Time for PH to get the job done

After defeat in Semenyih, the govt must realise they need to buck up or it may be the start of the end for the bright and vibrant multiracial Malaysia all were hoping for after GE14.

WITH all the analyses, arguments and discussions on the result of the Semenyih by-election, there were not only answers but some questions raised too. One pertinent doubt crept into my mind.

Could Pakatan Harapan have won it if they had started keeping more of its promises from the time they took over the federal government in May last year? They started on some reforms at least, right?

And would this have kept previous hardcore political enemies Umno and PAS apart, to not join forces in the name of defending race, religion and ultimately the country?

Of course not! The extremely dangerous racial and religious path taken by the two Malay-based parties started even way before the last election.

But it was to split the Malay votes to favour either one of them which they thought would have got them a combined majority to form the government.

It obviously backfired and calculations showed that it would have been better off for them to forge a one-on-one fight with Pakatan.

And they proved it worked well indeed in Cameron Highlands and Semenyih with their blatant race-baiting.

The two parties actually mooted this idea soon after GE14, which was way before they could claim Pakatan had failed to keep many of its key pre-election pledges.

Let’s get real. A major reason for what I term this “volcanic mix” is to try and regain power to save them in more ways than one.

Most surprisingly, what shocks many is how the educated Malay class have started believing the claims of Umno and PAS that the government is actually being run by the DAP (read Chinese)!

And yes, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin are puppets of Lim Kit Siang, they claim.

One has to know the Prime Minister well to understand that this cannot be further from the truth.

If you look at it, there are only three outstanding reasons that are being openly used to whip up Malay/Muslim sentiments by Umno and PAS to try and paint a ridiculous picture that Pakatan has usurped Malay rights.

They are the appointment of DAP’s Lim Guan Eng as Finance Minister, Tommy Thomas as Attorney General and Tan Sri Richard Malanjum as Chief Justice.

Of course, they claim there are too many non-Malay ministers but that is not a major contention, I believe.

All the other government positions remain with the Malays.

So are the controversial three appointments tantamount to the dismantling of Malay rights?

Any educated and right-thinking Malaysian will know that this is an imaginary threat made real by blatant race-baiting and attacks on the Chinese but using the DAP as a front.

All laws to protect Islam and bumiputra land rights are in still in place and I believe no Malaysian wants all that removed lest they want to see some unrest.

Another key factor that seems to favour many corrupt leaders in Malaysia is the declaration by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang that it is better for a corrupt Muslim leader to lead Malaysia instead of a clean non-Muslim.

This strikes at the core of Malay/ Muslim primordial sentiments, and it is working.

Many Malay voters, including university students and the educated middle class, have bought this hook, line and sinker.

Look at the way Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and many implicated PAS leaders are being treated like heroes.

We are descending into cult culture. Obviously, it is the age of social media which can turn a thief into a hero.

The post-election statements from both sides of the divide seem to suggest that multiracial political parties will not work and that the Malay agenda is the key to remaining in power.

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin’s declaration after the Semenyih win was kind of a reminder to non-Malays that their votes have become irrelevant, knowing pretty well that Malays have bought the supremacy narrative, never mind if corruption was eating the party’s core.

And what does the deputy president of PKR, a multiracial party with 50% non-Muslim MPs out of its 49 in Parliament, have to say?

Yes, he too says Pakatan should focus on safeguarding the Malay/ Muslim agenda.

Dr Mahathir continues to go about making statements and analyses like he used to in the 80s and 90s.

But to me, they are out of place in today’s politics. They are obsolete. If he had said they could not keep election pledges because they thought they would never win in the 80s or 90s, the people would not have reacted like they did now.

There was no social media then while the mainstream newspapers and TV stations were under his absolute control and blacked out the opposition to a great extent.

Today, Malaysians get real-time news and, in some instances, inside stories via blogs.

So when race and religion spiced with hate speeches and race-baiting become the order of the day like now, we have lost the New Malaysia narrative even before being put in place.

Umno and PAS are not going to rest with this race-baiting. Over time, it is going to be deeply entrenched and I believe Pakatan will struggle to be in power even if they deliver all their promises before the next election.

The Malay-Muslim agenda will be the thrust of the main parties to woo the crucial Malay votes.

I dread to hear what Umno leaders and “Bossku” will say when they campaign in the upcoming Rantau by-election. I may stay away from all media during that time to save myself some heartache.

Am I writing an obituary for a bright and vibrant multiracial Malaysia? I don’t know but when politicians do not care about corruption or racial and religious unity just to remain in power, we are doomed.

I will be the happiest person on earth if I’m proven wrong.