Barisan seeks new faces for GE14 to overcome divisive component parties

It remains to be seen whether Barisan Nasional's plan for direct membership will work in their favour in the next general election. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, June 11, 2014.The Najib administration believes that it has found a way to win over Malaysia's young electorate and its chattering class: by recruiting a clutch of young, professional Malaysians to join Barisan Nasional (BN) directly and provide a more moderate and intelligent face of the bruised, battered, and frankly, discredited coalition.

For a start, it is targeting up to 10 individuals and wants them to be at the forefront of speaking up on issues such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other hot-button topics on which the BN government is on the defensive.

The plan is for these individuals to give up their full-time jobs and they will be paid by BN. The aim: to persuade Malaysians, especially the young, that the coalition is worth backing with the infusion of more moderate voices.

The direct entry route into BN has been considered for a while by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and senior BN leaders as a means of attracting young talent who are put off by the baggage of racism and chauvinism associated with Umno, MCA and other component parties.

But the direct-entry-into-BN plan has not moved beyond planning stage because of resistance from Umno.

But The Malaysian Insider understands that several young Malaysians, some in high-profile government-linked companies, have recently been asked to become the new public faces of BN.

It is unclear if all of them have accepted the offer but a key concern remains that the Malaysian public would see this as another gimmick by a Prime Minister with a penchant for gimmicks and symbolic moves.

Also, trying to become a moderate voice in the political eco-system of Umno where the likes of Perkasa, Isma and Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah reign supreme could be a fool's errand.

For example, it is easy to imagine these professionals becoming the targets of the right-wing forces in Umno and being viewed with suspicion by insecure MCA or MIC politicians.

As it is, intellectually grounded parties such as Gerakan had to resort to the race card in the Teluk Intan by-election last month, and direct BN members will cut the quotas of component parties bent on their share of Cabinet appointments if BN keeps Putrajaya.

The only BN direct members that have worked come from Sarawak in the 1990s when Datuk Billy Abit Joo won in Hulu Rejang and Datuk Joseph Salang took Julau.

But Sarawak is also where BN member parties can be allies at the federal level but are foes at the state level. However, the fight for a Cabinet post is more intensive in the peninsula than in Sabah or Sarawak.

At this point, it remains a tough sell to BN to bring in members at the coalition level although it has been discussed since Election 2008.

Back in November 2010, Najib had said that individuals friendly to the BN can join the coalition as an associate member after a supreme council decision to amend the constitution to allow direct membership.

Najib, who is BN chairman, had said the decision reflected the leaders’ efforts to make the coalition inclusive and open to all who shared and subscribed to BN's spirit, concept and principles.

BN's decision then was similar to predecessor Alliance which once offered direct membership under its Alliance direct membership organisation (Admo). But no one is on record to have joined BN after the 2010 decision.

And it remains to be seen if anyone targeted now would join BN and become a candidate in the next general election which must be held by 2018. – June 11, 2014.