Malaysia's Abdullah Badawi:
a kinder, gentler Mahathir?

By Ralph A. Cossa
Global Beat Syndicate

KUALA LUMPUR--Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is proving to be a kinder, gentler, but no less candid, thoughtful, and thought-provoking version of his mercurial predecessor.

The soft-spoken devout Muslim leader has surprised critics and supporters alike by taking an exceptionally firm stand against corruption and extremism since replacing Dr. Mahathir Mohammed last October. He has also delivered the type of pointed criticisms of both the west and the Islamic world for which his predecessor was noted, but without the deliberately racist, anti-Semitic invectives that largely overshadowed Mahathir's otherwise important message. Ironically, the absence of such rhetoric, while making the remarks more acceptable, also resulted in minimal international coverage.

Speaking to an international audience in Kuala Lumpur in recent days, Mr. Badawi observed that many Muslims were "in denial," refusing to acknowledge that "Islamic teachings have been corrupted by some groups to serve their militant cause . . . . Nothing can make a virtue out of the massacre of innocent men, women, and children," Badawi asserted. Undemocratic government, oppression, poverty and poor governance all contribute to terrorism and must be addressed. Most significantly, he acknowledged the need to "confront the militant teachings in the peripheries and discredit them," noting the need to "radically alter the curriculum of religious schools" in some countries.

But Badawai also said the broader international community and especially the United States were also in denial. He pointed to the Israeli-Palestine conflict and the situation in Iraq as prominent among the root causes of terrorism that are not being sufficiently addressed. While critical of past actions, he noted that the latest plan for Iraq offered "some hope for progress." But for it to work, he said, certain criteria must be met: the Iraqi people must exercise "full" sovereignty; foreign forces on Iraqi soil must be part of a UN-mandated multinational force; Iraq must develop indigenous capacity to provide for its own security; and the interim government must be seen as credible and independent. Washington shares these goals in principle; the challenge will be to convince the international community that it accepts them in practice as well.

Most of   Badawi's criticisms of the United States were indirect, but nonetheless pointed. When he observed that "we are not only refusing to recognize some root causes, we are consciously and deliberately aggravating them," it was pretty clear which "we" he had in mind. He was perhaps also somewhat disingenuous when he observed that the Geneva Convention had been "brutalized," and that "such inhuman actions will not be easily forgotten or lightly forgiven." True, but the U.S. government exposed, condemned and is actively investigating the abuses at Abu Ghraib--unacceptable actions that appear to be not unlike (and perhaps even less egregious) than those now being alleged as occurring in Malaysian detention centers.

Another indication that things here are no longer "business as usual" came in the Malaysian New Straits Times second major headline of interest that day: "PM raises Suu Kyi issue with [Myanmar Prime Minister] Khin," pointing out that Malaysia could not ignore actions taken by a neighbor that were "a matter of interest to the international community." Premier Badawi reportedly informed his Myanmar counterpart that "it was important that Malaysia and other ASEAN members be informed about the status of [Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's] house arrest and why her party, the National League for Democracy, was not participating in the country's national convention to draft its constitution."

There is a growing recognition in Malaysia and throughout Southeast Asia that actions in one country affect the interests of the others and thus cannot be ignored, non-interference principles notwithstanding. This is especially critical in the case of Myanmar (Burma), because Rangoon is expected to assume the rotating Association of Southeast Asian Nations Chair in 2006, setting the stage for a showdown with ASEAN's regional dialogue partners (including the United States) if progress has not been achieved in pursing Prime Minister Khin's "roadmap to democracy."

This can only occur through continued constructive engagement with Myanmar's ASEAN colleagues, perhaps especially Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, given Malaysia's lead role in integrating the black sheep of ASEAN into the flock. Let's hope his actions are as firm and direct as his words.