BN for Dummies

From its humble but racially-divided roots as a three-party coalition, Barisan Nasional has grown from strength to strength and scandal to scandal.

The BN of today comprises no less than 20 organisations....

BN’s additional members over the last five decades include:
a) Bernama or the National News Agency
b) Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) or National Television Radio Network
c) The Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM)
d) The Elections Commission
e) The post-1989-Judiciary and most recently.....



BN for Dummies

The Barisan Nasional (BN) or National Alliance is the current ruling coalition of Malaysia.

Its early roots dated back to the 1951 Kuala Lumpur elections, when the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) first contested as a coalition under the banner of Parti Perikatan, translated literally as the Party of Knots.

Retrospectively, the Party of Knots is indeed the more appropriate and befitting name, and for more reasons than one. As it would turn out decades later, personalities in the Party of Knots more often than not have ties than bind with each other.

For example, the incumbent Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein Onn son of third Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn is related by marriage to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak who in turn is the son of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, the late Tun Abdul Razak. Brotherly ties also feature prominently in the Barisan Nasional. The MCA for example is set for an Ong Dynasty era. It is widely believed that Ong Ka Ting will soon be passing the baton to his elder brother Ong Ka Chuan. It remains to be seen whether the Ong Brothers will fumble like the Americans did in the 4 x 100m relay races during the recent Beijing Olympics.

Barisan Nasional has ruled Malaysia since 1957 then known as Tanah Melayu or Malaya. The rich lands of Sabah and Sarawak also came under BN rule as from 1963.

From its humble but racially-divided roots as a three-party coalition, Barisan Nasional has grown from strength to strength and scandal to scandal.

The BN of today comprises no less than 20 organisations. A complete and thorough listing of the big, happy BN family is not possible here.

BN’s additional members over the last five decades include:
a) Bernama or the National News Agency
b) Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) or National Television Radio Network
c) The Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM)
d) The Elections Commission
e) The post-1989-Judiciary and most recently,
f) The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

A dropout from University Tenaga Nasional (Uniten), one Saiful bin Bukhari and his famous rectum, Mohd Rektal bin Saiful are among the list of BN’s latest recruits.

The roles of the component parties in the Barisan Nasional have undergone a somewhat marked change since the March 2008 general elections.

Previously prominent parties like MIC and Gerakan have since then been relegated to insignificant and irrelevant roles, with both parties currently fighting for their individual survival.

Conversely, organizations previously in supportive roles like the ACA and the Judiciary have recently taken more pivotal responsibilities within the harmonious Barisan Nasional family.

For example, in the opposition-led state of Perak, the ACA was unusually efficient and bold in the arrest of two state exco members for alleged corruption in a non-existent RM 180 million housing project.

The judiciary too played its role in BN well by prosecuting these exco members the day before the Permatang Pauh by-elections. In addition, the courts will be re-mentioning the cases on Sept 15, the day before Anwar Ibrahim’s pledged take-over of the federal government.

True to its role as a loyal BN entity, the Elections Commission held the just-concluded Permatang Pauh by-election on a working day to discourage voters from coming out in force to vote for the political icon Anwar Ibrahim. Its strategy failed miserably as evidence by the eventual outcome. The Election Commissions however can boast of sunnier sunny days and greater successes in the form of biased constituency boundaries, dubious electoral rolls as well as selective implementation of election by-laws.

Witnessing the critical roles played out by its fellow BN allies, the Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM) was determined not to be left behind. By providing 24-hour surveillance helicopters and riot personnel peculiarly over Anwar Ibrahim’s campaign venues only, the police force has demonstrated its ability to maintain security and order as and when it is politically favorable to do so.

The Barisan Nasional suffered a devastating defeat recently in the parliamentary by-election of Penampang Pauh. Some say it was a blow more humiliating than what the BN politicians have been inflicting upon former Deputy Prime Ministers Anwar Ibrahim and his family.

This has been an introductory article to Barisan Nasional.

We sincerely hope that it has been educational and enlightening for all dummies on Malaysian politics.

Kindly forward this article to your fellow dummies if you have found it useful.

Thank you.