, who suspect that Mahathir and Muhyiddin, now that they have used Pakatan Harapan as a vehicle to wreak vengeance on Najib, will eventually reveal that, far from being agents of reform, are actually on a secret mission to re-form a revised or alternative version of Umno/BN
And some of the same conspiracy theorists are similarly suspicious of the intentions of Anwar Ibrahim, if and when he replaces Mahathir as prime minister. Despite his apparently impeccable credentials as the former leader of the Reformasi movement and such a bitter enemy of Mahathir and Najib that each of them jailed him for years, many still see him as being cursed with Umno/BN DNA
But whatever the true motivations and intentions of these and other former leading members of Umno/BN, the last thing the Pakatan Harapan coalition or the citizens of Malaysia need right now, is to risk accepting allegedly reformed deserters from this defeated and disgraced regime, lest they re-form and threaten the new government
Exactly eight years ago, I suggested in a column entitled ‘From Putrajaya to Putrajail’, they should be hauled into court and, following a fair trial, of course, be sentenced to years in the Umno/BN wing of some high-security slammer
DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published compilations of his Malaysiakini columns include "Mad about Malaysia", "Even Madder about Malaysia", "Missing Malaysia", "1Malaysia.con" and "Malaysia Mania”. -Mkini

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