Isa not a good idea.

21.9.2009.

Before Mahathir publicly said it, I'd privately said it; Isa not a good idea for the bye-election in Bagan Pinang.

There are any number of reasons why Isa's supporters more than welcome the idea of his come-back to the State Assembly. It's a return to power, and it'll be back to "the good old ways." It's a dislike for the incumbent State leadership. But basically it's the replay of the Malay politics of old: tables turned, old scores settled. Everybody gets something from the dirty politics. 

The main cry from the people from the Division would be that only Isa can win this one. And if Isa is indeed chosen to contest, he might very well do. What is at stake, however, is not a win for Isa, but a win for UMNO, in a renewed effort at winning the fast losing support for the Party at the national level. And if Isa is the responsible man that he should be, it's within him to take himself out of the equation by declining the nomination in the first place. 

That he has not done so,  is either an indication of his own selfishness, or a very clever ploy indeed. Knowing him, and the people close to him in the state, I have grave doubts about the clever part. 

There is no need now for any more public dissension for UMNO. There is every need to remove  the image of a feudal party  besotted of its dirty old habits. Isa would sit as comfortably in the State Assembly as a sore thumb. It would create upheaval. That is the scenario if Isa contests and wins.

If UMNO is serious about reversing the party's downhill slide , then the sight of a proven corrupt top official re-entering the State Legislature would be a dismal signal to the electorate. Clearly UMNO says one thing and does another. 

There is the probabality of the opposition  making use of the Isa candidature as their main target of attack.  The fact would never be lost to voters as a whole, that a proven corrupt man is more valuable to UMNO than any real effort at cleansing the Party.

Talk does not match walk. Fifty years is not a long time in politics. Just look at India, China, Japan and Indonesia in this part of the world. What is happening to UMNO is "normal" in that sense. But to abondon all hopes for a resurgence is premature. The cure can be found, even if not easily. 

Prevention is better than cure, says the doctor. But if it's too late to cure, the same doctor says amputation may be the only option left. Listen to the doctor. Any doctor. 

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