[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12291-12292]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     NEW ERA OF REFORM IN MALAYSIA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ADAM SMITH

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 11, 2008

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. 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.

[[Page 12292]]

  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.

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