http://www.feer.com/_0012_14/p020region.html

INTERVIEW: ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI

Umno Suffering Isn't Over

Malaysia's deputy prime minister, the designated successor to Premier Mahathir, acknowledges the problems faced by the leading party and the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism

Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) Issue cover-dated December 14, 2000

SOFT-SPOKEN AND POLITE, Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is hardly a firebrand. The former civil servant, who hails from close to Penang, served as foreign minister before assuming the deputy's job after the sacking and arrest of his predecessor, Anwar Ibrahim. The two were long-time political rivals. Abdullah was a very visible presence in Lunas district in the run-up to the recent by-election, which the ruling coalition lost. In a interview two days before the defeat, REVIEW Managing Editor Michael Vatikiotis asked him whether he felt Anwar's supporters still posed a political threat to the government:

Abdullah: They keep on harping. I suppose they will keep on harping until they get what they want. It is something that is not forgotten. Only the level of intensity and the frequency with which the subject is raised changes.

WHAT ABOUT THE EROSION OF UMNO'S SUPPORT? HOW MUCH DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE TO THE PARTY?

There are people who have left the party. I know many also came back. Those who left the party and formed Keadilan--some have come back. Umno has certainly suffered and it will take a long time to repair.

HOW MUCH OF THIS IS DUE TO THE WAY ANWAR WAS TREATED?

It is not so much how Anwar was treated as a person, but the issues that were precipitated at that time in the party--a combination of political problems and problems in the economy.

WAS THIS CRYSTALLIZED BY THE ISSUE OF CORRUPTION?

We cannot and must not tolerate corruption. Cronyism is certainly a very big issue, but to me it is one that can be resolved. We have to do something so that people will know excesses will not be tolerated. We have introduced a code, a special paper on good governance.

THE CONTROVERSY OVER MIXED-RACE SCHOOLS, SO-CALLED "VISION SCHOOLS," SUGGESTS THE COUNTRY IS STILL VERY DIVIDED RACIALLY. WHY IS THERE SO MUCH MISTRUST?

This is a source of great concern. The sad thing is that a subject that is purely about education is being exploited politically. I have always said we don't want students to grow and have programmes on their own that only run in parallel lines and therefore never meet. What we are trying to do is create conditions where there could be a meeting point, where all those parallel lines will converge. If we can begin with programmes of student integration early on, it would help us to solve the problems we have at the social level--so that arguments over whether a Muslim does not want to share a room with a non-Muslim do not arise any more. I remember as a student, I shared a room with a Christian; he read the Bible and I read the Koran. We were perfectly happy.

THERE IS A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT INTOLERANCE IN MALAYSIAN SOCIETY. IS THERE A TREND TOWARD ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM?

If we don't check it, yes, it can move in that direction. The government must set a good example when dealing with Islamic issues . . . Nobody is denied the right to pray or fast. And we provide good opportunities for young Muslims to do well in education. We must check the tendency towards any kind of extremism. And we should not play a game of one-upmanship with the Islamic Party. There will be no end to that game